9/11 Widower Enraged Because They Called This Woman a Hero

What Makes Somebody a Hero?

One of the best things about social media is the interconnectivity it provides us with people across the planet, as well as the ability to share our thoughts and feelings with them. As it so happens, this is also one of the worst things about social media.

I couldn't help but feel astounded today as I scrolled through my newsfeed on Facebook and saw people sharing articles about one 9/11 widower's response to Caitlyn Jenner receiving one of Glamour magazine's Woman of the Year awards. It feels like every time we advance and move forward as a society, we also take a step or two back. We become so defensive about pride and success that, more often than not, we lose sight of what it was we originally championed.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, "Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." It's as if the great American author knew that there is always more than one side to a story, always a silent defeat hidden beyond our more obvious conquests. After all, the concept of a hero must involve some sense of triumph, and, like the flip side of a coin, loss is inherent to victory.

Start the slideshow below to hear more about NYPD officer James Smith, husband of Moira Smith, the only female NYPD officer killed on 9/11, and what he did with his wife's posthumous Woman of the Year award when he found out that Caitlyn Jenner was a 2015 recipient. Then SHARE this story and let us know what you think about the matter.

Foreword

The world is a mess.

I think it's safe to say that the above statement is true, and perhaps it's always been that way, although its truth may have waxed or waned at certain points throughout history. All we truly know is what we read in history books or are told by others, not to mention what we experience in our own lives, and together, these are the facts and stories that form our opinions about the world.

With the perpetual and instantaneous interconnectedness of our globalized world today, both the horrors and treasures of our planet are more present than ever. We see reports from dozens of countries on our phones, our computer screens, and our TVs, but aside from social and political news, advanced communications and social media have given us the opportunity to publicly and constantly share our opinions with the rest of the world. So we do. After all, aren't we the most important people in our own lives?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. We have the right to believe in what we choose to believe, and nobody should be able to take that right away. We should, however, have the right to educated others about their opinions, especially when they are ignorant or hateful. More often than not, the things we write and share on social media reveal our inherent biases and prejudices, even when we're not aware of it. We've all done it. But we can get better.

The Glamour Awards

For years, Glamour has awarded numerous outstanding individuals a wide range of awards, from actresses and radio personalities to comediennes and entrepreneurs. The most famous prize that the magazine gives is the Woman of the Year award, which it has been presenting to women of note for 25 years.

Previous winners of this prize include Britney Spears, Cher, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, and Tavi Gevinson, a 14-year-old fashion blogger.

Among the recipients of this year's awards was Caitlyn Jenner, the transgender celebrity formerly known as Bruce Jenner, famous for her Olympic accomplishments and, more recently, for her relation to the Kardashian family.

Since she transitioned and returned to the public eye this year, however, Caitlyn has been met with no small amount of adversity. During 2015 alone, she's received numerous awards for her bravery and for being a trailblazer within the trans community and the public at large. Naturally, not everybody was pleased she received a Woman of the Year award.

Moira and James

2,996 people died in the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Among them was Moira Smith, the only female NYPD officer to perish. A month after her death, she posthumously received a Woman of the Year award from Glamour for her bravery and sacrifice, and she has been hailed as a hero ever since the time of her death.

Following this year's Glamour Awards, however, her husband James decided that the honor his wife received as a woman of the year no longer meant anything, strictly because Caitlyn Jenner had now received the same award. I'm not sure that it was his award to return in the first place, but James wrote a scathing letter to the editors of Glamour magazine letting them know about the disgrace they had brought upon the awards by considering Jenner a hero.

The Letter

"I was shocked and saddened to learn that Glamour has just named Bruce Jenner 'Woman of the Year,'" he wrote, "I find it insulting to Moira Smith's memory, and the memory of other heroic women who have earned this award," such as Britney Spears and the 14-year-old blogger, mind you.

"Was there no woman in America, or the rest of the world, more deserving than this man?" Smith viciously misgenders Jenner throughout his letter, refusing to acknowledge her status as a woman, or that she has changed her name to Caitlyn.

Smith's letter is hateful. It takes the raw emotion of the loss of his wife and confuses it with a deeper vitriol, the familiar taste of transphobia that is all too common in our society today. Naturally, James cites doctors, soldiers, policewomen, and firefighters in his ideas of where Glamour may have found a hero more deserving than Caitlyn.

I agree. Doctors, soldiers, and officers are heroes. But these traditional and stereotypical professions do not permit us to understand the greater meaning or the flexibility of the word hero, or how anybody can play that role for somebody else.

Call Me Caitlyn

"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." – Christopher Reeve

Given her status as a celebrity and her place in the pop culture world of the Kardashians, Jenner was bound to meet with resistance to her decision to transition even before she announced it to the public.

It's easy to disagree with things that are new because they seem frightening and unnatural. Not that trans people or gender queerness is anything new to humans, but to take a celebrity like Jenner, who was a champion across generations, an Olympic hero and sex symbol, is something that rocked non-progressive Americans to their core. It's easy to disagree with what Caitlyn did or what she stands for today because the struggle of the trans community is still not fully understood by society. But one thing that remains true regardless is that transphobia is a prejudice just like any other, hateful and harmful, and with many victims.

"We were proud to honor his wife [...] in 2001, and we stand by our decision to honor Caitlyn Jenner," a spokeswoman for Glamour said in response to Smith's angry letter. "Glamour's Women of the Year Awards recognize women with a variety of backgrounds and experiences."

"Caitlyn Jenner has helped shine a light on the problems faced by transgender youth and given voice to a community that is often unheard. Glamour's Women of the Year Awards recognizes brave, bold women who in their individual ways have all made a significant difference in the world," they also said in a statement.

Smith's anger was not a response to Glamour belittling the memory of his wife, but of the magazine's decision to give a face and voice to the trans community, to acknowledge Jenner as a woman and a hero even though she is not fully biologically female. This is nothing more than prejudice and hate that Smith used a unifying American tragedy to gain sympathy for.

And the worst part is that it worked.

 So, What Makes Somebody a Hero?

Do I have an agenda while writing this article? Yes. My agenda is to promote my belief that everybody is equal, and that prejudice in any form, even when socially acceptable and popular, is still prejudice.

People need to stop comparing the apples and oranges of what makes someone a hero. We all have heroes in our life in numerous capacities, and their impact in the lives of others should be in no way diminished by the trials and tribulations of a soldier, a 9/11 survivor, a transgender woman, or any other human whose journey we will never fully comprehend, whose courage we can never fully repay.

Heroism can be sacrifice, but it does not need to be. Heroism is going to places unknown; heroism is giving a voice to those who do not have one; heroism is standing up in the face of adversity — and the fact that Smith's letter, or his lack of decency to even call her by her name, can still be published and gain so much support goes to show how much of hero Caitlyn Jenner truly is, and just how much we need her for future generations.