Heltinder eller helt andre

Der findes en gruppe der kalder sig selv Morgendagens Heltinder. Jeg indrømmer, jeg anede ikke de fandtes, så de gør ikke meget væsen af sig selv. Men det kommer måske imorgen. Hvad der så helt nøjagtigt ligger i titlen er så lidt svært at gætte. Er det folk der planlægger at gøre noget heltemodigt imorgen, eller er det folk der går ind for at udsætte tingene til imorgen? Eller måske folk der føler at de kunne blive helte hvis de bare var på det rigtige sted på det rigtige tidspunkt? Hvis det er det sidste, så er det Morgendagens Alvinister istedet for.

Hvorfor nu gå op i disse Kommende Heltandre? Jo, de har netop kåret en ny Årets Helt. Det er Bettina Aller, og hun er valgt ved afstemning (det kunne være sjovt at se navnene på alle de der blev opstillet), og “heltindeprisen går til fremtrædende kvinder, der har gjort en forskel i Danmark”. Det må da siges at spænde vidt. Ikke så meget fremtrædende, jo mere man er i Se og Hør, jo mere fremtrædende er man, men ‘der har gjort en forskel’ er en imponerende ting. Eller er det? At gøre en forskel er jo i bund og grund ikke mere end at skifte batterier i en lommelygte. Det er ikke en imponerende ting at gøre, men det gør da så afgjort en forskel. Nu tror jeg ikke det er det der menes, men jeg vil nok sige at det er en MEGET løs definition.

Så kommer selve begrundelsen for valget af Bettina Aller. Bemærk venligst, jeg har intet imod Bettina Aller, nærmest tværtimod. Men at skrive at hun får titlen Årets Heltinde fordi “Bettina Aller er leder med dynamik, hjerne og hjerte, og hun har en evne til konstant at udfordre sig selv”, det er da godt nok at nedgradere begrebet helt. Det kan godt være at jeg tager fejl, men hvis kvinder i al almindelighed vil have ligestilling, så sørg for at fjolser som dem bag Morgendagens Heltinder ikke er nogen der generelt tegner kvindekønnet.

Et hurtigt eksempel på en helt : For kort tid siden blev 2 unge drenge overfaldet/chikaneret i New York’s undergrundsbane (hvis jeg husker korrekt) af 2 fulde teenagere. En mand ser det, lægger sig imellem, og sørger for at stå af sammen med drengene, så de kan komme væk. Som tak for det overfalder de 2 fulde teenagere manden, og slår og sparker ham ihjel. En ganske almindelig mand, som så 2 bange børn og vidste hvad det rigtige var at gøre. Det kostede ham bare livet. Det er en helt. At være en leder med dynamik, hjerne og hjerte kan godt være imponerende, men det er godtnok ikke det samme som at være en helt. Og jeg bliver irriteret over den måde man vælger at devaluere et begreb på, for hvis Bettina Aller er en helt, hvad skal vi så kalde de rigtige helte så de ikke bliver forvekslet med ‘ledere med dynamik’?

En helt er en person der med en form for reel fare for sig selv hjælper eller redder andre uden at få noget ud af det. Ret simpelt, egentligt.

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I just found out that there is a group named Tomorrows Heroines. I admit it, I never knew they existed, so they can’t be said to make much fuzz about their existence. But they might be waiting for tomorrow to do that, of course. What the name implies is a little bit harder to guess. Is it for women who plan to do heroics tomorrow, or is it for women who likes to postphone everything until tomorrow? Or women who feels they could be heroes if they could just be at the right place at the right time? If the last reason is the case, they should be known as Tomorrows Alvinists…

But why take an interest in these Future Hero-wannabes? Well, they just named a new hero. Or rather, heroine. It is Bettina Aller, a quite sensible person who wrote a few books. And travelled a bit. She has been elected Heroine of the Year, by common vote (I really would like to see all the candidates for this title), and “the heroine-award goes to prominent women, who makes a difference in Denmark”. That is quite a wide definition. Not prominent, if you appear in the magazines in the newsstand, you are called prominent. But ‘making a difference’ sure sounds impressive. Or does it? Making a difference can be something as simple as replacing the batteries in a flashlight. It is not an impressive task, but it sure makes a difference. I don’t think that is exactly what they mean, but they don’t specify it further.

The reason itself for electing Bettina Aller is a little….awkward….too. Please note, I have nothing at all against Bettina Aller, almost on the contrary. But to claim that she is awarded the title Heroine of the Year because “Bettina Aller is a leader with dynamics, brain and heart, and she has the ability to constantly challenge herself” is to degrade the term Hero completely! I might be biased, but if women really want equal rights and treatment, they have to make sure that idiots like those behind Tomorrows Heroines doesn’t get to sound like normal representatives for women.

A quick example of a hero : A short while ago, 2 young boys were attacked/harassed in the New York subway (if I remember the place correctly), by 2 drunk teenagers, both around 19 years old. A man sees it, and stops the teens, and makes sure to get off at the same station as the 2 boys, so they can leave peacefully. As a reward, the two drunk teens attack the man and beats him to death. A completely ordinary man, who saw 2 scared children and knew what the right thing to do was. And he died due to it. Now *that* is a hero. To be a leader with dynamics, heart and brain can be impressive, but it sure isn’t being a hero. And frankly, it annoys me how some choose to deflate the term hero. If Bettina Aller is a heroine due to the listed reasons, we need a new term for the real heroes, so noone confuses them with “leaders with dynamics”.

A hero is a person who, with a real risk or danger to him or herself, helps or rescues others without benefitting from it. Quite simple, really.

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