"Authentic pride that's rooted in actual achievement supports self-confidence and leadership (Tracy et al., 2009; Williams & DeSteno, 2009). Self-serving perceptions underlie conflicts ranging from blaming one's spouse for marital discord to arrogantly promoting one's own ethnic superiority. Finding their self-esteem threatened, people with large egos may do more than put others down; they may react violently. 'Aryan pride' fueled Nazi atrocities. 'These biases have the effect of making wars more likely to begin and more difficult to end,' note Daniel Kahneman and Jonathan Renshon (2007)." -- Page 566
Gay culture has grown to be more acceptable in today's society. However, it is no where near acceptable enough to be able to be openly accepted by everyone. Many gay people lack the confidence to embrace their pride in who they are, which is fed by the strong arrogance portrayed in the heterosexual culture. Confidence is something that, in general, the gay culture seems to lack a lot of. The man in this image, barely clothed, symbolizes a slow change in the shift from a lack of confidence to being full of confidence, unafraid to embrace his pride in who he is, and also be seen with the infamous rainbow flag that symbolizes the ongoing struggle. I, a gay man, am no longer afraid. I've built up the strength to stand against the heterosexual culture, embracing my "authentic pride" in who I am -- a confident, proud, gay man.
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