- #1
zoobyshoe
- 6,510
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Before you object and declare that you NEVER go out of your way to be "cool" or socially acceptable, think twice. You may be enough on the nerdy side that you'd never get a piercing or tattoo, but, in the pursuit of that nerdiness, say, have you never bought a piece of technology or a program that you felt was necessary to keep up with the geeks in your circle?
Everyone has a crowd they identify with which usually requires some effort for membership, to signal to others of the same kind you're one of them.
I happen to know a lot of lesbians, for example, and find that a large percentage of them do, indeed, wear their hair on the short side, and they tend to pick styles of short hair that de-feminize them. I think that's kind of a sacrifice for the sake of telegraphing their sexuality to others.
In my thread on the "F" word some admitted they don't use it unless around others who do. That's another example.
I don't remember exactly when it was, but something like 8 or 9 years ago when I was already in my late forties I discovered that EVERYONE else in the world seemed to be involved in this bizarre fad activity that I had no interest in. It came up so often in conversation without me being able to participate that I began to feel like ignorant hairy animal living in a brush shelter in the woods for all I knew about it.
And so, at great expense and much greater trouble I buckled down and set to work figuring out how to get on to "The Internet".
My motivation was nothing but the desire to not fall behind, to be able to get what people were saying when they talked about it. So, I have to say I am probably willing to go relatively far for the sake of fitting in, despite not thinking of myself as prone to fads.
In a like vein, a few weeks ago I sat and watched several Lady Gaga videos just so I'd know what the hell the references meant.
What's your story? Confess how far you've gone just to fit in.
Everyone has a crowd they identify with which usually requires some effort for membership, to signal to others of the same kind you're one of them.
I happen to know a lot of lesbians, for example, and find that a large percentage of them do, indeed, wear their hair on the short side, and they tend to pick styles of short hair that de-feminize them. I think that's kind of a sacrifice for the sake of telegraphing their sexuality to others.
In my thread on the "F" word some admitted they don't use it unless around others who do. That's another example.
I don't remember exactly when it was, but something like 8 or 9 years ago when I was already in my late forties I discovered that EVERYONE else in the world seemed to be involved in this bizarre fad activity that I had no interest in. It came up so often in conversation without me being able to participate that I began to feel like ignorant hairy animal living in a brush shelter in the woods for all I knew about it.
And so, at great expense and much greater trouble I buckled down and set to work figuring out how to get on to "The Internet".
My motivation was nothing but the desire to not fall behind, to be able to get what people were saying when they talked about it. So, I have to say I am probably willing to go relatively far for the sake of fitting in, despite not thinking of myself as prone to fads.
In a like vein, a few weeks ago I sat and watched several Lady Gaga videos just so I'd know what the hell the references meant.
What's your story? Confess how far you've gone just to fit in.
