My annoying rant

[Sovereign]

I agree with much of what has been said, but I still feel like I have something to add.

It seems like too many people see things in black and white. Specifically (as a guy), either you're "overly sensitive and possibly gay" (for trying to be something other than a testosterone-driven maniac) or you're "a sex-crazed ****-ing machine." It's as if there's no in-between.

I guess it boils down to "expected gender roles"--we somehow want to both live them (because they provide cognitive shortcuts to what we "should" or "should not" do) yet we reject them for, among other things, helping lead to the objectification of women and dumbing down of men.

I will freely admit to thinking about whether I find someone of the opposite sex "attractive" or not. I don't think there's any harm in that. Where the problem comes in is when one translates thoughts of the person's physical appearance to their value as an individual. Just as perspective, there have been many different definitions of what "looks good" over time: for example in ancient China baby girls' feet were bound and crushed to make them as small as possible. This was considered the mark of highest beauty. During the Victorian (I think) era there was an obsession with corsets and using them to obtain a very specific waist measurement (the number eludes me).

It amazes me that these "fashions" are so fleeting in a historical sense, but can do so much damage to peoples' lives while they are in force. To me, there's personal fashion (which is one's self-expression as an individual and barring actual self-harm isn't really something I feel I should judge) and societal fashion (the expectations I was just talking about). The latter category encompasses both "Women should be ___" and "You don't wear jean shorts to a business meeting."

Now, while I'm generally supportive of personal "expression" I also don't like people who are purely negative about it, i.e. "I'm not doing X specifically because everyone else is." I see that as an ironic case of someone "rebelling" by allowing what "everyone else" is doing to dictate what they do (if everyone else A, I then not-A).

Anyway, my Photoshop install went south and I really should go to bed (and stop typing so much).