I stress out whenever I see 'About Me' free type fields. How do you sum yourself up in a limited number of characters, trying to convey all the little quirks/passions/obsessions that make you you? The pressure we put on ourselves to be all things to all folk is really quite disturbing - trying to convey coolness, remoteness, transparency and privacy. Even being a dag is cool now - which is of great relief to all of us who had mile-high fringes in highschool.
Of course the whole 'about me' issue gets even worse once you decide to adopt a pseudonym (as I have), because then you spend your time conflicted between wanting to know and connect with people, and wanting to keep your real identity a secret. At the end of the day, as it is, if you knew me irl, and stumbled upon this, you'd probably recognise me. I type like I talk, I like what I like, and I can't be bothered trying to hide my gender/preferences/beliefs/love of all things green.
And why do I even have a pseudonym, you might ask? I think I like the back door it provides, the ability to say what I think and feel without the potential for embarrassing others (any more than I have. I love you, Mum). It could also be a result of being stalked in highschool - I think every girl should be stalked at least once to teach her the value of privacy and the dangers of exhibitionism.. Just imagine how much more palatable sites like myspace and facebook would be if we'd all had a nice little injection of paranoia at an early age.
Not that I'm advocating stalking, despite what I've just written... but I can't help but recognise how much safer I've been as a result, taking care in my overseas rambles and on night-time excursions to always look after myself.
Speaking of rambles, forgive my tangent. I'm forever letting them show in public and I apologise.
You know what? I'm going to publish this. Because I can. And because you might think I'm cool, and one day we'll meet irl and you'll realise that no matter what weezer/harry potter/chuck say, some dags really are sheep droppings.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment