As I’ve gotten older I’ve begun to question so many traditional positions of things. Where we live and how often we see our friends, public nudity, monogamy or the lack thereof, gender roles and crossdressing, sexual attraction, forms of government, philosophy and religious belief of lack thereof. There are so many things one can question. But it always begins with:

Why do we do that?

Most people don’t ever really think deeply about any of these things. They carry on with their day to day lives allowing pop culture to tell them what music they should listen to, how they should dress, what they should drive, what gadgets to desire, how many kids they should have and even what they should ultimately believe about life and universe around them.

I’ve gotten bored with what is expected of me from society around me.

Conforming to norms is ok to a certain degree, but it all depends on how open those norms are to begin with. Even though I live in the United States, we have norms don’t always feel so free. Even if not law, social expectations come in and push you down. Why can’t I go to the beach naked here? Why do I have to stay in a committed relationship with only one person, why can’t I be in a committed relationship with more than one person? I have more than one friend. Why do we all have to live miles way from each other and plan outings only once every two weeks, can’t we all hang out every day like we did in high school? why do I have to choose a label for my sexual orientation when it waxes and wanes every day or week depending on the person I’m attracted to or how I feel?

It’s enough to make me feel trapped because of these expectations and norms. Trapped not because I couldn’t do some of these things, but because more people don’t do them. It’s one thing to decide for yourself that you want to have an open relationship, it’s another thing to find someone else who desires the same thing, and another beyond that to find a third or fourth person who also feels the same way.

The same can be applied to public or private nudity, politics, gender philosophy and so on. If I want to wear a skirt as a man out in public, it’s perfectly easy for me to accept that for myself, but it’s a whole new ball game when people are looking at you with a disgusting face and murmuring things to each other.

I just wish people could accept more than the norms they’ve been told to follow.