='w'= Baby, I was born this way!

First of all, I'd like to say that as a Japanophile, it is my sworn duty to hate anything distinctly Americanized in any way, shape, or form. This applies especially to Lady Gaga, whom I hate with a passion that is more fiery hot and burning than any other type of passion. (Seriously, just looking at one of her music videos makes me shudder with horror =,= ) But I have to admit, her lyrics for the song "Born this Way" are surprisingly good O_O (then I saw the music video, and lost all hope for the strange singer whose name is reminiscent of a babbling baby). Which brings us to our main topic: social conformity.

As much as I dislike Gaga, I really need to give her some credit for having the guts to do something so outlandish. Seriously though, what type of singer would jeopardize their multi-million dollar career to express themselves in the most bizarre ways possible? (Of course, being bizarre has become one of Gaga's selling points by now. =,=)

Moving on to a different singer, one of my all time favorite singers from Japan is Piko (as shown in the picture above). His vocal range is amazing and I love his songs. Yet, I'm reluctant to tell others about him. Why? Because occasionally he wears gender ambiguous clothing while he sings at a vocal range that is indistinguishable from a girl's. This really shouldn't bother me, because I like the fact that he can sing on the same level as Gazelle and I don't really care what he wears. Yet, mother culture has taught me that cross-dressing is unacceptable and I follow those rules.

I've often said to myself "screw the social norms", but next thing I know, I'm acting like a total conformist, going against what I originally believed in order to follow the social norms. In psychology, it has been proved that people tend to follow what is socially acceptable in order to become accepted. Yet, in today's society, it seems like the ones who have the most fun and become the most successful are those who ignore the social norms and act on their own. We are all restricted by social norms, yet all it is is a mental barrier that doesn't really exist. Its important to understand that when a person sees someone who isn't within the social norms, their initial reaction is NOT scorn, but surprise and a desire to know more about the person before making a judgement. Even knowing this, it is still incredibly difficult to break out of this mindset.

I often have this conversation with a friend of mine who is bi-sexual (or maybe even lesbian, I can't tell at this moment). Her hair changes color every month and she is proud to have a girlfriend with whom she can been seen with nine out of ten times. I think she is an amazing and brave person who really has broken away from the mindset, but even she admits that she often has trouble ignoring the social norms. The only other person I know who has broken the mold even further is a straight girl who hangs around with the lesbian group at school, wears neon expressive colors every day, and isn't afraid to give a hug or express herself at any given moment. I often feel fake just by standing in her proximity.

I guess all I can really do is to try to fight off the mindset. It may be awkward at times, but that awkwardness is really just in the head. So until then, ROW, ROW, FIGHT THE POWER