“I bought roller skates for myself. But they’re men’s. The women’s were pink and white and I didn’t want to feel 9 years old.”
-Elizabeth
 

Every single person who has ever lived, has lived in a “new world.” It’s always changing, always has, and always will. The concepts of stereotypes, gender roles, adulthood, language, art, etc., all the threads that make up the tapestry of social culture are ever changing. Now, faster than ever.

I can totally understand my wife’s comment, but it reminded me of a time, long long ago, when I was first getting glasses. It was a big blow to any concept of “coolness” I might have allowed my insecure teen self. I was about to become a four-eyes. But, I needed to SEE, and “not walking into poles” trumped style. So, my mom and I headed to the optometrist.

As much as I wanted to become an adult back then, I can remember being worried that I would look like an “old person” when I was still a kid. Or that I’d choose “lame” glasses and look… well, lame. I can recall the panic I felt looking over the options, not knowing which ones were “guy” glasses or “girl” glasses, casting about for signs or posters that might give some indication. I was relieved when I discovered intimidating walls and rotating pillars of glasses were mostly unisexual. A new word for me that made my teen self chuckle internally, by the way.

Looking back on those thoughts and anxieties I had then about conformity, expectation and acceptance, from the perspective of the present “new world” I live in now, I like a lot of the changes that I see unfolding. Our tapestry seems woven of a more flexible fiber, with less rigid pictures stitched into it.

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Not all heads were created equal

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