Why is it that conforming to a certain norm is seen as a sign of maturity? Too much emphasis is put on outward appearance. It seems that being comfortable with who one is and not being afraid of what people think would be more of a sign of a maturity. I am reminded of something from Le petit prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A presentation is made about an asteroid by a Turkish scientist. He is not taken seriously, because he is not dressed in European attire. Later a law is passed in Turkey imposing European clothing, and he makes the same presentation again. This time he is taken seriously. How many times do we do the same thing? I know that I have been guilty of this. At times I have tried to see how far I can go in expressing my individuality through my appearance. Some people think that I do this to shock. The main reason that I do this is that I want to be as comfortable as I can be in every situation. The more I can express who I am the more comfortable I am. I would be happier if there was not a big deal made of this. Once I tried to get a job working at a gay-owned bookstore. I was told that the attire that I normally wore was not appropriate for the environment. I was not dressed "professionally" enough, yet a couple of guys working there wore leather attire. I pointed this out to the owner, hoping he would loosen up his views on my attire. Instead he said that he was going to have a stricter policy about work attire. I have more to say on this, but I have to get ready for work.
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