Expression

Do you remember the first time when you were told you can’t do something because it doesn’t fit your gender role? I think mine was something stupid like listening to Katy Perry. My headphones disconnected be accident and suddenly ‘The One That Got Away’ started blasting, which encouraged a friend at the time to say, “Look at this bender listening to Katy Perry, his vagina has definitely started developing.” I look at that now and laugh, but I remember at the time I was crushed and stopped listening to anything like that, cleared my playlists and filled them with mainstream music that everyone was listening to because I wanted to fit in.

Expressing your true self and showing people your actual interests shouldn’t be something we are scared to do. Enjoying different things in life is something that makes you unique from everyone else and it shouldn’t be something we hide, we should flaunt it and want to show to the world, not caring about what others think. That’s something I have learnt over time and I want others to realise this too, especially within the younger generation.

Fuck what anyone else thinks. You want to wear a dress even though you are male? Do it. You want to go down the pub and have a pint even though you are a girl? Do it. No one’s fucking stopping you and they will never, because other people’s opinions of you don’t matter. Fuck society. Fuck gender roles. Fuck stereotypes.

When people first meet me, I have been asked countless times if I was gay. This is due to my whole demeanour I guess. I have a couple of piercings; I wear a lot of pink and you will never not catch me wearing tight skinny jeans. Even though this has become the norm and sometimes it can be frustrating that people can judge my sexuality by the way I look but I’ll never change. Why? Because I like the way a look, I feel comfortable. You should never feel like you should change the way you look or the way you act to fit into certain social norms.

A huge inspiration for me was a music artist named YungBlud, he has a questionable reputation, however I am in love with his ideologies when it comes to expression. Last month he published a tweet along with a photo that put a genuine smile on my face because of the war that he is fighting against gender roles.

“expression is freedom. fuck what they think. be. who. you. are.”

Never give up.

Don’t Stop.