This past week, I had an interesting thought leap into my head while driving back from Tucson. I had my iPod plugged into my stereo and was enjoying a collective mix of all things from Creedence to Pearl Jam, when all of a sudden a Carrie Underwood song came on following a long and drawn-out 20-minute Dave Matthews solo.
I, driving my convertible where all of the world could hear what I was listening to, and I instinctively reached for the volume knob to turn it down. But why?
God forbid some hot blonde should drive by and see me tapping my fingers to “Wasted.”
Sure, some guys have painted fingernails and wear really tight low-rise pants, and that is simply acceptable. Others watch “The Hills” and “The OC,” and that is fine. I just always associated that with a different type of person than myself.
But does it say something about me that I was deathly afraid someone might actually catch me in one of my more vulnerable moments listening to Carrie Underwood? What about Kelly Clarkson or the Dixie Chicks, both of which are also on my iPod?
Let me explain a little about myself before we go on further to help you understand the situation:
I am 6 feet 3 inches, about 170 lbs and enjoy such masculine things as going to the gym, watching baseball and going to bars to meet chicks. I rarely watch MTV and couldn’t even really tell you who Lauren Conrad or Spencer “whatever-his-name-is” is. I consider myself to be just about your average early-20s white guy who is a bit of a renaissance man.
But I recently traded in my Great Clips membership card for monthly trips to Toni and Guy, I now enjoy shopping at American Apparel and Urban Outfitters, and I obviously have some pretty feminine singers on my iPod.
Have I simply gotten older and my tastes matured? Or does it more have something to do with our society and the way it inevitably changes to allow for certain lines to be crossed and bridges of separation between the sexes to be burned down to ashes? Either way, I see it as a good thing.
We shouldn’t be afraid that we secretly feel a bit sad when we listen to the Dixie Chicks sing “Travelin’ Soldier,” and we shouldn’t have to hide the fact that we just paid 50 bucks for a haircut.
Society has given us terms to describe people like this in nice and politically correct ways such as “metrosexual” and “I always thought Matt Damon was a real Streisand …” but I feel that we do not need these classifications and boundaries. I propose that in 15 or 20 years the lines between the sexes will be so much smaller and vague that we will no longer need to describe people in such a manner.
Don’t be afraid, guys, to hide your DVD box set of “The OC” when you have someone come over to your place, or the fact that you have not one but two copies of “13 Going on 30.” Let the world know that that is simply who you are and if people aren’t willing to accept you for you, then it is their problem, not yours.
So if you happen to drive by me again sometime in the next few weeks and find me listening to “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin, don’t judge me. Compliment me on having the balls to listen to what I enjoy and not being afraid of it.
Alex has the Maxim calendar on his wall and thinks that Miss March is looking pretty good, so don’t get the wrong idea. Contact him at
alex.bolt@asu.edu.
