I'll finish with the last question:
36. OK, I know you're waiting for this one. - the pink hair. discuss in detail
My Pink Manifesto:
For me, pink started as a sort of ?anti-Macho" thing. By embracing pink it was a way to sort of flaunt the traditional (and irrational) gender and sexual orientation rules.
For years I had long hair and was always fascinated when children would assume I was a girl. Long hair + earrings = girl. That type of reasoning helps a person make sense of the world. But those types of assumptions are also the beginning of the ?narrowing" of life that occurs through socialization. Society teaches us the ?acceptable" paths and options. By the time we are grown up, it is almost impossible to even comprehend non-traditional options. Of course you go to college after High School. Of course you get married. Of course you work towards a stable job and an accumulation of wealth.
Now, I am not saying that anything is wrong with those choices. In fact, they make tons of sense and will help a person avoid lots of unnecessary frustrations. The problem comes when people stop being able to see that they even *have* other options.
When I was in college, I gave up on my dreams of being an artist or writer because they were irrational paths. It took be 10 years (and a few trips to Burning Man) to re-open my eyes to possibility. (Of course it took me another 5 years to understand the importance of commerce and money, but that is a different rant altogether.)
So, to get back to the point?
Pink represents a disregard for the established rules.
If the pink haired guy wearing eyeliner isn?t gay?then it forces a person to consciously evaluate. The normal assumptions are no help.
Of course, disregarding the rules often meets resistance. I can?t tell you how many times someone has yelled ?FAG!" at me from a moving vehicle. Why do people react so strongly? Because anyone who exists outside the ?rules" is distressing. If a person doesn?t follow the traditional path, they I am forced to make 1 of 2 choices: I can either re-evaluate my world view to accommodate this exception. Or 2) I can attack and reject that person. It is FAR easier to yell ?FAG!" than it is to do some introspection and shift one?s world view.
Of course, all of this ?road less traveled" stuff is not pink-specific. But it is the basis for the flamboyant appearance that I have embraced for the last decade. Pink, as a color and a concept, embodies all of the above, but at the same time highlights the sexual aspect.
To us, Pink is the place where feminine and masculine, Gay and straight, overlap. It is the color of passion and kisses. It is the color of cockheads and vulvas. It is the color that we ALL share on the inside. It represents the most innocent and nastiest of our impulses. And by embracing the pink, we are saying that we embrace ALL elements of our physical selves and our sexual beings.
Vanilla sex is beautiful. So is violent BDSM. So is foot worship, bisexual strap-on play, Gay knoodling, or Vibrator-fueled masturbation.
Anything that stems from honesty is beautiful?and
PINK.
PINK is about loving more and fearing less.
PINK is about rejecting shame.
PINK is about embracing our sexuality as a source of power and spiritual connection.
PINK is about saying, ?I reject the judgments of my socialization. I am not a slut or pervert as you have defined those words. I am a pure and perfect human being. My sexuality is a gift, not a curse. And I refuse to clean it up, tone it down, or be quiet about it because it makes anyone else feel uncomfortable."
So there. Now,
PINK"Spread the Pink!!!?
**For most people this ?declaration" is to themselves and their partner (and not a public stance.) Pink hair is over-the-top symbolic, and obviously not intended for everyone.
