The other day I went to the wedding of the son of a good friend of mine and one of the bridesmaids (I think it was the bride's cousin) was a manly looking woman with short purple hair that honestly made me wonder if she wrote for the Mary Sue, Star Wars, or worked for a video game company or Marvel/DC.
The actual ceremony was no more than 25 minutes and I couldn't help wondering why she couldn't just wear a dress (of course she dressed like a dude and stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the other bridesmaids) for that little bit of time. I said a prayer for her because she is young and maybe one day she will realize that she looks silly trying to act like a man.
I remember when I still worked in HR the first time I came across the phrase "gender non conforming" or "doesn't conform to traditional gender roles". This was like 07 so I didn't think anything of it, but I never would've imagined it would get as insane as it has.
Or talent.
It used to be that one could develop a skill like drawing or guitar or something and feel special or even be special to your close friends or spouse.
Now it's like oh you can play guitar? Here's a guy on youtube that can play two different Clapton songs simultaneously on one guitar while answering chat.
The people that still try to learn a skill or a talent because they just want to master something still feel good about themselves because they've accomplished something, but most people that just wanted to be special don't even try and feel even more pathetic for it.
Back when we were in villages of 200 or even a few thousand, it was quite easy to be the best at something. Everyone had a valued skill
Social media is a poison.