This morning while walking my dog, I considered the political differences between living in the suburbs and living in the city.
I've written about city living before and you can read it here: City or Suburbs?
A while back I told one of my suburban friends that I saw a man wearing a dress. Then I saw another one and I've seen a few more. I see all kinds of men and women walking down the street holding hands. I see ethnic clothing and lots of make-up free women. All things that were rare in the suburbs where I lived.
My suburban friend told me he would not be comfortable with a man in a dress.
I asked him who decided that only women can wear dresses. What about kilts?
He said that didn't matter, it makes him uncomfortable.
I see vast political differences between many city and suburban citizens. I honestly believe it is because city dwellers see so much more of life and differences (diversity) in the people that live here. Because accepting one another as simply expressing being human is the norm.
I know when I first moved to the city, my head turned a lot seeing all the things I would have labeled "weird" in the suburbs.
But who gets to define weird? Suburbanites?
As long as the "weird" people aren't violent, why do people care? Isn't holding hands a sign of love? Isn't a dress freeing and comfortable to wear? Do clothes matter that much? Aren't values more important?
Why does that stuff matter?
Being normal is a construct defined by white men with money. If not fitting in that construct creates discomfort to the suburbanites who never see it, then let's change the construct of normal.
And that's why cities are the arbiters of change. You're generally accepted for who you are, not how you dress in cities.
What is "normal" has to shift. And minds need to shift to more open and liberal thoughts about the definition of, and who decides what is normal.