Popular culture

Popular culture seems to idolize a certain way of living. As I listened to “Pop That Pussy” by 2 Live Crew, I couldn’t help but notice the themes: open sex, partying hard, doing drugs, and living without limits. The message is clear—freedom means indulgence. In another one of their songs, “Banned in the USA,” the group pushes back against censorship, arguing that their lyrics are misunderstood and not meant to promote violence or disrespect toward women. They claim to be simply expressing pleasure and freedom in a new era, pushing against the morals of those who don’t understand—likely white, conservative America. Hearing those lyrics made me reflect on the current state of popular culture, especially from my perspective as a middle-class white guy in my early twenties. Today, in much of rap, movies, and TikTok, there’s this ever-present sense that to be “free” is to act on every desire. If you want to fuck, you fuck. If you want to do drugs, you do them. If you want to party and lose ...

Rules

It's not that I'm shy, its more so that I have rules in my head for how the world works. Really, I spend all my time trying to refine these rules. I'll take input from my surroundings like someone saying something and the reaction(output) to that something. Then if it occurs enough or I see it online enough I will make it a default rule. So When I'm at work or in other social situations I weave through conversations and interactions, not trying to break any of these rules. A big one for me is showing any interest whatsoever. I want to be wanted and hard to get. When I hear others talking about going out together, what I really want to say is, "can i come?" but under my rules that is deemed desperate and they would think I'm a loser.

On a separate but related note, I feel this effects the way I walk. I'm so tense cause I don't want to be exposed as something, because having an identify can lead to others hurting it.

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