07-01-2014, 04:57 PM
Patti, you have a way of making the wheels turn round and round in my head. 
I was thinking about your post yesterday where you wrote:
It's a good question. I tried to answer it for myself and came up with an insight that surprised me.
These "digital acquaintances" make up a "digital society" that I've chosen to be a part of. It's a nice place to be. I can be much more myself here with respect to my gender identity than I can in the real world. And, like in the real world, I have an investment here; for better or worse I have established an image, a persona, that you all have come to know more or less. I think that's true for all of us who post here frequently. Each of us has chosen to present an image that we want others to see, and not just in headless pictures. It may be a more honest image than in real society in many ways, but still limited by how we think members here will judge us. People always want to fit in somewhere. There are unwritten rules and standards of decorum in this digital society. For example, we don't talk much about or sexual lives, and if sex comes up, graphic detail is avoided. Is that not being dishonest, or just abiding by the community standards that have taken shape here. Do you see what I mean?
It can be just as hard to "come out" with some aspect of ourselves here as it is in our real world lives when we value the relationships that we have invested in here and want to preserve how we are perceived.
So I ask myself is there something that I'm not revealing about myself that I could reveal if I wasn't apprehensive about it? Sure. Is not revealing that something being dishonest with myself? Not necessarily. I just may not see where there is anything to be gained by doing so. No offense to any of my friends here. It's just that in any society, real or virtual, we all wear masks of one form or another.
Any comments pro or con?
CK
I was thinking about your post yesterday where you wrote:
(07-01-2014, 04:17 AM)PattiJT Wrote: Face it, no one just wants breasts, it's usually more, and therefore to admit such, puts them in a position of admitting they are far more removed from the normality of society. I understand if you want to hide it from those close to you, but why the concern among those of us here? If you can't admit these feelings and desires to "digital acquaintances", then I don't see how you can ever really explain it to even yourself.
It's a good question. I tried to answer it for myself and came up with an insight that surprised me.
These "digital acquaintances" make up a "digital society" that I've chosen to be a part of. It's a nice place to be. I can be much more myself here with respect to my gender identity than I can in the real world. And, like in the real world, I have an investment here; for better or worse I have established an image, a persona, that you all have come to know more or less. I think that's true for all of us who post here frequently. Each of us has chosen to present an image that we want others to see, and not just in headless pictures. It may be a more honest image than in real society in many ways, but still limited by how we think members here will judge us. People always want to fit in somewhere. There are unwritten rules and standards of decorum in this digital society. For example, we don't talk much about or sexual lives, and if sex comes up, graphic detail is avoided. Is that not being dishonest, or just abiding by the community standards that have taken shape here. Do you see what I mean?
It can be just as hard to "come out" with some aspect of ourselves here as it is in our real world lives when we value the relationships that we have invested in here and want to preserve how we are perceived.
So I ask myself is there something that I'm not revealing about myself that I could reveal if I wasn't apprehensive about it? Sure. Is not revealing that something being dishonest with myself? Not necessarily. I just may not see where there is anything to be gained by doing so. No offense to any of my friends here. It's just that in any society, real or virtual, we all wear masks of one form or another.
Any comments pro or con?
CK