FEATURED VOICES:
Queer Feature: Anonymous Submission
In Collaboration with Manhattan University Pride Center
Question: Do you ever feel pressure to tone down or adjust your presentation for safety or comfort?
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Answer By: Anonymous
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Growing up among a relatively conservative crowd truly shaped my fashion choices, especially in grade school. I remember always trying to acclimate myself to whatever everyone else was wearing—unfortunately, that ranged from Nike Dry-Fit to the unreasonably expensive and bland Vineyard Vines. I kept feeling the composition of my clothes, hoping that somewhere in the fabric I’d find myself. Though these were not my clothes.
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It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I finally started wearing what I actually felt comfortable in. As I grew through college, that recognition of my own fashion sense only expanded. I’ve noticed that nobody really gives a damn in NYC, and that freedom has been liberating.
Despite the comfort I’ve acquired in not only my clothes but in myself, there are still moments—around certain crowds in the city, on campus, or in my hometown—where I feel eyes lingering. It’s
unknown to me whether they linger in admiration, curiosity, or disgust.
I remember wearing an outfit as simple as a black tank top and shorts in my hometown grocery store, and even then, I felt eyes tracing my appearance. My mother complimented me, saying I’ve gained a newborn confidence—reminding me that I never would have gone out in public wearing that before college. I’ve never felt a level of pressure that made me want to change what I wear. To be honest, I don’t even think the lingering eyes make me uncomfortable anymore; I choose to recognize the focused eyes as admiration rather than judgment.
So I say: let them look. Maybe it’ll inspire the naysayers to add something new to their own wardrobes.