My Boyfriend Wouldn't Like It

I always thought this was the most bullshit excuse to not do anything.

I can kind of understand:

• it's illegal.
• my parents would kick me out.
• I don't want to.
• it would probably kill us.

But really. Where's the fun in any of those reasons, anyway?

The only reason things are illegal is because a. they're too much fun to do b. they'll probably kill you. Which makes them even more fun and exciting. Adrenaline junkie much? Perhaps.

Anyway. One excuse I could never and will never understand is "my boyfriend wouldn't like it". How bullshit and cowardly is that?

Then again. I never really understood the point of having a boyfriend, either. But that's beside the point.

I can kind-of understand not doing something because of one's parents. But I always did things anyway because I don't care who you are: I don't care what you think. For example, here is a list of things I did that my parents disapproved of:

• Getting my tongue pierced when I was 17. (I didn't bother asking because they always told me I wasn't allowed to have it done if I lived with them.)
• Getting my nipples pierced a week later.
• Getting my ears pierced multiple times after asking and having them say no. (That time was funny. I was 16, which is legal in Ontario to get pierced. So I asked if I could get my second holes done... and they said no. So I did it anyway because I was legally allowed to. I didn't even bother asking before getting my 3rd holes done.)
• Getting tattoos. (I got all but one after I turned 18, so they really couldn't do anything but shake their heads anyway. What did they expect? I was always going to have tattoos.)
• Dyeing my hair black. (This is dumb. For years my mother wouldn't let my dye my hair black because she thought it would look "witchy". I am partially Spanish and Native American, why on Earth would black hair look anything but natural on someone with my complexion? I did it anyway and it looked fine. Just like I always thought it would.)
• Dyeing my hair weird colours. (I just kind of stopped asking after a while and did whatever I wanted.)
• Wearing makeup.
• Wearing short shorts and skirts.

Anyway, my point is that someone is always going to object to something about your appearance. But you're the only one who has to actually live with it, so why on Earth would you possibly adhere to what anyone else wanted you to look like? Then they get to choose how they look and how you look? That's not really fair, is it?

I have always thought that appearance is one of the biggest forms of self-expression and to repress someone by telling them how to look is just fucking terrible. I don't care if my son wants to dye his hair pink and wear skirts or if my daughter wants 6 holes in her lips and a tattoo on her face. It's not my body and therefore none of my business. I have never, ever thought that the appearance of a child would ever have any sort of reflection on a parent... which is what I have always thought was my parents' reason for not letting me get bits of metal put into my body a whole lot sooner than I did.

When I was 18, I had a zebra stripe mohawk, 4 lip piercings, and 2 tongue piercings. My bratty cousin came up to me at the Christmas party and said, "You look weird." My reply was "I am weird." At the most recent Christmas party, I looked less like a rebellious 18-year-old and more like a punk rock 20-year-old. By that, I mean, facially more normal but with a shit load more tattoos. And my cousin looks like Justin Bieber. I win.

Anyway, back to my point, which is that looking anyway to please anyone but yourself is bullshit. The one and only time I had a boyfriend who said anything about my appearance was when I was 17 and had to dye my hair back to brown for the school play. It had been bright orange. He didn't really want me to. I said "Oh well. Too bad. It's not up to you what I do with my hair." And that was it. No big deal.

Also. Definitely always listen to Chelsea Smile. I detested this song when I was 18 and now I fucking love it. Bring Me The Horizon isn't so bad. And Oli Sykes is hot.