So for as long as I can remember I dress how I wanted and did my own hobbies. Colorful or alternative clothing, being a open and accepting person, that kind of stuff. And I suffered a great deal of ridicule for it in my hometown, being called gay and whatnot.

So years go by and I continue to be me, you know. Dress in my own type of clothes, enjoy my coffee while reading a book outside, whatever. And after leaving my hometown and moving into the big city some years ago I finally felt like I found a place where I could do such things without facing homophobia.

Only now this whole ‘aesthetic’ has been hijacked by the performative male meme which is now, imo, turning into another form of homphobia (haha real men can’t read books or wear flashy outfits by themselves, they must be acting to get laid!). It is reinforcing patriarchic views of what men can and cannot like. Men can’t like stuff women happen to like without ulterior motives, or without being gay.