Our Gender Insecurities

One of my biggest pet peeves in shopping for clothes, and really this goes both ways, is that in the men's department, if anything is even a slightly female shade, the designer felt they had to "manly it up" in some fashion.  I can't tell you how difficult it is to find a pink, purple, or yellow shirt tailored for men without it...

• actually being salmon, or some variant
• having pinstripes
• being a really dark "manly" shade of pink
• being mixed with another, "manlier" color

Walking through clothing stores is an exercise in futility.  Red, gray, navy blue, red, red, black, brown.  Where the hell is my royal blue, purple, pink, or yellow?

I'm not alone, women get it too.  Try shopping for sports team apparel for women without sifting through pink glitterfied jersey upon pink glitterfied hoodie.  It's as if designers think these superficial things will make people forget who or what we are.  I like sports, but I'm still girly, see, pink!  I like nontraditional colors, but I'm still manly, see, pinstripes!

I can't understand why we think we need an excuse to like some of the things we like, or at the very least, something mainstream within them that we can attach ourselves to.  Is there something wrong with guys going to see romantic comedies, and girls going to see action movies?  Because that's not what guys and girls do.  Because...uh...

You see the problem I, and many other people who consider themselves anything from atypical males and females to transgendered have.  Our society has "rules" that can seem so rigid at times, and yet are based on absolutely nothing at all.  And not everyone has the confidence to say fuck off to those that might look down on them and judge them for it.  Frustrating.