Frightened, ignorant people may be able to tell me what to do; but frightened, ignorant people will NEVER tell me what to think.
This was at 7:30am on my day off, and I got up to write down my dream. I often forget them, and it seemed so urgent not to let this thought go.
This has never happened, but in the dream a female coworker misconstrued something I said as making a pass at her, and it made her angry and embarrassed. I thought, but apparently couldn't say, you aren't the type of woman I would hit on were I to approach a woman that way.
The coworker then morphed into a woman I know well but don't work with. We were at a fancy dress movie premiere in a tent with folding chairs. I had gotten up from my chair and left my shoes under it. In an effort to disassociate herself from my supposed advances, she picked up my shoes and, one at a time, threw them to the front of the theater. I was standing right in front of her, but she didn't notice because she was so concerned about what everyone else thought about her. I waited until she finally looked me in the eye. She felt bad and left. A funny detail--at least half the audience in the tent is gay or bi. How do I know this? It's my dream, silly!
I don't think the homosexuality issue is important at all in this dream, from what I know of the real attitudes of all present in it. Any touchy issue could be substituted. What strikes me are these points:
- I couldn't deny a specific taboo action without admitting to it in general principal, thereby bringing the same social censure and punishment
- Fear of ridicule or being outcast leads us to sacrifice each other to save ourselves
- Many more people than will ever admit it are engaging in the activities for which they publicly denounce others
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