It's rarely about social status so much as a tangible shred of self-worth some people rely on to keep from feeling shitty about themselves... Any form of superficiality is often coupled with something much deeper than you'd assume.
Not all the time though, obviously.
This made me really upset.
I operate on the principle that what other people do doesn't concern me as long as it doesn't impact me directly.
I can't even summon the judgmental tendencies to care if I wanted to past acknowledging that it's "mainstream", which seems to be your only real complaint... which isn't a very valid one in the first place.
If I wanted to go redo my wardrobe to all tank-jerseys, cargo shorts, snapbacks, and Osiris shoes, and then go ahead and grab myself some cool tat I saw somebody else sporting, I should be able to do just that without "Oh somebody's going to think I'm a crowd-following douchenozzle and get really irritated about it" in the back of my head. Because it doesn't have anything the fuck to do with them. This mindset is very far down the line from "People shouldn't make vast generalizations and blanket assumptions about me because I'm gay", but from the same vine nonetheless.
Just because a song's overplayed doesn't mean it has less of a chance to resonate with people on a deeper level.
Why do tattoos have to have some sort of meaning? It's art. On your body. You wouldn't get it if you didn't think it looked nice. So what's the issue with getting it BECAUSE it looks nice?
I can't... fathom a single one. If you don't play it off as if it was some deep meaningful permanent mark on your person, you shouldn't be judged as if you are.
Back to other people's choices not being something you need concern yourself with?
And how concerning yourself with them in the first place makes it more of a problem for you when it was originally a problem for no party involved in the first place. You're choosing to let something somebody else did to make themselves feel more confident/comfortable/attractive/just because (valid reason!) something you find issue with.
I don't think it looks nice either. But unless my opinion was asked I'd never give one because they're obviously feeling good about it and the only thing I should do is let them go about their business without casting judgement on them.
The boyfriend thing is a valid complaint because you're being assumed of having some sort of ulterior motive when you're really not but you need to understand that the defensive reply is just that-- a defensive one-- from a group of people CONSTANTLY objectified, bothered after telling people they weren't interested, the list goes on... and when it's in such abundance and frequency, it's only natural somebody would opt to just avoid the entire ordeal, despite the fact that everybody deserves a fair pass...
... but this is exactly what I'M complaining about... blanket generalizations and assumptions based on what somebody looks like...
Don't like it? Don't do it. They don't have the life experience or wisdom to see how this may effect them negatively. But they're not negatively impacting anyone else with their own actions (be they childish, independent, what-have-you) so who's *god damn* place is it to go and get up in arms about the entire damn activity? Not mine, not yours, not anybody's. They want to blacken their lungs before third block? They'll have to deal with it when it finally catches up to them.
Logic? They want to. Consequence? Their own. Party involved? Themselves. People who should be mad about it? Themselves, when they end up addicted.
TL;DR Nobody needs to validate their actions or choices to anybody else, because they are their own.
Nobody has the right to get mad at somebody for something that casts a grand total of zilch negative light on others. If they're not involving unwilling participants or doing things to emotionally/physically harm someone else, WHERE IS THE HARM OR ISSUE?
If you can't afford a smidgeon of patience for the people around you you're going to be angry with a lot of things for a long time.
That IS sexism.