Daring to be a bit different

I was the girl with the "mallchick" hair, six-inch earrings, purple lipstick and Bon Jovi T-shirt.

In a school system where penny loafers hugged nine out of 10 pairs of feet, you could see how I could become a target for jokes.

As far as I can remember, I have always been different. However, I have not always been proud of my differences because the message I received in grammar school, as well as high school, was that being different made me inferior to others.

I was picked on in school for more than a few years, but a long time ago I promised myself that no matter how n:mch the remarks of others hurt me I would not change. If I wore purple lipstick and people did not like it, I kept wearing it in order to be true to myself

I used to believe that it was Roman Catholicism that set the standards for what is "nonnal." Then I believed that it was just the yuppie area in which I grew up. Now that I am an adult, I have come to the realization that it is society that defines the nonn. Society does not like it when somebody dresses, thinks or believes differently than the nonn. Unless we choose otherwise, our thinking is done for us. We are taught at an early age what is and is not acceptable. We are conditioned, through interaction with other chil- dren, parents and teachers, to become an acceptable ·product. And if we become acceptable to society, then we are considered nonnal.

Why ·do we place so much ·value on the opinions of others? I do not know. I Qave never understood it myself. I do know that if I were living my life according to what the rest of the world thought, I would be a pretty unhappy individual.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the supposed "moral" issue behind homosexuality. We have all heard about Melissa Etheridge's decision to have a baby. That has stirred things up quite.a bit within society. Perhaps, however, we should take a look at an issue a little closer to home.

The cancellation of "As Is" comes to mind. The main characters in this play were a gay male couple.

Although I realize that the play was cancelled for a number of reasons, Neal Newman did express suspicion of prejudice in a news release that was sent out to the campus community.

There was one role that Neal was having trouble casting. Basically no one would accept the part because it was that of a gay man.

Now if that is why no one wanted to play the part, that is their busi-