Do You Hide Your Hobby?

Immorrel · Post by **Immorrel** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:39 am

Sukunai wrote:"P.S. WTF was this thread about?"

Not 100% sure, but as I think it might be sort of age based relevant.
Younger people tend to fret more so over the image of themselves from their peers than people old enough to know that peer pressure is just that, peer pressure.

I actually think this is more regional than age discriminate. Where I grew up, if you stated the fact that you liked something that wasn't on the "list" of approved things to like, you tended to become a target. That's what Wurpess was talking about when she talked about survival. It's just that some parts of the world are ever so slightly more bigoted than the rest.

Now it's becoming much easier to be a fan of anime/manga/video games without having to disguise the fact that you do, but that doesn't mean that there aren't still bigots waiting to make your life miserable if you happen to be in the wrong part of the world. I'm glad that you are somewhere where you can have your opinion and the rest of the world be damned Sukunai, but there are places in the world where a little tact will do you a lot better.

As I said previously in this thread, I'm of the "don't ask, don't tell" group specifically because of where I grew up and where I work now. All of my friends know about what I like, but it isn't something that I'll usually hang out for the world to see because it can and will complicate things that I don't have to make so complicated. I'm sure that when I'm older I'll turn the tact off because then I won't have to care, but I'd much rather keep my life as uncomplicated as I can where I am right now.

/soapbox

Sukunai · Post by **Sukunai** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:31 am

Well yes regional can be a concern of course.

For instance, a lot of Japan's culture doesn't translate into North American culture well.

Always find it intensely irritating that homos are ok on tv if it's real world. Ellen Degeneres has a very successful show (like it myself).
But ooooh don't be applying it to cartoons. Thus Sailor Saturn and Sailor Uranus are just "cousins". Way to teach children that some truths are ok for adults, but some truths don't apply to kids.

And of course the painfully obvious. You don't discuss black pride at a clan meeting. You don't discuss evilution in the US Bible Belt. And personal rights and freedoms doesn't go far in a pro life environment. It's also likely not a good thing to discuss your Horde player character in Church. Some radical political viewpoints can be ill advised based on your current location. And of course being the right gender is helpful in some nations around the world. Being of the right faith can be critical in some nations.

My life is not at risk here in ole Canada for liking anime.
But if I was in say Saudia Arabia, I'd be happy to be male, muslim and think that the US was the great satan

It would be all a big lie, but then some cultures are used to accepting total bullshit as truth, so I'm sure I could tell them anything and they'd believe it.

OropherZero · Post by **OropherZero** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:51 am

^ I think you're more suited to be one of many politicians than an anime fan/amv editor :/

seriously... wtf?

Sukunai · Post by **Sukunai** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:42 am

OropherZero wrote:^ I think you're more suited to be one of many politicians than an anime fan/amv editor :/

seriously... wtf?

"seriously wtf" is a phrase that can be applied to about 90% of daily life though.

srocketa · Post by **srocketa** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:30 pm

I'm an animation student surrounded by other animation students so it's ok for us to love anime at my university because wer'e obsessed with all animation o.o I don't really hide it at all I don't need to. Though when I was at college I didn't talk about because there were no other people interested in it.
Can I say I can see why some people hide liking anime because some guys (I say SOME) are obsessed with the perverted kind.
Then again I wouldn't get into a conversation about the disturbing content of Berserk or Perfect Blue with my grandparents for example, although I would recommend them to watch Howl's Moving Castle, so it does depend what type of anime and who you are talking to.

srocketa · Post by **srocketa** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:37 pm

srocketa wrote:I'm an animation student surrounded by other animation students so it's ok for us to love anime at my university because wer'e obsessed with all animation o.o I don't really hide it at all I don't need to. Though when I was at college I didn't talk about because there were no other people interested in it.
Can I say I can see why some people hide liking anime because some guys (I say SOME) are obsessed with the perverted kind.
Then again I wouldn't get into a conversation about the disturbing content of Berserk or Perfect Blue with my grandparents for example, although I would recommend them to watch Howl's Moving Castle, so it does depend what type of anime and who you are talking to.

HAHAHAHAA no wait a sec I lie...we have to hide it from the teachers they HATE anime style

hasteroth · Post by **hasteroth** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:37 am

Simply put. No I do not. If anything I advertise it. I dragged numerous friends into the world of anime. Locked the door, and ate the key. I am a proud member of the anime club. Why would I hide it? IF I hid it to make people like me (which would never happen, my self esteem is just way too high), then if they found out they mightn't like me anymore. So I don't hide it and if they don't like it then they can go away because I don't wanna be your friend!

Ijexis · Post by **Ijexis** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:56 pm

I have posters on my wall and they don't move from there regardless of who stops by. I don't go around talking about my interests because not a lot of people in my area are into it. But at the library there's a small group that's into it. But I haven't been around them much and sometimes I wish I could find someone that had similar interests. I once saw a guy with a Hajime no Ippo shirt and I said to him, "Nice, Hajime no Ippo" and he looked at me funny and confused and I said, "Huh...nice anime shirt...". He then looked at his shirt and replied, "oh, this? I got it at Chinatown." I walked away suppressing the urge to punch him in the face since he obviously had no idea what the shirt was connected to. And thus, this answers your question of why people like that should burn.

Krisqo · Post by **Krisqo** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:09 pm

I guess I hide it to an extent. I have tried showing some of my AMVs to people I know but they never really cared (at least once I stopped making DBZ videos) and that grew as we got older. I guess I'm seen as the guy who still watches cartoons. I sometimes try to sneak people on the trolley glances at my MP3 player when I'm watching videos. I actually had some guy stare at the thing as I watched Castor Troy's Phoenix Wright segment from VG4 as well as Radical_Yue's Radiance and Chiikaboom's Attack of the Otaku. Though he didn't say anything. I would also feel a little embarrassed if I had any time of clothing that made note of Anime. Seems Philadelphia is not that much of an anime and AMV city. I actually fear that I would get beaten up again if I passed myself off as a anime fan

Garridy · Post by **Garridy** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:40 pm

Its called conversational tact. There are times when certain subjects are best not brought up, depending on the environment you are conversing in.