When I was in my teens, there were many times when I felt shamed or teased because of the fact that I liked a boy band. People thought it was funny or just dumb of me. Classmates, teachers, family and even close friends gave me the sense that I was being naive, silly, and that I just had bad taste. My sister was the only one in the world who was on my side.

Once, I had been to a concert and I didn’t come to school the next day. One friend knew the reason for my absence, and she mentioned it in class. My secret was out. The next time I came to that class the teacher fully shamed me for it. She was asking me how I could possibIy like them and if I threw my underwear at the stage. 

It was horrible. Being made to share my tender, personal feelings with people who weren’t careful with them always made me feel the worst.

After getting so much grief about it, I decided to start keeping the fact that I liked a boy band a secret. Because I had noticed that once people found this out about me, they looked at me differently. They would make all kinds of assumptions about me that aren’t true, and somehow take me less seriously.⠀

I am not ashamed of my love for pop music and my favourite bands. If people knew what I know, they would understand. But they don’t know, and generally, they won’t take the effort to find out.⠀