A little while back I was talking to a friend and they mentioned liking Buffy the Vampire Slayer in an embarrassed, almost whispered tone and I said, “Hey me too!” My friend tried to hand wave the embarrassment away and said, “it just cheesy. It’s a guilty pleasure. I know. I shouldn’t watch it.” They were genuinely apologetic for liking something… and that really bothered me.
A bit later I was talking about role-playing to someone I just met and they said they just started to do it to, but said it all quietly and embarrassed. I mentioned that they seemed to be embarrassed about it and they said it was fun, but it was a guilty pleasure. I told them fuck that noise! Be loud and proud!
The week afterward, I’m at a brewery talking to a friend and they mentioned liking New Wave music, but it was SUCH a guilty pleasure. I told them that B-52’s is one of my favorite bands.
My point is that by calling something a “guilty pleasure” you are apologizing for something you like and enjoy due to some bullshit social convention or judgement.
And to that I say:
Life is too fucking short to apologize for something that makes you happy. You like Gilmore Girls, but your other friends don’t- fuck em. Still enjoy it. Talk about it and what excites you about it- don’t do it apologetically. If they giggle, guess what…?
Like Murder She Wrote (Hey guess what, so do I!)? Peeps sometimes give me guff for it (I also have an awesome purple Murder She Wrote Shirt I wear all the time)… They give me guff, and guess what I do…?
Seriously, be loud and proud about what you like no matter what people say or do- be yourself and for the love of fuck- don’t say what you like is a guilty pleasure- because you should never be guilty for being happy or enjoying something.
