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Comment by CoastalCoder | Hacker News Reader

I was interested by the part in the middle talking about society not tolerating women stepping too far out of traditional roles.

I'm a 50-ish years old American man, and I just don't notice anything like that in my own attitudes or of those around me.

I wonder if one or both of us have biased vision, or alternatively maybe we just live in different societies.

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I certainly believe that if you want to be a successful musician, not even a pop star necessarily just one that's able to draw crowds large enough to sustain you financially, you probably are bound by certain norms and expectations. Not necessarily because audiences hate women (or men for that matter) that break the mold, but they're not as easy to digest. It adds friction. And when there are thousands of other artists out there to listen to, that friction can be the difference between success and failure.

I agree with you though, if you're willing to live a small life where you only need the love and respect of a small handful of people, you can do almost anything and very few people will genuinely hate you.

> I wonder if one or both of us have biased vision

The more common term you're searching for is "privilege", and yes, you both have it.

Do you hang a lot in professional entertainment circles? I'm not saying she's certainly correct, but if I were to wonder what problems a mid-20s female pop star faces, I'd buy her anecdata over a 50-ish man who posts on HN.

Why is it exactly that you feel the opposite way?

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