Not really looked down on, but every time I mention that I have an indoor greenhouse everyone assumes I'm growing pot.
Not really looked down on
You mean near universally championed as cool?
How much are your electric costs for the greenhouse per month?
Isn't a greenhouse by definition indoors?
Drawing fetishist NSFW art. A friend of mine was (and probably still is, I just haven't had any contact with them for ages) pretty good at drawing. If you're into hentai and/or furry stuff, there's a non-zero chance you've seen his work. He also did some more "exotic" drawings on commission.
He (allegedly) wasn't particularly into it himself, but he was good at it, he had a creative outlet, and it gave him a couple of extra bucks per month.
Apparently there are quite a few art majors who turn their "useless" art degree into a living by making hentai, especially furry stuff.
I'd go one further and say kink itself!
Sure it's not for everyone... But people act like it's some crazy abomination, when most of the time it's just some variation of sex + roleplay.
I had a friend of a friend who is a bona fide Dom. She was particularly wealthy considering the reputation of the sex trade. Her practice catered to Financial District and C-Suite types who could afford her services. She told me these powerful people invariably develop a kink where they want to be dominated and humiliated as a "grass is always greener on the other side" reaction to their usual position of power and dominance. What blew my mind is that she said sexual release during sessions was a minority. Most got that at home from trophy spouses. They craved the psychology of bondage, domination and humiliation. Clientele included women too.
Humans are weird and wonderful.
As a woman very involved in the lifestyle scene (as opposed to the professional scene). Yeah, there's a lot of reasons people wind up into it, and what your friend describes is the cliche stereotype of the person who pays for pros, but a lot of the lifestylers are similar to a lesser degree.
And yeah it's not a given that you're even allowed to have sexual release in a kink event, and sometimes it has to be in a specific room. The sensations, the mind games, the role play, the pain, etc. is often the primary thing happening to the exclusion of other stuff. A surprising amount of bdsm events are just discussion groups and classes.
I'm reasonably vanilla myself, but I know that if I liked something "weird", people judging me for it wouldn't help anyone, least of all myself.
I've known a few furries over the years, and while I don't understand it, being in the periphery of the community numbed me enough to "weirder" stuff. They're not hurting anyone (well, other than their wallets. Do you have any idea how much a pursuit costs? Jfc...), so I don't see why they're not any less deserving of acceptance than people who prefer ass over tits, etc.
In my experience with kink communities, shame can really do a number on people's psychology. It feels like there are always two camps of people: the ones who simply learn to say "fuck it" and embrace their weird side, and those who really become very depressed and self-isolating because they're made to feel like an aberration. That level of internal conflict, where you spend your entire life fighting against your own (otherwise legally and ethically non-problematic) desires due to internalized shame is a dark and dangerous path.
And like... I get it. To an outsider, any kink that you don't have can definitely seem weird, gross, undesirable, etc. But then again, even vanilla sex acts can seem gross when you imagine other people doing them. Still, I think a lot of people in the kink space end up struggling with negative feelings about themselves.
Plus, there are a certain group of very puritanical and judgemental people who desperately want to describe (without any psychiatric qualifications) any behavior they don't understand as being "mental illness", but ironically, I think the most mentally healthy thing any kinky person can do is simply to accept and embrace their kink.
My message to any kinky people out there is to do whatever you can to accept yourself. Unless your kink involves something that is seriously dangerous to yourself and others, or otherwise legally or ethically dubious, then odds are that the best thing that you can do is just come to terms with being, as Rick James said, a "superfreak".
Pretty much anything that’s considered “childish”. Apart from video games, Lego comes to mind.
Lego is a great one, good answer.
Any children's TV show, anyone who still watches My Little Pony as an adult is seen either as childish or as a creep (if male).
Wargaming or anything that brings people to a hobby shop. Trains, RC vehicles, and kites are most acceptable and understandable to people on the outside but still looked down on.
The Satanic Panic never went away. I still deal with it on occasion.
Apparently Hell is full of gay people playing dnd and other tabletop games. Sounds like a fun place, honesty!
Having known many, many religious people all my life, when my time is up, I want to go wherever they aren't.
My husband's parents were deep into that and forbade him from continuing to play D&D.
Really wish they hadn't passed before I met him. I met him when we played Call of Cthulhu together. At the local game store. Lol.
I remember video games having a helluva stigma when I was a kid in school. People mocked me for playing Pokemon. If you were to look at them now, they probably play it religiously.
That aside, I feel like tabletop miniatures get similar dislike. Some people are like "That's cool" but the common layman just think it's playing with expensive toys.
Masturbating in private.
I know it isn't what you meant, but my head keeps putting the emphasis on the "in private" part, like everyone is fine with it in public, but those weird-o's doing it in private are disgusting.
Video games are a bigger industry than Hollywood now, are they really looked down upon still?
Now that there are parents that grew up as gamers, it's settled down some, but many still consider watching TV or movies for a few hours more respectable than playing games for a few hours.
BDSM
Like fully a third of the population is into it, but the stigma is so strong that the IRL community is tiny and weird.
Mushroom hunting; most people think the only mushrooms you find in the woods are magic or poisonous
Depends if you know what you're doing. If so, cool hobby! If not, rip your liver and kidneys.
Toys collecting. Especially dolls and or stuffed animals.
When a guy collects Pokémon figures, that's fine and cool.
However when I like to buy myself Bratz dolls and Hello Kitty stuff and cute plushies, I'm told I am childish and I need to grow up🙄😒
Watching Youtube videos. It's as good as college for anyone with a little savvy. I'll bet that Youtube employs more PHD philosophers than any three universities.
Ha! Employed PHD Philosophers. That's a good one!
Depends a lot on what you are watching
Model train building can be considered a bit weird, but it's one of the most wholesome and welcoming communities you can find.
Sometimes I visit the subreddit for it and am reminded of what that site used to be. Genuine engagement, people just happy to show things off and providing really in depth feedback or tips when asked.
poll dancing
People get together and dance when they vote? Weird - no shade or anything but haven’t heard of that before.
I would blame this on autocorrect but lord knows I don't use my phone for anything. Take your upvote
Masturbation
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