Scottish Scarer, it's 0514 in the morning here, and I've had some time to think of what it is that makes people get antsy about all of this.
When you come right down to it, the herd instinct doesn't need a LOT to go into overdrive..Gramma, (as I never get tired of telling) was the town scandal for going to horror movies after WWI WITHOUT an escort. And I see a DIRECT relationship betweent that and her BARELY being able to have a job and driving a car or voting..all were just tolerated.
But keep at it. The whole deal tests our tolerance...and even modest confrontations like this keep us moving forward. Without challenges to convention, we would still be required to wear bowler hats and white collars in public, and rock and roll would still be banned..
and that's not getting into bigger areas that have fallen since..my dad can still remember the 60's..screw the folks who say it was this great time of sudden change....as a woman you could be fired for gaining weight or getting pregnant, and some banks would not allow wives to open accounts without a husbands signature..(this was as late as '69 folks..)
You can't imagine how proud I was when my daughter was laughing in glee when she introduced me to her boyfriend and told him I had my own handmade coffin and said she thought I was waiting for Halloween to be a paid holiday. Non conformity has it's rewards.