[Feanor of the Peredhil]

A series of thoughts that I will try to articulate before they disappear on me:

Originally Posted by HerenIstarion

Allegedly, coming around here we all wear masks – our nicks. Come to think of it, are we really we when posting here?

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredil

I suppose my point, although slow-coming, is that we are not the only ones who apply masks to ourselves. Other people, for whatever reasons, see us how they want to. Its as if they past a mask of their own creation over our faces, and forget that there is more behind it.

I was just reading through one of my favorite threads, How Do You Imagine Other BDers, and a thought struck.

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

I'm always trying to form mental images of other BDers.

Is our allowance of others to picture us how they will another way of masking ourselves? I believe it is. But more applicable to my last thought on this thread, are we encouraging others to mask each other? By allowing, even encouraging, fellow members to come up with amazingly inaccurate images of us, are we subconsciously letting them make masks for us? Rather than letting the true 'you' show through (forgive the rhyme), we are letting people create labels for us.

According to others who will like as not never meet me, I am currently a rather tall girl, a rather short girl, a boy (!), a blonde, a brunette, short hair, long hair, long fingers, artsy style, sneaker wearing, etcetera. Is this a good thing? Speaking sensibly, yes. We are online, and it is never a good idea to tell all to people you don't know. In my opinion, it is never a good idea to tell all to people you DO know. But speaking in a more... I don't know... say... psychological/moral sort of way, is it a good thing to allow others, or even ourselves, to mask us? By doing so, do we deny who we are, or do we allow for sheer creativity on the part of others?

Fea