Some people say that everyone should strive to present themselves a certain way in public, no matter where they are or what they’re doing.  This idea of a “public self” versus a “personal self” can be useful to an extent, but is generally fairly dangerous.  The concept of keeping a perfect facade at all times in public can be damaging to people that feel like they don’t belong – if they’re already worried about how they’re presenting themselves and don’t see anyone like them anywhere, it can make them feel more alone, exacerbating problems that are already there.  As someone who is bisexual, I firmly believe that it’s not only my right to be clear and public about it, but my duty to an extent.  I don’t often see people like myself in the public sphere, which is why it took me years of self-reflection and unlearning toxic stereotypes to even realize that I wasn’t straight.  If I had had people to look up to when I was growing up, if I had seen people like me in public spaces, it might have been a little easier.  Now, it’s all I can do to try to be that person for someone else.  The idea of the public sphere is wildly exclusive, limiting individuality and personal freedom.  Expecting all of the vastly different people in the world to adhere to the same standards of excellency is absurd.  No two people are alike, and as such their ideas of what is “proper” will be different too.  Who should get to decide what the standards for the public sphere are?  Why would any one person’s definition of the right way to present yourself be taken as the true way you should behave?  I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that personal is political.  If no one speaks up in a public way about the things that aren’t working for them, or the ways that they’re being harmed by current societal standards, then nothing will ever change and a frankly terrifying culture of oppression and elitism gets built up without anyone even realizing it.