[tcdent]

Conversely, as someone who has spent a majority of their life as a non-conformist, the exercise of feeling comfortable in your own skin can be quite empowering.

Not that it's an inflation of ego, but knowing you can convince others of your intelligence regardless of your physical appearance is a healthy challenge.

[verylittlemeat]

To be honest though I think this is where a lot of the resentment of non-conformists comes from.

A conformist feels on a gut level that you're doing something "for attention" and resents you for that.

Of course even if that were true such resentment is ridiculous. But to me I think there is always an element of "cultural challenge" in non-conformity (even if say 99% of a man wearing a dress is deeply personal choice).