[dorchadas]

> The polarization is much worse on the left side of the isle.

It's interesting, and I wonder if this has more to do with who controls the discourse the majority of us see. I lived in and grew up in a deep red area. Like, literally, in 2016 and 2020 the state was called for Trump before voting had even ended across it (multiple time zones). I had to actively hide my leftist views from most people, as I immediately got verbally abused if it comes out (it's often quite funny, as I'm in no way an American 'liberal', but that's what they end up resorting to). As a teacher, I've seen left-leaning students get verbally abused too, not to mention I've seen kids get punched simply because they were homosexual (and this was from teenagers).

It becomes quite easy to see why the left wouldn't want to associate with these people, and would write them off, especially if they've had even half of the experiences I've seen. But it happens the exact opposite way in places where right-wing views tend to dominate. Thankfully, it's made it super easy to give me an excuse to keep any political discussion out of my classroom (and, thankfully, the views among the kids are starting to shift to more reasonable ones).

[Mezzie]

It's both.

I'm from a purple area and have half a foot in red land and half a foot in blue land. No matter where I am, I hide more about myself than I used to.

If I'm in a left/blue/urban type space, nobody gets to know that I converted to Christianity as an adult, that I disagree with intersectionality as a lens outside of a legal context, that I think some of the gender activism is crazy, that language has a science to it and we should defer to it, that I shoot as a hobby and think the 2nd Amendment should include digital weaponry, etc.

If I'm in a right/red/rural type space, nobody gets to know that I'm a lesbian who hates femininity, that my Christianity is heretical/liberal, that I think transgenderism is real, etc.