Vouyorism 101

I enjoy Tegan & Sara's music enough to consider myself a fan. And I am not the kind of person who feels the need to know the life details of the musicians that I enjoy. So, when I made my 'debut' into the lesbian community of Melbourne, I really had no idea that these two facts would lead to my foot being put so firmly in my mouth. 

About a year ago I was chatting with a woman online and she was excited to hear that I'm from Calgary, because she is a big Tegan & Sara fan and they are also from Calgary. My response to this was "Yeah, well I know one of them is, but I don't know if both of them are." It wasn't until a good 6 months later when they were featured in an issue of LOTL that I realized why I never heard back from that woman: Tegan & Sara are twins. They're also both out and proud lesbians (my response to which got me in even further trouble!)

Prior to my finding out about all of this, one of my favourite Tegan & Sara songs was (and still is) 'Living Room'.



So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered that my new apartment allows me to quote from this song in relation to my own life!

"My windows look into your bathroom. Well I spend the evening watching you get yourself clean."

My apartment building is directly across from another apartment building. The windows on the bathrooms for the apartments on these two buildings are frosted glass. Now, the point of frosted glass is meant to be that it obscures the view in while still allowing all the natural light in. But my experience of frosted windows, time and time again, has been that they only actually obscure the view out, so anyone looking in can actually see in fairly clearly. Frosted windows must have been designed by a voyeur!

Now, I have to admit, I am a bit of a voyeur. For years now I have peered into people's windows as I walk down the street. Why? Because it's amazing the things people do when they think no one's watching. Maybe that is why the internet fascinates me so much; it has the feeling of being private while actually being very public - you never know who's watching (yes, yes, there's an exhibitionist in me too).

My kitchen window looks directly into the bathroom of the apartment across from me. I discovered this one night as I was doing the dishes, gazing out the window, only to discover that I could see my neighbour peeing. My reaction was a mixture of being grossed out, being glad that he washed his hands afterwards, and being intrigued that my kitchen window offers a view into such an intimate and private part of my neighbours' lives. Suffice to say, the kitchen window has become my favourite window.

A part of me feels like I should be ashamed of this, that I should make some effort to respect their privacy. It is only a small part. The rest of me says that I should just accept that this is just who I am and this is what I enjoy. So thank you, inventor of the frosted window, for creating such a wonderful voyeuristic tool. And thank you, neighbour, for that little dance you did while brushing your teeth this morning. It made my day.