The question that will surely strike fear into one’s heart: “So, what music do you listen to?”

This simple question, although usually delivered in a cheerful tone, packs a punch. It immediately sends people reeling, panicking as to what is “safe” to reveal about their music taste.

It is an inherently personal matter; music is the escape we seek from the world, the comfort we are unlikely to receive elsewhere. It is an extension of ourselves, yet is expected to be revealed in casual conversation.

And it is not even that music taste is a deeply personal matter for some, it is also an area of possibly endless judgement.

Depending on who one talks to at any given moment, there is a clearly defined “good” and” bad” music taste.

This is not an inherently bad thing–it is a part of human nature to try to categorize and make judgements. However, the problem arises when we act on these judgements, when our personal beliefs of “right” and “wrong” are forced on others.

Junior Danielle Nadeau confirms that she feels as if she’s being judged “all the time” when someone asks her about her music taste because it is so diverse. She admits that she listens “to everything…not country though,” before conceding, “okay, a couple songs maybe.”

She is often condescendingly asked, “How do you like my music taste when you already like that kind of music?”

But music genres are not exclusive because, as junior Cooper Slack says, music is “just vibrations entering your ears. It’s a purely subjective thing.”

Fellow junior Leeanne Durkin faces similar judgement and misconceptions when discussing her music taste, saying that it primarily comes from “people who listen to the same music. Mostly guys because they always assume it’s because girls are trying to impress someone or get with a guy.”

Love country music? Great! Death metal? Fantastic! Pop music? Fine and dandy! Show tunes? Shrek-tastic! Don’t like any of these? That’s all good, just so long as you don’t hate and indirectly bully people who do.

(Looking at you, eye-roller extraordinaires. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not that subtle!)

As Nadeau says, there is a type of music for everyone and “even if it seems bad to one person, it’s good for someone else.”

Everyone sees a type of music as inferior or superior, but, as Durkin asks, “What do I know about anything? Just listen to whatever you want.”

All in all, as long as you’re not hurting anyone, like what you like and don’t let anyone make you feel inferior.

In the wise words of Durkin: “It’s a personal thing, don’t give anyone crap about it.”