I have always heard the phrase "be yourself", especially in the context of dating. Being a 30 year old single virgin has made me wonder what exactly this means, because it seems like my real self is quite off-putting. In the past, I have noticed that I have tried to be agreeable and pretend that my opinions were more "mainstream".

Lately, I have tried to regain my self-esteem and boost my confidence by a lot. However, now I get accused of being overly outspoken, abrasive, rude, abrupt, etc. due to my natural self being brutally honest. I do not mince words when it comes to my opinions, and often my opinions are allegedly very controversial and out of the mainstream. Being myself, I usually just blurt them out regardless of whether people like them or not.

A few examples:

-I am amongst people who make six figures or are millionaires or even richer during a meetup. I state that privatisation and private enterprise should be abolished. People call me a poor lower-class bum and/or a peasant. I tell them that they are full of ***** and are greedy b*stards. People brand me as "rude".

-Despite being American, I lived in the UK during my time at university. I support Lexit, which is supporting Brexit, but due to a left-wing argument rather than a right-wing one. I support Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn instead of right-wing/centrist Labour leaders like Blair, Brown and Miliband. People berate me for being poor and/or call me stupid. I tell them that capitalism has failed people like me. Verbal argument ensues.

-I plan to join Bernie Sanders' campaign. People in meetups make fun of me for being poor and not having enough money. Some tell me that they would rather pay 0% taxes and see me suffer, rather than paying more in taxes like most civilised Western countries do. I tell them that they are vile, greedy excuses for human beings. Verbal argument ensues.

-Woman asks me why I have had no relationship nor sexual history, no girlfriends, etc. I say that it just has not happened, not my fault. She makes fun of me and calls me a virgin loser. I tell her that she is scum who has no empathy nor understanding.

-My mother is a socialist, and one of my grandfathers was a Maoist from China. No explanation required as to why people here hate when I reveal this.

-I believe that religion should be abolished. No explanation required for this one either.

As you can see, I am very brutally honest and frank, especially when people insult me. This is "being myself". Yet somehow, people like me even less, the more I act "myself". So what exactly is this advice about "be yourself"? I refuse to be a carbon copy of what society asks me to be, so I am acting exactly how I feel that my true character is. But it just seems to fail as well.