I never realised how
often we use labels. Trans, of colour, gay, straight, while, cis, etc
etc etc. It made me wonder... why?
Don't get me wrong, I
don't have an issue with labels. I wish that I had cool ones too. I
just think they're wholly unnecessary to give (keyword here: GIVE) to
people. Does that make sense? Maybe not yet but just hear me out:
Use a label to help you
identify yourself in the crowd, or to someone you've been trying to
wink at from across the room for like an hour now or something, if
that's what you want. What I would hope is that labels aren't dished
out because the cis, straight, vanilla's trying to figure out what is
what and who is who.
That's we saying
something as a cis, straight, vanilla... for all intents and
purposes. It's funny because I was scrolling through social media and
I wonder “what are my labels” and “would my labels be
celebrated”?
I was never the kind to
fly the halfcast flag because I didn't know my “other half” like
everyone else seemed to. I felt out because I didn't look like the
rest of that side of the family and I couldn't compensate with
language. Ive never felt comfortable in my body but I know it's not a
case of dysphoria. I don't have typically exciting hair, features,
lilts in my accent or anything in particular. I like wearing pretty
dresses and I like throwing on my raggedy pants and vests. I didn't
like very many people so I was never all over the place and my
hormones were mostly in check. I grew up knowing that I was a mix of
this or that and the other but that whatever I felt, I was me.
Does “I dont like
what my reproductive organs do to me on a regular basis” count as a
part of my identity? “3 years and counting in a relationship and I
want to marry him and avoid having babies as long as possible”? “I
dress for comfort and context”? “I don't like hair removal
because I cant stand how itchy the growing back is”? “Sure I love
socialist principles but how do we make sure everyone actually
contributes”? “I played a male character in an MMO because I
didn't want awkward, special treatment female toons sometimes get”?
What really is there to celebrate among my experiences as an
all-purpose wholemeal flour kind of human?
From all my reading of
people coming out, coming to terms, identifying with the past and
present to determine the future – it's about the self, right?
It acts almost like a
kind of justification. “I am the way I am because I am (blank)”.
Insert label here... and that makes me angry. I get angry because
people, maybe even those like me, fall nicely (more or less) into the
box of the expected.
Never questioned, never
had to explain why I am x, doing y or hanging out with z. I don't
want to have blind privilege. I just want to do my part in whatever
way I can so that the kids I may eventually have never have to worry
about what their labels are.
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