Labels, labels everywhere...

[Hippy Chic]

No, I'm not talking about a shopping trip to your local dept. store....

*Sigh*

Can anyone else here see the irony?

So much of the harmful predjudices & misconceptions that kick around in the world today, be them race, religion, sexuality etc etc related come down to an unhealthy preoccupation with labels and finding a category for everything, & then people getting upset that they're in the wrong category or whatever, or people in one category use them to discriminate against those in another.

Here of all places I'd imagine a higher proportion of members have experienced this. Yet there are lots of loonngg threads going on about "I'm a crossdresser, she's a transsexual, he's transgender, you're a this, they're a that, blah blah blah" There's actually more labeling goes on here than in the big wide world, & it just adds to the confusion.

Come on guys & gals, it don't matter. Drop it. Now. Quit over analysing it & just enjoy being yourself. That is really what is important. Life's tooo short.

[Shelly Preston]

I agree that sometimes labels can be too much but sometimes they help with clarification

There should not be any discrimination to any group or person no matter what label they may or may not have

[Alex!]

Labels aren't bad. It is the result of people wanting to organize things, which is useful in demographic analysis (health care, voting trends, discrimination, etc.), knowing if participation in groups makes sense, and other instances. Stereotypes and prejudice run deeper than labels. I personally don't mind having a label - I indeed have many, I suppose, depending on the context. Labels that apply to me:

Man
American
White
Crossdresser
Straight
Atheist
Artist
Analyst
Researcher
Boyfriend
Independent
Arse

It's all good. Sometimes I think people just love to get defensive and stir things up.

[Ema1234 GG]

Arse


Sorry but that just made me laugh. It's currently my favourite "affectionate insult" for someone. :D


And personally I think labels can be useful when attempting to describe yourself or someone else, particularly in an online community such as this where very few of us actually know any of the people we are talking to.

But I think it's important not to get too hung up about them.

:2c:

[Hippy Chic's Chick]

The only label anyone using this forum should be interested in is the one with the washing instructions for your bra!

;)

[SatinDoll00]

Man
American
White
Crossdresser
Straight
Atheist
Analyst
Researcher
Boyfriend
Independent
Arse



Nice one. :D



I do agree to an extent. I am not really a label fan, but I do understand that they can sometimes help people understand things that they ordinarily wouldn't.

Personally, I don't care what people label me...I am what I am, and that is all I can be.

Morgan

[Elsbeth]

Well labels help us to organize our world. But also help us to hide the true world from us. It is when we invest in the labels that we run into trouble.

But you basic point is well taken.



Come on guys & gals, it don't matter. Drop it. Now. Quit over analysing it & just enjoy being yourself. That is really what is important. Life's tooo short.

El

[chucks]

labels create separation. me and you, us and them.

on a personal level it's good to stop believing in them, then maybe you can start to see you don't know what you are.

[Hippy Chic]

labels create separation. me and you, us and them.

on a personal level it's good to stop believing in them, then maybe you can start to see you don't know what you are.

Thank you chucks, you just made my point more succinctly & eloquently.

[Julogden]

Labels CAN be used for bad things, but excepting epithets, they're originally intended as tools for communicating with others.

They're also a powerful tool in the hands of those who are willing to use them to dehumanize and set apart those that they don't like.:2c:

Carol

[BarbaraTalbot]

Labels aren't bad. It is the result of people wanting to organize things, which is useful in demographic analysis (health care, voting trends, discrimination, etc.), knowing if participation in groups makes sense, and other instances. Stereotypes and prejudice run deeper than labels. I personally don't mind having a label - I indeed have many, I suppose, depending on the context. Labels that apply to me:

Man
American
White
Crossdresser
Straight
Atheist
Artist
Analyst
Researcher
Boyfriend
Independent
Arse

It's all good. Sometimes I think people just love to get defensive and stir things up.

I liked the integrity and completeness of your list. Me, I tend to easily overlook my traits if they are less than flattering..

Now that you got me thinking about it, I can't help but catch myself singing Dennis Leary's "I'm an @@#######.

Hmm I guess if the song fits I should sing it out loud and proud eh???

Dee says she liked the last one. I would label her as tactful when she didn't comment on its applicability to me.

[Sugar]

Ever painted yourself blue, & called yourself Smurfette?

Well sure...but isn't that a label?


I'm feelin better now,

sugar

[Hippy Chic]

Ever painted yourself blue, & called yourself Smurfette?

Well sure...but isn't that a label?


I'm feelin better now,

sugar


Why, you want to be Gargamel? :D

[Sugar]

Why, you want to be Gargamel? :D

Gargamel?? ewwwwwww icky


LMAO

[Chelseaswpa]

Well I hate labels as well, just for the reasons you state. But in our last post about this Tamera brought up an excellent point. If we don't know each other personally- it is easier to know how to respond if one is aware of you particular gender "issue". I had to agree with that. I mean we are all in the same boat pretty much so labels are used here to help us keep track of who is who :hugs:

[Hippy Chic's Chick]

Gargamel?? ewwwwwww icky


LMAO

:straightface:

I'm telling on you!!


:tongueout

[Toyah]

No, I'm not talking about a shopping trip to your local dept. store....

*Sigh*

Can anyone else here see the irony?

So much of the harmful predjudices & misconceptions that kick around in the world today, be them race, religion, sexuality etc etc related come down to an unhealthy preoccupation with labels and finding a category for everything, & then people getting upset that they're in the wrong category or whatever, or people in one category use them to discriminate against those in another.

Here of all places I'd imagine a higher proportion of members have experienced this. Yet there are lots of loonngg threads going on about "I'm a crossdresser, she's a transsexual, he's transgender, you're a this, they're a that, blah blah blah" There's actually more labeling goes on here than in the big wide world, & it just adds to the confusion.

Come on guys & gals, it don't matter. Drop it. Now. Quit over analysing it & just enjoy being yourself. That is really what is important. Life's tooo short.

Exactly labels don't help except to make one group inappropriate but there is a faction here that loves em sheesh !!!!!!!!:tongueout

[BarbaraTalbot]

Exactly labels don't help except to make one group inappropriate but there is a faction here that loves em sheesh !!!!!!!!:tongueout


hmmm, if only we had a label for that faction, we could all avoid them...

~ducks~

[PaulaJaneThomas]

I totally agree HC, which is why I always use the term transgender (or trans for short) which covers all of us. BTW, transgender is an adjective not a verb. You cannot transgender someone and you cannot be transgendered (just as can't be talled).

[Tamera]

Labeling versus Describing...

Sometimes in our posts we don't mean to LABEL but to DESCRIBE what one is talking about.

It's amazing how this lifestyle is like a "Family Tree" that Forks into different directions re: CD, TG, TS, etc.

Maybe thats why Doctors are a little reluctant to study us in fear if they catoragize us or say the wrong thing, they may be sued.

Also some girls just need to know (where they/how they) fit in this "FAMILY TREE" so they may want a LABEL just for self satisfaction.

Hugs,
Tamera

[Lisa Golightly]

There's actually more labeling goes on here than in the big wide world, & it just adds to the confusion.

I blame Darwin :)

[Sky]

Labels that apply to me:

Man
American
White
Crossdresser
Straight
Atheist
Artist
Analyst
Researcher
Boyfriend
Independent
Arse

It's all good.

No, it's not all good. It's one thing (self-deprecating funny) when you apply labels to yourself, but quite another (demeaning and judgmental) when somebody else does it to you.

[Veronica Fallon]

It looks like we all agree that labels are a necessary evil, especially in our diverse, TG community. I choose "T-girl" for myself, figuring that if anyone is actually interested what flavor I am, all they gotta do is ask. If they make assumptions then it merely reflects their own ignorance- not my problem!

Hugz,

(T-girl) Veronica

[Karren H]

If you hate labels so much how come you here and not on Imjusta regularhumanbeing.com posting?? And its not really the labels that are the problems its the idiots that interpert them..

Label me with complimentary labels any day!! CHMC - Cute Hetrosexual Male Crossdresser!!

If it wenrt for labels we would have nothing to talk about!! Hehe. The place would be over run with pantie threads again!! :D

Karren

[Robin Leigh]

Labels can be useful to describe the different parts of the complex gender/sexuality landscape. They only become harmful when people build mental fences in that landscape & try to box us into our own little paddocks.

All I want is the freedom to find where I fit on that landscape, & as long as I don't go around hurting others, why should it matter to anyone else?

I think gender theory threads are important. There are still a lot of negative & destructive ideas floating around about causes of CD/TG, and I don't like to see people torturing themselves in the name of erroneous beliefs.

Robin

[Sheri 4242]

Labels can be useful to describe the different parts of the complex gender/sexuality landscape. They only become harmful when people build mental fences in that landscape & try to box us into our own little paddocks.

All I want is the freedom to find where I fit on that landscape, & as long as I don't go around hurting others, why should it matter to anyone else?

I think gender theory threads are important. There are still a lot of negative & destructive ideas floating around about causes of CD/TG, and I don't like to see people torturing themselves in the name of erroneous beliefs. Robin

Exactly!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!

Some people get so'oooo upset if they think they are being labeled. As I've said before (h'mmm -- a number of times) we have to have "language" to communicate with intelligence -- and a set descriptors is not labeling, it is defining the meaning of a word or phrase so we can communicate.

It is (a.) stereotyping, or (b.) the attaching of that which is negative or uncomplimentary that is the real issue.

If someone came to me and asked me to explain an issue at law, where would we be without definitions? Or, if you go to the doctor, what is going to be the results if he or she can't use set definitions to explain what you have or what needs to be done?

This is called "communicating." Our own little part of the world has to have definitions, too. How else do we understand what someone means by transsexual, or bisexual, or mtf crossdresser, or hetrosexual, and on and on. Now, if you add something derogatory, or if you attach stereotyping, that is a whole different issue.


I agree that sometimes labels can be too much but sometimes they help with clarification

And, it is the idea of "clarification" in what is being said that is exactly the point!


Labels aren't bad. It is the result of people wanting to organize things, which is useful in demographic analysis (health care, voting trends, discrimination, etc.), knowing if participation in groups makes sense, and other instances. Stereotypes and prejudice run deeper than labels

Exactly!!! :thumbsup:

Oh, I understand completely that people don't want to be "boxed in." Every time this comes up, it seems to me that what is really at the heart of people saying "don't label me" is not that they don't want clarity in communication, but rather that they don't want to be stereotyped, or be put down in a derogatory manner b/c of the stereotyping!!!

[trannie T]

Heterosexual crossdresser. Just another way to say that I enjoy being with women and dressing like them.

[Val702]

I am totaly a crossdresser. But I don't take on a female kinda identity or anything, I exclusively have sex with only women. If U seen me in the street, I 'm just another dude. Crossdressing is sort of like drawing or wrenching for me. It's something I do. It feels natural, but I don't go any farther than dressing up sometimes. I think that people like me are quick to try to lable themselves to sorta sepparate themselves from thansgender, transsexual, transvestite, and gay crossdressers. It's because the rest of the people in our lives see little or no sepparation or difference between such things. They may largely dissaprove of all of it in a general way.

[Val702]

Word!

[dakota_ann69]

A label to me is something that I find on the side of a truck that I am working on telling me not to stick my fingers in there or they might be cut off!!!! LOL!! Seriously I agree with HC life is too short take yourself for who you are and be happy with that. Life is too short to label.