Label vs Community

[Marcelle]

Hi all,

As you can see by my tag line "Labels are for soup cans" I am not a fan. However, what I need to clarify is what I mean by that phrase. I do not like labels in that we spend too much time justifying what they mean and they always tend to spiral into debate over right and wrong.

Now when I talk about labels, I am not talking about the term "Transgender". Indeed if you look at the definition of label while Transgender could be included it does not match in my opinion:

Label: a word or phrase which is used to describe a person, group, or thing, but which is unfair or not correct e.g., Cross Dressers are all perverts . . . or all transgendered people want to change sexes. The label and the connection is linked to a misrepresentation/understanding of the term.

In my book Transgender is a community of strong, proud and supportive individuals all working (in whatever way they deem fit) toward a common goal . . . acceptance .

Community: a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

IMO transgender is not a label so "yes", I will identify myself as "Transgendered" to anyone who asks. Where this goes wrong and I tend to get a bit miffed is when we "the community" spend way too much time trying to figure out what "transgendered" means. Specifically what constitutes membership or who has the right to call themselves "TG". Should I be allowed to call myself TG because I go out in public, tell others . . . or . . . do I have to fight the good fight and storm the ramparts of public opinion, march in pride parades. This is when "community" transcends into "labelling".

Goodness . . . let's just accept the fact we are all different and that we belong to this wonderful community of strong, vibrant, productive, normal beings and stop trying to put a definition on the term TG. We are not a label (that is the point of my tag line) we are a community and the sooner we realize that and just go on being in whatever direction we need to go (to each their own) then we can move toward acceptance.

So are labels for soup cans? You bet because "soup" is not a community. Is a label or series of labels sufficient to describe what it means to be Transgendered? IMHO absolutely not as we are too eclectic to have one definition. We do share common attitudes, interests and goals and that my friends is what makes us a community . . . all of us. Not some narrowly defined label.