vivster said:
Labels are generally bad. Cis and trans+ being the worst. I couldn't give a shit how good applying labels to oneself makes people feel, it is bad and will inevitably lead to toxicity. A person's Identity should never EVER EVER be based on belonging to a certain group. Group thinking will always lead to antipathy towards outsiders, especially when a person considers belonging to a group as part of their identity. Personality is personal and has nothing to do with anyone else. Personalities are too complex for any label anyway. Even my hardcore introversion doesn't fit at all times, so I try to not call myself an introvert, but rather just say that I am mostly introverted. Seems like not a huge difference, but it really is, because I do not count myself as part of a group called "introverts". Same with my sexuality. Depending on wildly different definitions I might be called straight, bi or even gay by different people. So I rather describe what body parts and traits I'm attracted to. There is simply no need to label anything about my personality or identity, especially not my gender or sexuality. Anyone who labels their identity is part of one of the biggest social problems we as humans face. |
While I cannot comment on sexuality labels, I must respectfully disagree that labels in general are bad. They can be, but they can also be very helpful.
When you're very different from most other people, belonging to a community you have a lot in common can bring with it immense benefits, I've seen this firsthand in my job as well as experiencing it myself. Similarly, diagnosis and the "label" that comes with it is often a revelatory and very positive moment for many neurodiverse people.
I don't hate or feel antipathy towards those who are different from myself. These differences already exist, independent of labels, putting a name to it simply makes it easier to navigate.
Without a label to help others understand the needs of myself and those like me, I and countless others would not have received the support that we require to live a normal-ish life.
I realize this is veering quite off topic from the issue of sexuality, sorry about that, all I'm saying is that while an "us vs them" mentality can definitely arise from labels, they can also do a lot of good. At the end of the day, while the name itself has something of a negative connotation, it's ultimately just a way to make things easier to understand.