hot take but I think the "we're only talking about people who identify as queer when we talk about the queer community" thing was and is one of the worst arguments in defense of the word.
I am talking about you when I say "the queer community", and "queer people", and "queer studies". I'm describing a thing that a large group of people have in common, and you share that thing in common. Your individual comfort with the word doesn't change the definition of it.
I'm sorry you don't like that word. You don't ever have to call yourself that, and you don't have to like it, and I won't ever call you that if you don't want me to.
What I am going to do, however, is decide what language I use based on A) how inclusive it is, and B) how well it communicates my point to the relevant audience.
"Inclusive" here is an important criteria; this refers to the number of people who should be included, that are included, ideally without some kind of weird hierarchy (like we see in "LGBT+" and variations). The technical definition is what we're talking about here- putting personal comfort aside, could the word "queer" describe you?
There will always be someone who doesn't like a particular word for themselves- even if it could apply. Lots of people don't like "LGBT+" (I don't really), even if it technically applies to them. You're not more important than they are.
You can identify one way on a personal level, and still understand that when we're discussing the larger community of people and the histories attached to it, you're included in that- even if you don't personally identify with the specific word we're using. Your story, your voice, and your presence matters.
Y'all need to learn to distinguish "broad term for an experience I share with others" from "personal identity label I use to describe my individual experience to others". ASAP.
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i think that while micro labels can seem useful and affirming ultimately they're isolating and kind of an obstacle to your understanding of self. that's because you can never find a word specific enough. there will never be a label or two labels or even ten, twenty of them to perfectly capture and describe all of your thoughts, feelings, experiences, preferences, needs, interests, identities, etc. because you learn more and more about yourself every day and then you change and your wants and needs change with you. having to hop between labels, fearing that you don't 'fit' into a label anymore (both in your own and others eyes), worrying how soon your current label will wear out, questioning if you'll ever fully fit a single one. all that causes a lot of uncertainty and anxiety which could be avoided by just picking a more general thing and molding it according to what it means to YOU. because words will always mean different things to different people, you will never be understood immediately and maybe never completely by anyone but yourself and that's fine
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bro why the fuck is understanding my gender locked behind reckoning with my traumatic childhood and the de-gendering & social masculinization i went though due to poverty and having to turn to masculinity/male social systems due to being rejected from girlhood at a young age and needed a social systems to protect myself from the consequences of being an autistic traumatized gifted student.
cant i just have a quick answer? a shortcut? without dredging all that up? without getting a PHD in gender-studies? please??
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the whole "you shouldn't identify as X, don't form an identity when you can't/don't know yet, you're too young, what if/you might change your mind!" etc etc. it's so silly when you think about it. what's wrong with changing your mind anyway? why did we all decide that gender/sexuality identity has to be static and can never change? why did we decide that it's a bad thing to change? because the old generation tells us change is bad? because they (mostly conservatives) want to conserve "the good old days/the way things are supposed to be" in their minds???
WHO CARES if someone says they're gay then realizes 5 years later they're bi. WHO CARES if someone says they're a girl and realizes after trying it out they're not. let people explore who they are until they figure it out even if they go through every lable available to them! maybe none fit and they make up their own! who cares! who cares if they change it every year for the rest of their lives! humans change. that's the only constant about us! why is it a bad thing, even taboo, to accept change and exploration within sexuality and gender specifically?
there's always so much shame that comes with someone realizing they were wrong, changing as a person, or discovering something new about themselves. i've seen people afraid to explore themselves more or afraid to talk about a change in identity, for fear of the queer community pushing back on them the same way they're afraid to come out to the cishets in their life who are trans/homophobic. that's just not fair that their own community can become hostile towards them, too. being in a closet within a bigger closet essentially. everyone is always told to figure it all out first before claiming an identity, because then you're locked in it for life, apparently. you can't change your mind after that. why though? what's the point of that really? why can't we embrace fluidity a bit more? why can't we accept that humans do change all the time? why is making and trying to prove that these identities are static/unchanging/innate the only way to validate them? why can't they just, I don't know, BE VALID. without reason. why must we jump through hoops to be valid when we should just automatically be valid because we are human. stop letting the cishets gatekeep everything, leading to us gatekeeping each other!
I am sometimes very hesitant to talk about my own identity. I identified as a gay/biromantic trans guy for like idk 8-10 years? transitioned and everything. then like a year or two ago, I realized/decided that doesn't fit right anymore. now i'm a nonbinary, but also kinda fluid, aroace person. sometimes I don't like to talk about that because of the stigma behind changing your gender/sexuality identities. but you know what. i'll talk about it anyway and people have to learn to accept it.
what were the consequences and bad parts about changing my mind/identity like that? none. absolutely none. (outside of people being weird about it for no reason) but the benefits are feeling more comfortable with myself, and that's no one else's business.
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I keep finding it so uncomfortable when people differentiate between women and men in my surroundings, and assume that some people are men and some are women. It's uncomfortable both because what if someone doesn't identify with whatever gender they may look like, and because why is it an important distinction in the first place?
Granted, there may be circumstances where it's relevant, but for context let me list some examples of what I mean. These are examples that I've experienced in the recent weeks:
When playing a game that requires two teams, someone suggested that the women should play against the men, and then when this ended up being the case, regular jokes were being made related to gender whenever someone made a bad play
At lunch, someone said "looks like we're all women here today"
Whenever someone who presents as a man has done something stupid or whatever (whether a celebrity or just a regular person), it's common for people to tie that stupidity to the fact that the person is "a man". This seems like a tactic that's sometimes used in order to gain social benefit with women. For example, ending a story about something stupid someone did by going, "ugh, men"
It's also common to hear people mention someone's gender in a story they're telling as though the gender is relevant to the story, when usually it really isn't relevant at all. For example, "... and then she did X and Y, which isn't strange at all because she's a woman, and then he said Z ..."
I know these are innocent things people do and say, and they likely aren't even aware that it can be uncomfortable for some people. Maybe for people who strongly identify as either gender it can even be affirming to have people say these things. I just wish I knew a good way to say that it's making me uncomfortable without having it become a big thing or making them think I'm overreacting
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Hi my gender is
H̶̨̧̛͎̯̰̻̮͗̂͆̓̋̂̍̇̃͘S̵̛̜̞͚͇̻̩̱͕̩̞̦̋̽̔͑͒̐͂̾̒̅̎͜͝͝Ĥ̷̡̜̙̝͕͍͊́̿̆̑̉̌͘S̸̹̯̩͈̜̰̰̘̠̟̾͛̏̄B̶̛̦̳͆͆̂̀̇̓́̊̀̉̕͝S̵̼͈̟̭̘̎̿̕̕͝J̸̛͎̾̔́̎̌̔̀̅̐̕͠͝S̴͚̫̪̝̖͍̘̦͓̺̭̭̗̩̐̑̆̽̃̾̃͋̄̎̆́̈́̍B̶̨̦̖̻̹̱̂̀͜S̶̺̱͎͇̘̺͈̯͎͒̃̊̈̎̾͝ͅJ̵̣̗̼̎́̎̌̿̅́Ś̷̹͍̥̈̎̾͂̔̎̅̌͒̚͝͝B̶͚͈͈͖͔̪̣̰͍̜̒͊͆͛͘͝S̵̢͇̼̻̦͕̮̪̖̍ͅJ̵̨̻̗̯̬̩̻͒̈́̚͘S̶̢̛̺̣̞̟̓͑͆̌̓͐ͅN̴͉̤̠̺̻̟̖͉͋̓͜S̵̻̞̜͙̃̑̓́̏̂̈͂̄̚J̸̛̣̠̦̭̪̫̼̺̐̒͝ͅͅḘ̶̩̣̼̈́̆̓͛̀͋̐͜$̸̗̳̻̽̽̋̽̎3̸͖̮̌̽&̸̢̫̼̜͍͓̦͉̗̘̣̙̑͜:̵̢̨̭͍̠̦̱̦̈́̆͒̇̓̿͌̾̏́̅̾́̆̌!̶̢͎̪̓͆̉:̴̭̫̟̜͙̮̞̫̩̈͊͜ͅ9̵̡̫͕̩̰͍̞͙͎̻͇̯͆̾͂͂̃̓̈́͐̏̽͊ͅ2̶̨̡̙͕̪̳̩͎͍͕̠̤͕͕̟́̓̓'̴̠̱͙̬͎̥͔̟͔̥̼͘͠w̵̨̭͉͍̄͋͜ķ̴̧̨̱̫̼́͒͛̓̚͜w̷͈͊̏̾̔͗͘͝n̶̢͕͙͖̘̟̙̦̣̳̜̺͇̳̍̋͐̈́̇̋͋̅͛̽̍͘͝e̶̢̥̠̜̟̟̭͛͊͒ͅķ̶̡̛̩͚̱̼̲̮̯̫̺̺͎͔̈́̄̒ḙ̴̲͎͎͉̠̖̪̟́̄ṉ̷̨͠e̴̢͖͍̮͌͋̎́̾k̵̝͍͑̂̐w̴͔͇̣͈̳̍̉͋̌̿̔͘͝m̸̨̩̟͙̬̹͉̩̣͔̠͓̞̹̉̈̀̈́̊̄̈́̀̓̈͐͝ͅs̷̢͇̖̻̭̣̜̫̙̈̄͗̀̽͗͜ͅḳ̸̛̿̑͋̽̍͒̀̅̎̀͊͝x̷̨̛͍̟̯̺̦̄͊̇̈́̓͛͠n̶̢̢̠̣̱̣̲̮̱̳͖̘͈̾͑̑́̀̀̾́̈́̕͜͝ͅe̷͎͕͎̘̖̫̭̱̝͛̌̾̄̃̕͝͠k̶͙͙̣̖̓͊̿e̶̢̧̨̩͍̤̲̦̺̥͕̼̫͆̃
Hope this helped!
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