Labels

So I identify as quite a few things. I give myself these labels, and I accept quite a few of them too. For example, I accepted the label of having anxiety and depersonalisation disorder when the doctors gave them to me. I accepted the label of my sexuality, I accepted the label of 'weird' when people used to call me it in school (to be honest, I still get called weird, but I bring that on myself, not going to lie.) But they are a part of us, I identify as a woman, I proudly identify as English and Scottish and French and whoever the fuck else my ancestors decided to fuck around with. (I also identify as being indie trash) And I love labels, I love being organised, therefore organizing myself and the world around me. And yes, sometimes labels can be used negatively, can be used as a form of oppression or a means of having or forcing power over someone. And, yes, we are all 'one people', all made of flesh and bone and all that shit, but for some people, labels give them something to hang on to.

Labels give identity, and identity brings empowerment. Yes, labels start wars, but we're never going to eradicate them so, in the meantime, they give people something to fight for. I know that there is so much pressure for people to identify as one thing or the other, and that making these 'decisions' to identify as such and such a thing (I said 'decisions' in inverted commas because I'm in no way suggesting that people just decide to be gay, coming from personal experience, I know that to be a phrase that's incredibly undermining and insulting.) can be extremely physically and mentally strenuous. But, personally, I like building myself up brick-by-brick, labelling each part of me, looking back on each of them and feeling somewhat satisfied with the choices I've made. Not the choices to be whatever label, but the choices to identify as them.

I think it's the way we interpret the labels that makes all the difference. They don't have to be restrictive, they don't have to come coupled with rules and guidelines. Me being bisexual doesn't mean that I have an equal 50/50 percentage of attraction to each sex. Somebody identify as Christian, doesn't mean that they follow every single line of the bible, that that's all they live and breathe. For example, in my village, we have a lesbian vicar and, if anything, she is raw proof that a single label doesn't have to dominate who you are.

You don't have to define yourself to society or other people, there shouldn't be pressure to express yourself as one thing or another. For some people, like me, having these labels means identifying yourself to yourself. I mean, why the fuck should it be anybody else's business? Why should I put down every piece of my personality in my Twitter bio just to let a thousand people who I've never met, and probably never will, where I stand on the political, sexual or religious spectrum? And, hey, that's great if you do want to do that, you go Glen Coco, whatever floats your goat. But it's the people who pressure everyone to publicly identify as whatever, that give labels the bad rep.

So I think the message here that I was trying to get across was, do whatever the fuck you want. Don't get involved in people's lives who's lives will never effect your own. The only people who should be pressuring you for information about yourself are government operatives, and they should only be doing that if you're a convicted criminal or a perceived threat to the country - which I doubt any of you are.

Oh yeah, and I was inspired by this video: (which completely contradicts everything I just said, but I agree with parts of it. Lolololol, love having unpopular opinions. But give it a watch, anyway.)

I Am NOT Black, You Are NOT White - Prince Ea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0qD2K2RWkc

Anyway, ta.

R.

#deep