Do you guys feel labels are important? I honestly hate labeling my sexuality. I know it's helpful for others but not for everyone. I struggled a lot this year with coming to terms with my orientation and then i finally decided that i didn't really need a label. (if people ask i say i'm pansexual or lesbian sometimes but i don't feel it's necessary. I know i'm queer and thats as far as i feel that i need to go) i was just wondering what everyone elses thoughts on this were? :icon_bigg
For some people labels are important because it gives them certainty about who they are and what they want. Also, it's important to find a way to describe your wishes even if you don't have a special way to call them. Not everyone is that way, though. Personally, I don't feel an urge to talk about my sexuality with people because it's little more complicated (I don't really have an affinity for that kind of conversation). I usually just say that I'm gay or asexual (it depends who I'm talking to). From my young age until now, I was never willing to put myself in one box. Like you said, labeling isn't always necessary. But if people are sure about who they are, why wouldn't they label themselves.
When I first joined EC nearly a year ago, I called myself Gay Ric. After being on here, it hit me my sexuality wasn't who I was but apart of me. I'm Richie not gay Ric But I am gay lol
I don't need a label because of myself but I think it can be useful to have one towards other people. Like instead of "well, he's the person who will look at your teeth and gums to check for any problems" it's easier to say "he's a dentist", right? Label can make understanding easier, I think.
I don't feel that way but I think if people don't want to use them then they should be free not to . I never got why people treated it like it was a requirement. I like labels gets the point across for me
I used to feel the same way. I didn't label myself, I guess because I felt at the time I was still too young and inexperienced to really know the full depth of my attractions and I also didn't want to be confined by a label, for me, loving whoever I loved was more important than some label. But I also never really discriminated between gender... I could always see myself in a fulfilling relationship with either a man or a woman. So now I've more or less settled on the descriptor of bisexual.
"I don't like labels" has become something of a catchphrase of mine. I do assign myself a label ('gay') because sometimes it's just easier to have one, but I think we should be cautious about pigeon-holing ourselves. Sometimes categories can become self-fulfilling prophesies.
