Labels >=(

I am endlessly frustrated with the feeling that people make bad assumptions about me or other people because of the labels we casually assign each other. I could easily go on a rant about othering people, but shouting into nothingness is equally frustrating. As a kid, I was very preoccupied with freedom because I felt so constrained within a body that prevented me from expressing myself how I desired, and obsessed with fairness. So I would love to be an iconoclast, and eccentrically defy norms without any fear of reprisal, but alas I'm not quite perfect. As I can't be free from the roles and expectations I'm assigned, at least I can make sure it's fair.

I don't even want to add labels to this post, but I will, otherwise my blog would be unnavigable, this is one of many examples of how I have to adapt if I want to exist socially. I've lived nearly my entire life trying desperately to fit in as a boy then young man, while I've always had difficulty expressing masculinity let alone understanding it. This is because I was stamped with a label at birth that prevented me for being allowed to be a girl, at least until I learned about a new, albeit less accepted label of transgender.

And yet the word, transsexual, doesn't make sense to me. By it's counterparts, heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual, it would make sense for a transsexual person to be sexually attracted to transgender people. This is one of many reasons why heterosexual cisgender people shouldn't be making up the words, lumping LGBT together is naive. But I like that I'm part of a larger group as a trans person, even if gay people can be just as transphobic as society at large. People are people, if I can't accept others then how can I expect acceptance in return.

Here's where I would normally make a pithy comment implying hypocrisy, but meh. There is power in the way you describe yourself. It shapes how you feel and who you are as a person. I used to often say "I'm awesome!" Without sarcasm, even if I didn't always believe or feel it. Just saying it and hearing it said is enough to alter your mood and perceptions of self. The freedom to express yourself and find yourself can easily be hampered by allowing labels to segregate ourselves. But segregation based on race, religion, sex, gender, wealth, etc. is regressive, we can and should aspire to be better than our forebears.

I'll only allow labels to describe me, not define me.