:: sigh :: Again with the labels. :: whew ::
I am at my wits end with this subject here on Susan's.
There seems to be some misunderstandings involving some terms, because the person using, or disliking the term is not versed in the culture that spawned it, uses it, or adapted it to their own needs. For example:
QuoteI know locally, some people use it to describe themselves when they are not quite sure where they fall with their sexual orientation, but they know they aren't straight.
Not to pick on the divine Missy M., but Queer is much more than that. It is yet another word, that the GLBT community has begun to adapt to it's own use. Yes. In the past it was an epitaph meant to inflict harm, much like ->-bleeped-<-. (We'll get to that one later) But, when a minority community usurps a word like queer, and embraces that word as an identity, it becomes their own, and they use it with pride.
Locally in Portland, we have a GLBT centered center. What is it called? The "Q" Center.
"Q" does not stand for questioning -- "Q" stands for queer. Queer is becoming the word of choice to describe the blanket community, ala GLBT. Gay does not work properly, because homosexual men are gay. Lesbian describes homosexual women, and BI-sexual describes people that identify as either homosexual and heterosexual, or as neither homo/heterosexual. Just as "T" has come to stand for the umbrella term of all people questioning gender roles, "Q" is becoming the word to describe all people that are not heterosexual-identified-- outside the mainstream.
This creates an obvious problem for many people under the "T" category, because they do not identify with anything GL or B. In actuallity, many people that have fallen under the "T" identified category, or have moved thru and beyond those borders are very vested in retaining the current heterosexual paradigm. They do not want to dismantle it, they want to adapt it so that they are accepted under those rules -- in essence changing how the rules are interpreted.
Now we come to ->-bleeped-<-. It is a book by a local author, one of my favorites, actually.
You can order it from In Other Words Bookstore. These women are presenting ideas that rail against traditional values of male and female to the point, where they do not want to modify the heterosexual paradigm, they want to eliminate it and start from scratch. Of course, not all women agree with them either, so the battle rages on.
Main point being, that people from the "T" category want to be accepted by heterosexual people under the current paradigm, whereas many GLB people are trying to escape it, or dismantle it. We are at odds.
On the one hand, People from the "T" background want the protections afforded them from the GLB community, but they do not want to carry the banner of queer, or being different. Being different gets you noticed, and that goes against the motivations of people trying to blend in. How can this work? I've no idear?
But, we do need to stop criticizing each other on the use of terms we might or might not agree with. Personally, I find the term trans offensive. There is a local group advertising themselves as women and trans. I am like, what? If I were one of those people, I sure wouldn't want to be involved with the group. The groups name is already exclusive.
On specific terms. I have every right to label myself ->-bleeped-<-. Damn skippy! I find the term ->-bleeped-<- offensive, and the terms trans and "T" anything divisive. But if someone else wants to use that term to identify with, that is their personal business.
Queer is a more difficult example, because it is the term of choice to describe the GLBT community, and all the other labels that don't fall into GLB or T. So, whereas many people support the term "T", because it puts them in allignment with some GLBT causes, they do not identify as queer, or out of the heterosexual mainstream. Those of us that are queer, support those people, because we are alligned with their fight for expanded rights for all minorities -- but......we have to realize that they are not one of us.
I hope that I have not offended anyone in my broad expressions using the "T" terms?
I know that many people on this board do not identify with anything "T" or radical, and yet they are my allies in some fashion.
I would advance that we allow each other to use whatever term to describe themselves as they see fit. But, to be very careful that we do not apply a label to someone else that they are uncomfortable with.
Thundra: butch, radical, feminist, queer womyn. Not a butch, nor a radical, nor a feminist, nor a queer, but a womyn. Descriptors, not definers.
