Do We Really Need Labels?

Lizzy Russo

WGSS 275

OpEd 1

Do We Really Need Labels?

Representation of people who identify as LGBTQ+ in the media has been growing in the past decades. More and more popular television shows are including characters who identify within the LGBTQ+ community. This inclusion in the media is extremely important. As writer and trans activist Janet Mock puts it in an NPR interview, when there is representation in the media you begin to feel seen. Feeling seen and represented in the media can create feelings of comfort and security for someone who is struggling with their identity. What if you don’t feel properly represented though? What if you feel like the media is not accurately portraying your experience in the LGBTQ+ community? Not feeling accurately represented can lead to a lot of self-doubt and fear. Many LGBTQ characters in television shows are very comfortable with their sexual identity and their label or are very quick to find comfort in it. This is not a completely accurate representation of many LGBTQ people. Our society is very geared on labeling people and this can be very problematic. This stress on the importance of labels is even expressed in our progressive media. Labels are not all good and should not be as overused. Labels can be problematic and should not be seen as the end all be all. 

     

    

Amy Raudenfeld on the MTV show Faking It showing that she doesn’t know what her label is.

While labels can be helpful for some people, for others they can be very daunting and restricting. When you are in the LGBTQ+ community you often find yourself having to come out or explain your sexuality often. People always ask “so what are you” expecting you to say either gay, lesbian, or bi. The answer to “what are you” can feel very complicated to someone who does not explicitly fit into one of those three neat and tidy boxes. People outside the LGBTQ community sometimes pressure queer people who do not have explicit labels to choose a label in order to make themselves more comfortable. As Sian Ferguson explains in her article “Labels: Empowering, Harmful, or Both?” labels can be used as a mean of oppression. When labels are forced on people unsolicited, they can diminish a person's feelings and identity. It also causes people to feel invalid and also very unsure of themselves. Ferguson also explains that giving people false labels can cause bi/pan erasure. When you assume that someone who is in a heterosexual relationship at that time is automatically straight this could cause someone who is bi or pan to feel invalidated in their sexuality. When people outside the LGBTQ+ force labels onto people questioning their sexuality it becomes a form of oppression.

The pressure to conform to labels happens within the LGBTG+ community as well. Finding your way in the LGBTQ+ community can be a daunting experience. When you are first questioning your sexuality it can be intimidating trying to find where you fit in, especially when you don’t know what your label is. In the article “Keep Questioning: The Restrictive Nature of Labels Within the LGBTQ Community” by Chevall Pryce they discusses how there are an overwhelming amount of labels that seem to come with so many rules. People often feel pressure to abide by the rules with the label that they choose to identify with. This is very restricting because if you don’t strictly follow the “rules” of that label it can feel like you can’t identify as that. Labels can be helpful though when trying to find where you fit within the LGBTQ community. It can provide a sense of belonging and family. Labels can quickly turn problematic though. Pryce explains that labels are often defined and policed by the LGBTQ community. This makes people feel like they have to prove themselves. This leads to people asking themselves, as Pryce puts it, “am I queer enough?” This pressure to label yourself comes from the feeling that you need to please others within the community. This is very unhealthy. Labels are supposed to be empowering but they often are turned into a means of oppression. This oppression can even be within the LGBTQ+ community.   

With young people especially becoming more open and accepting of a wide variety of sexualities and genders the use of diverse labels has become more common. A study done by the Journal of Research on Adolescence found that out of the 17,000 teens surveyed twenty-six percent identified with “emerging sexual identity labels”. Emerging sexual identity labels could mean pansexual, asexual, non-binary, or any other lesser-known label. With this new information presented, it is very apparent how important it is for young people to self-identify. It can be very empowering for a young person to discover who they are and how they want to identify. This is a journey of self-discovery though. If a young person especially is misidentified it can be very damaging. That is why forcing a label onto someone is bad. This study proves that it is important to not pressure people into labeling themselves and to let them figure out who they want to be. 

While labels can be a powerful tool for some people on their journey to figure out their sexuality or gender, they can also be very problematic. If labels are used incorrectly or are forced onto someone it can be very harmful to their mental state. That is why labels need to be used more considerately. Explicit labels should not be necessary for someone to feel like they belong in the LGBTQ+ community.