What is the difference between a label and a keyword?
Recently, I spoke with some other trans women about the pros and cons of labels. I was saying that labels can be a very powerful force for personal identification: by labeling myself, and choosing what labels to apply and how, I can forge my own identity out of its many disparate parts. I choose the labels ‘woman,’ ‘trans,’ ‘Chicagoan,’ ‘Jewish,’ ‘geek,’ and so on, and I get to decide what those labels mean for me.
Another woman in the group countered, “But what about when someone else places a label on you?” She said part of her problem identifying as ‘trans’ is all of the negative baggage associated with the word. Her feelings of discomfort were exacerbated by a generational gap: I was probably half her age, and the labels ‘trans’ and ‘queer’ meant very different things to her than they do for me.
Our different ideas of the emotional weight of those labels got me thinking about the semantics of the word label, and what other words might better describe how we create our identities.
Continue reading 'The Labels and Keywords of our Identities'»
At a trans group tonight, I was told I was “fishy.” I don’t know what this means. It’s somehow related to passing, but I don’t know whether being fishy is a “good” thing or a “bad” thing…
Help.
Note: Trans Form is the title of the one-woman show I’m working on, which will go up the second weekend of December in Chicago. I’m considering having little definition explanations throughout the show – because right now I really have no through-line or arc – as a way of linking pieces together.
Trans (prefix)
- Used with the meanings “across,” “beyond,” “through,” “changing thoroughly”
- Chemistry. a prefix denoting a geometric isomer having a pair of identical atoms or groups on the opposite sides of two atoms linked by a double bond
Trans (noun)
- A truncated version of transgender or transexual individual
- An umbrella term referring to those who are differently gendered
“She identifies as trans because she identifies as a woman, even though she was assigned ‘boy’ at birth.”
Form (noun)
- The shape of a thing or person
- A body, esp. that of a human being
- A standardized document to be filled out my
- Procedure or conduct, as judged by social standards
“It is considered poor form to refer to a trans woman – some who identifies as female – as a man. Also, it means you’re a rude jerk.”
Continue reading 'Trans Form Definitions'»
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