Labels Are Detrimental

By Rhonda Williams

We need to stop with all the labels and accept our individual reality.  

Many of my blog posts deal with advice from women to women (us). Others are about dressing and differentiating a masculine / feminine appearance; being visible. We relate to the success stories about being a woman or feminine person living a full uncompromised life. See my "Effeminate vs Feminine" where I discuss myself.  

"I am what I am". 

Many of the modern labels distance us from the life we live or the life we want to live. These labels have baggage and have become politicized. To accept a marginalized category only plays into the "got-you" stigmatizing of us. 

By accepting that we are "Women" or men who enjoy femininity, "Feminine men", then we have accepted that labels have no power over us. As Popeye said it best "I am what I am." 

Bullies, either on the playground or in state legislatures love to call marginalized groups by names / labels. It reinforces their perceived superiority just as the "N" word labeled an enslaved population. Labels marginalize and dehumanize.   

Transgender has become the "N" word of the day. The ACLU is tracking 494 anti-LGBTQ bills in 49 states, almost all targeted to marginalize the "T" community. Some of the bills passed address an issue that did not even exist in that state.  

According to the Pew Center, about 5% of young adults in the U.S. say their gender is different from their sex assigned at birth. According to the UCLA Williams Institute only .48% of the US population identify as transgender; 1.6 million. So much negative energy aimed at so few; a clear bullying MO.  

We can no longer remain silent. Bullies relish the fact that we are willing to cower. We have the power to stand strong and accept who we are. "Transgender" has become a "dog whistle" for the conservative-right to focus on "political correctness" (woke / aka empathy) gone astray. Let us change the narrative. 

It is putting down all women to marginalize a person who aspires to become or be known/seen as a woman.  Is being a women a bad thing or being a lesser person? If being/becoming a woman is too much for you, then accept the fact that you are a man who enjoys femininity; "a feminine man". Feminine men have been around for centuries in all cultures. Is there something wrong with femininity or loving fashion?  

Bullies use name-calling to justify their punitive dehumanizing actions. By accepting who/what we are, we force the bullies to unmask their prejudice and bigotry. Stand tall!  

Let's take away all the labels and force society to see us for what we are.  Let us ESCAPE being marginalized by made-up labels. "We the people..." applies to us just like everyone else. Let us take up the fight to eliminate labels that marginalized our individuality.