There’s a wonderful youtube video by my man RJ Aguiar about being bisexual and monogamous and one of the things he covers is labels, like people telling him that since he is committed to this one guy, “Why don’t you just come out and say you are gay?” Sigh. Anyway, he gives very similar advice to what Ruth does: that labels work as a shorthand but the minute they don’t fit, throw them away.
Another trouble with labels, they don’t always mean the same thing to different people. I might say something intended as a compliment, only to have it taken as an insult, or vice versa.
I’m really not a fan of the whole identity politics schtick. I think it gets used to divide people far more than anything else currently.
But Lynn’s advice here is the best advice I can possibly imagine and, should I ever find myself stuck in the position she’s in in this scene, I pray that I’m able to offer something as effective.
UnCONventional is a comic that ran from December 2009 to December 2019 about the staff of a small town anime convention and their lives. This is a complete online archive of the comic.
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7 thoughts on “Disaster Con – Labels”
viga
The ship is sailing. I repeat: the ship is sailing! <3
E. Bernhard Warg
Was it Kierkegaard or Dick Van Patten who said “When you label me, you limit me?”
Glenn
There’s a wonderful youtube video by my man RJ Aguiar about being bisexual and monogamous and one of the things he covers is labels, like people telling him that since he is committed to this one guy, “Why don’t you just come out and say you are gay?” Sigh. Anyway, he gives very similar advice to what Ruth does: that labels work as a shorthand but the minute they don’t fit, throw them away.
EcchiKitty
Another trouble with labels, they don’t always mean the same thing to different people. I might say something intended as a compliment, only to have it taken as an insult, or vice versa.
E. Bernhard Warg
Other Person: Eew! That movie looks weird!
Me: Ooh! That movie looks weird!
WizeManBOB
I’m really not a fan of the whole identity politics schtick. I think it gets used to divide people far more than anything else currently.
But Lynn’s advice here is the best advice I can possibly imagine and, should I ever find myself stuck in the position she’s in in this scene, I pray that I’m able to offer something as effective.
Gordo
“I’m really not a fan of the whole identity politics schtick. I think it gets used to divide people far more than anything else currently”
Spoken like a straight white dude who has no clue what it’s like to not be the socially acceptable default.
About the Comic
UnCONventional is a comic that ran from December 2009 to December 2019 about the staff of a small town anime convention and their lives. This is a complete online archive of the comic.
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