What does your label read?

Labels. You know what they are. They are those wonderful little sticky things that are attached to every piece of fruit and vegetable we buy. They are those hard cardboard things attached to every piece of clothing we buy. They are on electronics, toys, and many other things. They are on everything, including people.

You know what I am talking about. He’s Gay. She is a Lesbian. Oh, that is a BISEXUAL! He is too fat. She is too thin. That is a Granola Dyke. He is Christian. She is a Jew. See what I mean.

It all comes down to labels. Why do we have these labels and why do we need them?

We are a society of labelers. We have to have a label or else we do not know where we fit. We need to marginalize everything so that it has its place. At least that is what we are taught. If we do not have a label, someone will surely find one for us.

I asked before, why do we have them and why do we need them. In a society like ours, we need to know what group we belong to. We need to know where we will fit in. We want to be comfortable and not out of place, so we make sure that those around us have the same type of labels.

Want to know something scary? We have more than one label. Don’t believe me? Let us look at mine. I am male (label one), with Blue eyes (label two), who is overweight (label three), is gay (ut oh, label four), who has had sex (label five), who has dark blond hair (label six), which is curly (label seven), and it is long (label eight). I also have my ears pierced (label nine), had body piercing (label ten), have tattoos (label eleven), am only five feet eleven inches tall (label twelve), wear a size 11 shoe (label thirteen), have only had two partners (label fourteen), don’t do bars (label fifteen), don’t do casual hookups (label sixteen), am HIV negative (label seventeen), and I have pets (label eighteen). I could go on and on and on and on and still find more labels.

Do you see the point I am making yet? No? Let me continue and make sense of it all. We need labels. We love labels. We abhor labels. It is all so damn confusing. Nevertheless, just as we hate labels, they are important. It is part of how we define who we are. I am one of those people who have reclaimed the goodness of labels. I have met many other people who have done the same thing. When we start shedding labels, we start shedding pieces of what makes us a unique person.

Those who use labels against each other are the problem. They are the ones who start to marginalize us, verses embracing the differences. Diversity is exactly that… embracing the differences between all people… between all the different subsets among subsets among subsets. It is like a gayarchy. You know hierarchy for gay people (gay in the inclusive general glbt community sense). We are a very diverse community, yet depending on which area of the community your labels reside, there is this gayarchy of who is better than whom. When we have diversity, these hierarchies do not matter. When we let go of what holds us back and what makes us feel superior, we find harmony. So let go!

My final question to you is this: Do you embrace your label or not? Me? I do! What does mine say? It reads: “28 year old gay Jewish man with a heart of gold, a sense of pride in where he comes from and where he is going, who enjoys life, meeting interesting new people, loves sharing new experiences, who is big but doesn’t let that hold him back because it’s just more of him to love, who cries at sad movies, laughs at funny ones, who has been loved by someone very special, who no longer takes life for granted, appreciates the little things, is creative, smart, witty, and who has an inner diva!” This is only a small portion of my label. This is just one tiny piece of what mine reads. One small fragment of what makes me unique.

What does your label read?

Jase ;0)

Jason P. Ruel
Gay Lesbian Editor

For something interesting to read on being who we are, try the following: