Do you like your label ?

[Elinor]

Hello everyone,

This is something Iv'e been thinking about for a while. It's sort of come up on another thread, so I thought I'd ask the question.

It started when I came across the term SO, and then it spread to GG, and eventually to CD, TS, TV, TG etc, etc.

~D~ my partner is obviously very important to me, and to call her SO seems a bit cold and informal. Bit by bit, I realized that we all have these two-letter titles and they all come across as being a bit clinical.

So, the question is, if ANY of us had the oppertunity, would we rather be known by a more creative term ?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated

Love to all
Rebecca and ~D~
xxx

I am a crossdresser.
I prefer to be called a Janegirl than tranny, cd'er ect.
We have Tomboys and we have Janegirls.
Thank God for it

I have a feminine side and enjoy it.

[Nick]

Hmmm... Interesting topic. I understand where your coming from. I really like the term Janegirl. I think that I'll use it to describe myself if anyone asks about me!

[Beauty]

Hi Elinor,

The only icky phrase I hate is being called a transvestite. I think that's because I was raised thinking that was a bad word.

I'd really never heard of a Janegirl until now.

Beauty

[CJ]

Hi all,

Yeah, I agree with Beauty. "Transvestite," to me, sounds much more clinical or "medical" than just plain "crossdresser" or "CD." Although both words mean the same thing ("someone who dresses in the clothes of the opposite sex"), it seems to me that the word "transvestite" tries to label a person whereas the word "crossdresser" focuses on an activity. There's an implication that I'm always a transvestite whereas I'm only occasionally a crossdresser. While I don't deny that I'm always a transvestite, the danger, here, is that I'll be reduced, in the eyes of society at large, to being only a transvestite. This kind of reductionism comes only too easily to people and I'm unwilling to accept it, in my case. Conversely, it's obvious to those who know me that I'm not only a crossdresser (given that I'm not always crossdressed).

The term "SO" is difficult, as well. "Significant"? In what way? I think it's significant that the Earth's global temperature has been raised by a full two degrees in the last century because of human activity. And "Other"? Is a person we share ourselves with--our heart, our mind, our soul, our body--really as "alien" as this word suggests? Personally, I've always liked the word "mate." It suggests completion, complementarity, and connection. And it's politically correct (for those of you who are into that sort of thing).

In the end, they're all just words. Oy! words, words, words.

Love,
CJ

[Elizabeth]

Hi girls,

I am with Beauty and CJ on this one. Must be my age, but for some reason Tranvestite sounds vulgar to me. I have never said I was a transvestite, even though I am.

I like the term crossdresser just fine. It seems fairly benign. It may or may not accurately describe me, but it's close enough for the average citizen. And I never really thought of it before I just read CJ say it, but I like that is describes what I do, as opposed to saying what I am.

Love always,
Elizabeth

[Stef]

Hi Elinor,

I don't care what I'm called so long as people say it with a smile on their face. I'm not one for labels so what people call me does not matter. Life is too short to worry over where I fit in. I guess I prefer the label Stef.

Hugs,
Stef

[Nick]

Transvestite sounds like it's some kind of weird bug, that's why I don't like it.

[Violet]

I will take any label you care to apply to me and own it. I think 'Janegirl' is cute; I'll have to add that to my store!

As to the question of the 'Significant Other': what can possibly be more alien than another human being? And what can possibly be more significant than allowing that alien to share your mind and soul? Just playing 's advocate here...

But I agree, it does sound overclinical and PC. The reason we have clinical terms, however, is so that people will be less likely to be offended by any connotations that might attach. I don't have an SO and if I did I doubt I would be too offended by any term one might refer to zer by. (unless it were used in a hostile or derogatory manner. Then somebody would get bootf@#%ed.) At most I might dispute the accuracy of such terms, ie. 'wife' if we weren't married or 'gay lover' if zie was bi. But I honestly wouldn't care. Words /= humans.

[Nick]

Words /= humans.

Good call!

[Wendy Seymone]

Hmmmm...

Does being called "totally fish" count as a label??

[Kyra]

Hey Y'all,

I have to agree to just about everything I've read here. TG, CD, GLBT...
they're all labels of one sort or another. To be quite honest, I don't like being labelled at all. Guess that's why I have difficulty in social situations. I never want to be pegged as anything other than "me". Yes, Kyra has a rebellious side.

I = Individual

That being said, I don't see any harm in using them as abreviations here (on the forum) They tend to make it a little easier to clarify who's who. But I wouldn't use those terms in day to day affairs. I don't refer to my GG friends as "GG friends" in normal everyday conversation.

So that's my take.
Hugs,
Kyra

[Rainsong]

Hi girls,

let me put in my 2 cents worth of opinion. I despise labels. I understand the need of humans to put words to items as a way to communicate, but I also believe that the over-use of labels leads to discrimination, bigotry and does nothing to help unite the human race. Our world is so screwed up, and there are so many ways to categorize us, and all that leads to is segregation.

I, like Stef, have no use for labels, I will answer to just about anything as long as it is said with a smile and acceptance. I am human, unique as the rest, but for ease of identification you can call me Jamie!

Good thread Elinor, made me think.

I'll now get off of my soap box

love and hugs,

Jamie

[Maggie]

I personally feel comfortable considering myself a "transvestite." I think it has a more serious connotation than "crossdresser." It speaks more to what I am than what I do.

"Crossdresser" is okay, but I feel it might have a more frivolous connotation - such as dressing for a lark, or getting only partly dressed, or have a choice in the matter. When I dress, I do so fully, and I act, talk, and try to be a woman as convincingly as possible. It's not just the clothes. I dress and present myself as a woman, because that I what I feel I am inside.

[Amelie-Laveau]

Do I like my label?
Mine says "Made in Japan". But assembled in Mexico, with some French parts.

[Merinda]

Transvestite sounds like it's some kind of weird bug, that's why I don't like it.

I agree , to me the term " transvestite " sounds like a title of a sexually undesirable person in the park up to no good.

I mean its silly really ! , but thats the negitive way society portrays it .

I will stick with CD , TG , GA ( gender alternator ) or even Shemale.