Labels Lead to Assumptions

I read an article the other day about the invisibility of bisexual men. The author hinted at his own experiences of being othered, judged, ostracized, belittled, for using the label that fits his self-identity best.

Labels can create tribes, among individuals who identify with the same label as one another.

But they are also othering.

And it isn’t just sexuality or gender related labels that can result in this.

I struggled to self-label as a writer for a long time, because most writers I know use that as their primary “job-label” whether or not writing is their full-time occupation. But I do so many things, and each of those “job-labels” are equally important to me.

I struggled to even say the words “I am a writer” because I didn’t want other people to assume that writing is my primary profession. It is one of my equally-primary professions.

Assumptions are a natural consequence of labelling, whether you label yourself or someone else labels you. These assumptions are based on stereotypes, which can be useful sometimes if you’re using them to understand how someone doesn’t fit the stereotype from an “I’d like to understand you as an individual” mindset. However, making assumptions based on stereotypes without analyzing whether you’ve made an appropriate assumption or not can lead to prejudice, unconscious bias, and othering.

I don’t even know how many profiles I’ve seen on FetLife that consist of a list of…