Gender and Sexuality Labels Are Complicated – And Here’s Why They’re Still Valid

So I get that you’re a free spirit that can’t be put in boxes and that loves drinking chai tea vanilla hazelnut pumpkin spice nonfat lattes, but what does that even mean?

I want to talk about labeling complicated things like gender and sexuality because it’s something we should be talking about a little bit more. And listen: I like my identities just like I like my Starbucks drink menu – diverse and complicated as hell!

Shout out to my baristas out there.

The difference is no one’s saying, “I don’t like to label my Starbucks drink.” Don’t worry. I get it. People aren’t Starbucks drinks, unfortunately.

That doesn’t mean labels aren’t important. Obviously, not everyone fits into the boxes that labels put you in.

But labels can also be a really helpful tool to help you break down stereotypes. If you don’t have a word to describe your identity, how are you supposed to start a conversation about it? How else are you going to try to get people to be more open to your identity?

And to me the most important thing is that labels help you find a community to connect with people of the same or similar identity. Not every pumpkin spice latte tastes the same, just like not every pansexual is going to explain their sexuality in the exact same way. But the word pansexual definitely helps you communicate and gives you a starting point to understanding your and other people’s identities.

So just like you can like chai tea vanilla pumpkin spice hazelnut nonfat lattes, you can also be a nonbinary pansexual polyamorous person of color who adheres to demisexuality. Just because it might be confusing – and take the wind out of you to say it – doesn’t mean that your identity is any less valid.

These things are so complicated and if you need six or seven words to explain yourself to someone then so be it. Because let’s be real: Chai tea vanilla spice pumpkin hazelnut are the-bomb-dot-com.

So this week’s hashtag is #LabelWarmUp.

Tweet or post about a label you’re warming up to and if all of this is really new to you, I’ve left a list of awesome cool words that you might not have known in the description below.

My label warm up is monosexuality, which means sexual attraction to one gender or sex in contrast to, say, bisexuality or pansexuality.

To keep in touch my social networking links are in the description. Like, comment, and subscribe to help this channel grow and I’ll see you guys next week. Bye.