Keep getting an ad that's explaining what "label-fluid" means...
Buddy, mew're so close to figuring things out but mew refuse to break free so mew're making up new words. Identity labels, as a whole, are generally never going to be a good system in the long run. The longer a label exists, the more likely it is for things to get attributed to them. The more attributes they contain, the more constrictive they become. The more constrictive they are, the less likely they are able to apply to people. Mew either fit the description of a label perfectly or you don't fit it. Mew may realize one day... "Hey, the labels I've been using don't fit me anymore, i should find ones that do!" And then mew go searching for a label that perfectly fits mew. Mew hunt and hunt and mew find labels that are close but don't quite fit. No box fits mew as perfectly as a second skin, nothing ever matches mewr own experiences because the sum total of mewr experiences are entirely unique to mewrself. Mew either need to live with labels that don't fit mew perfectly or make mewr own label just for mewrself. One option causes people to misunderstand who mew might be because mew don't fit mewr labels, the other option defeats the "point" of labels in the first place due to people not recognizing mewr own special labels. What do mew do in that position? Do mew switch labels as mew grow and change, becoming "label-fluid" as mew try to figure out which well-known labels fit mew the best while mew discover mewrself? Do mew keep refining the definition of mewr own custom label until the only person it can fit in the first place is mewrself, creating a guide to mewr label for the frequent occurrence of people asking what mewr label is?
Or... Do mew pick a secret third option? Rather than trying to fit in boxes and label mewrself for easy (if slightly misguided) consumption... Rather than trying to create mewr own niche label to mark mewrself like some kind of rare good to consume... What if mew just stopped? What if mew stopped playing the label game?
Labels are prescriptive, the description of the label becomes rules that the people who hold it either have to follow or explain why they don't follow them. Mew could, instead, be descriptive about mewrself. Mew can talk about what mew like and don't like. Mew can talk about what names and descriptors mew like to use, like pronouns and nicknames and the like. It's like creating mewr own label but there's no name for it. There's just mew mewrself.
That said, it takes a lot of work to get mewrself in the headspace required to make this possible, given all the things we're taught while growing up, labels are everywhere and it's hard to notice when something is a description or a label at certain levels. I just hope everyone can eventually live in a world of curiosity in your fellow person, such that we aren't falling back on quick-consumption labels, and instead like to find out about the people around us directly from their own descriptors.
