I must agree with you! I'm too 'complicated' for labels. I'm Missa! Not...whatever box YOU feel I should be in. grrrrrr. Plus that shit changes like every second.

I don't think we label ourselves. Others in the society do the labeling. I suppose it is borne of the desire to categorize people with a general identity. let's face it, when someone says Veterans, we know in general who they are talking about. Same with any label.

Agreed. I don't label myself. I have too many labels that would apply, but not in their entirity.

I guess the idea is that labels may make life less complicated for the person who comfortably adopts a label. It bypasses “why?” and “is this right?” to go directly into “when do we do it?” and “how do we make it more fun?” It’s perhaps intended to scrape off any lingering “guilty feelings” or shame over heteronormative interests. As you suggest, those labels can be a straight jackets. But when we meet for the first time it’s comon sense to give everyone an idea of who we are. If we reject labels, let’s say so even if in doing so we are implicitly adopting a label: “label-rejectionist.” But it would be pretty pathetic if we let a mere label, any label, become the sum total of our reality.

I wear my labels loosely.