tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855786431538722357.post8025962191682728879..comments2013-05-13T15:05:43.064+01:00Comments on Deconstruction Site: Let's talk about sex(uals)Ganymedehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04878567821085993112noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855786431538722357.post-68195993272524792042012-01-27T18:42:47.344+00:002012-01-27T18:42:47.344+00:00DEBATE!!!
Sorry, I think slowly. I did eventually...DEBATE!!!<br /><br />Sorry, I think slowly. I did eventually manage to distill the essense of my obviously highly valuable contribution...HERE; http://anyanswersquestioned.blogspot.com/2012/01/when-i-left-university-and-wasnt.htmlNik Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09120981107014542606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855786431538722357.post-80510043705099427492012-01-19T10:16:56.952+00:002012-01-19T10:16:56.952+00:00@Janet: that's fair (and made sense). I admit ...@Janet: that's fair (and made sense). I admit to being biased in that I really like labels. :D I'd be interested to know how you feel about other people non-consensually labelling you, though.<br /><br />@James: nice.<br /><br />EDIT: Jenni has informed me that use of the term "sexual" to mean "a person who's not asexual" can be controversial, and some people within the asexual community are trying to think of alternatives. Clearly I'm behind on discussions; sorry about that.<br /><br />This noted, however, I'm going to let my use of the word stand, because the reasons for which it's deemed potentially offensive illustrate my points:<br /><br />1) It unfortunately implies that "sexual people" are "being sexual" (i.e. sexually active) constantly, which of course isn't necessarily the case. But unfortunate implications are almost unavoidable when coining or using labels (e.g. the "feminist" example, or the binary-gender-assumptions underlying "homo-/heterosexual"). I'm all in favour of finding a better alternative, but if "sexual" does become the accepted term, perhaps less-sexually-active people reclaiming it would counterbalance some of these implications and lead to a more healthy and balanced view of "sexual-ness" in the broader sense(i.e. "being sexually active").<br /><br />2) Labels-as-nouns are generally less pleasant than labels-as-adjectives, since they imply depersonalisation: "an asexual person" is a person who happens to be asexual, but "an asexual" is reduced to that one characteristic. Without intending any disrespect, I'll indulge in a little table-turning by keeping this usage in, since it's usually the privileged majority (99% of whom are statistically likely to be 'sexual') who unthinkingly depersonalise the minority like this ("our new neighbour is a Black", "I don't want my daughter going out with a transgendered", etc.).<br /><br />And with that, I may just have not only left a tediously overlong comment but also been insensitive and boorish, so I'll leave other people to pick up the debate :)Ganymedehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04878567821085993112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855786431538722357.post-43543709901552640532012-01-18T20:43:50.469+00:002012-01-18T20:43:50.469+00:00Time to declare myself an anti-labelist and collap...Time to declare myself an anti-labelist and collapse into a paradoxical wormhole.Jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855786431538722357.post-3659818628936943272012-01-18T18:24:39.561+00:002012-01-18T18:24:39.561+00:00Ooh, very interesting post (I mean, your posts are...Ooh, very interesting post (I mean, your posts are normally very interesting, but this time I'm actually getting round to saying so.) As far as I'm concerned though, I think that the reason I don't do labels isn't because of who I'd share the labels with or anything - it's because, after nearly 25 years of being me, I still don't know enough about me to know how to (or to want to) label myself. And labels are not necessarily permanent - they can't be, because people change in many ways - but I think that if I were to give myself labels I would be in some ways mentally stuck with them. Hmm. That made more sense before I wrote it down.Janetnoreply@blogger.com