I’m a millennial / gen z edge case (born in 96) so I encounter both those perspectives with my friends.
It helps me feel calm to find out there are categories of gender and sexual identity I can identify with bc it means there are more people like me and it’s easier to communicate my identity to others using those labels. It’s sometimes nice to have something to adhere to because it makes you feel understood and valid as opposed to just internal chaos and insecurity. And labels can always change, they’re not something to fix your identity in place. They can enable you to be confident in some situations.
On the other hand I comepletely understand no wanting to be defined by the labels you choose for yourself. I think with some people it’s nice to have them (e.g. because my friends already know me as a person and don’t use the labels to define me instead) and in others it may not (e.g. anti-lgbtq discrimination online, in public or in the workplace, being misunderstood by uneducated or ignorant people).
I’m a millennial / gen z edge case (born in 96) so I encounter both those perspectives with my friends.
It helps me feel calm to find out there are categories of gender and sexual identity I can identify with bc it means there are more people like me and it’s easier to communicate my identity to others using those labels. It’s sometimes nice to have something to adhere to because it makes you feel understood and valid as opposed to just internal chaos and insecurity. And labels can always change, they’re not something to fix your identity in place. They can enable you to be confident in some situations.
On the other hand I comepletely understand no wanting to be defined by the labels you choose for yourself. I think with some people it’s nice to have them (e.g. because my friends already know me as a person and don’t use the labels to define me instead) and in others it may not (e.g. anti-lgbtq discrimination online, in public or in the workplace, being misunderstood by uneducated or ignorant people).