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very important issue when it comes to construction and communication of subtly as
labelling. Because the word ‘bisexual’ is so sexual meanings. Sexual encounters, like possible,
often erroneously believed to refer to all human encounters, involve ‘acts of rather than
people who like men and woman in equal identity’ but they also involve many other going in all
measure, many women who feel some kinds of verbal acts – acts of love and canons blaring
degree of attraction to men still call affection, domination and submission, and shouting
themselves ‘lesbian,’ ‘gay’ or another name aggression and humiliation, lying and your piece
which defi nes them as strictly female- concealment. Constructing sexual from the
oriented; whether for simplicity’s sake, identities is only one of the things people rooftops.”
because they’ve been doing it for years, involved in these transactions do with So, could a
or because of a need to belong. Emma, words – and it’s not always the most universal move
40, a teacher, says: “I defi nitely catch myself interesting thing.” towards de-labelling
looking at men in the street, but I could Acts and feelings of desire should, in within the gay
never call myself ‘bisexual’ as I don’t think I some ways, manage to transcend labelling community lead to
would ever want to get involved with a – to neatly categorise them is to detract more discrimination,
man seriously. There’s defi nitely an from their power and importance. Calling with LGB individuals failing
element of chemistry there though.” oneself a ‘lesbian’ or a ‘dyke’ is to defi ne to assert their
Plenty of us, if pressed, would express a oneself by one’s acts and feelings. But rights suffi ciently, or would it lead to
desire to dispense with labels altogether. nobody’s sexuality is at the forefront of better integration between people of all
Indeed, it wasn’t always the case that gay their mind 24/7 (well, most people’s isn’t, sexualities? It will probably be many years
people needed to consider what to call anyway!). So, are you still as much of a before we can expect anything of this
themselves. The Romans and Ancient ‘lesbian’ when you’re not thinking about kind to start happening – and even
Greeks famously included homosexual women as when you are? then it seems unlikely that we will be left
practices into their culture, and, as faras More controversially, some would without any words at all to differentiate
we know, neither culture used specifi c argue that you are still adopting a label of between people who engage in different
terms for those who engaged in such sorts if you declare yourself to be against sorts of sexual behaviour. What might
behaviour, simply because it was so labels. If you expressly state that you are change is how often these words are
openly expressed and commonplace (for against putting yourself in boxes, this in used, how many of them are used and
men at least). itself, ironically, puts you in a box. Janine, 28, in what context.
As the introduction to The Language a writer, says: “The problem with forcefully In the meantime, perhaps we can all
and Sexuality Reader, published by asserting yourself as being outside try being a ‘lesbian’ on Monday, a ‘dyke’ on
Routledge, puts it: “just as sex is not categorisation is that you end up being Tuesday, ‘gay’ on Wednesday, ‘homosexual’
relevant to the construction and labelled an ‘anarchist’– or even just ‘label- on Thursday, ‘queer’ on Friday… and
communication of sexual identity, sexual free’, which is still a label, after all! I think spending the weekend refusing to
identity is not all that is relevant to the the best way of doing it is to do it as commit to any of them.
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