Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

What's the difference between 'is' and 'identifies as'?

64 replies

Juells · 03/02/2019 19:21

Googled Michelle Visage because of something I saw elsewhere (about her being vegan) and came across this link
www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/04/11/who-is-michelle-visage-is-she-gay-rupauls-drag-race-judge-lgbt-ally/

"Visage identifies as a straight woman, and has had two children with screenwriter husband David Case." Why would the writer of the article say that? Is she a straight woman, or does she only identify as one?

If I'm being really really stupid and missing something obvious please tell me.

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 03/02/2019 19:52

Trying to sound more interesting than other married mums?

FFS, I'm sure you can be a gay ally without using the 'identifies' word. Using 'identifies' in relation to sexuality sounds a bit off to me, tbh.

terryleather · 03/02/2019 19:39

I'd imagine it's being used to signify an allegiance to the Church Of Gender Identity and its tenets so all can see that this a good and right-thinking person.

WokeNotBloke · 03/02/2019 19:38

Isn’t it because what was she was born as is almost incidental to how she identifies 🤷🏻‍♀️

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 03/02/2019 19:36

Whenever I hear the term ‘identifies as’ I replace it with ‘pretends to be’ or ‘really really really wants to be, please god’.

Ceiling · 03/02/2019 19:36

m.youtube.com/watch?v=MFS59Tn0auY

LangCleg · 03/02/2019 19:34

Theism and non-theism.

Original poster
Juells · 03/02/2019 19:32

I’d assume she was a person who was born male but was choosing to live as a straight female for the time being.

She's an adult human female. That's what puzzled me. Why would someone not just say "Visage is heterosexual, married with two children".

OP posts:
flowery · 03/02/2019 19:32

I would assume this person was born male, because otherwise it would be “is”.

ThursdayLastWeek · 03/02/2019 19:29

Ditto AutumnCrow

SunnySomer · 03/02/2019 19:27

But looking at her Wikipedia entry I’d be completely wrong!

AutumnCrow · 03/02/2019 19:27

I'm tending to find that is = is, and identifies as = isn't.

Calvinsmam · 03/02/2019 19:26

I have no idea who she is, but based on that description I’d assume she was a person who was born male but was choosing to live as a straight female for the time being. And might or might not have transitioned.

No she’s just a fully female straight woman who hangs out with gay men and drag queens a lot.

Calvinsmam · 03/02/2019 19:26

I think for people who use that expression it’s because they believe it’s up to the person themselves to decide what they are, so there’s no gate keeping.
So the identifier is thing that decides what the identity is and the identity can change depending on who is looking at it.

Rather than how the rest of the world uses language which is that we try to come up with definitions of words that we all agree on and then things either fall into that definition or don’t.

I think that’s how it is but I would just say something is or isn’t something.

SunnySomer · 03/02/2019 19:25

I have no idea who she is, but based on that description I’d assume she was a person who was born male but was choosing to live as a straight female for the time being. And might or might not have transitioned.
But it’s all brain spaghetti really, isn’t it?