I have started to hate the term “identify as”

[TheletterZ]

“Identify as” is completely meaningless and is starting to really annoy me.

i don’t identify as a a white middle-aged straight woman with brown (ok greyish) hair and eyes. I simply AM those things. They are facts that are real and unchangable. (Well apart from the age thing and that only changes in 1 direction)

I can dye my hair but as I have to keep doing it, it just underlines the fact my hair is brown/grey.

“Identify as”implies choice. I didn’t choose my sexuality, it just is. No one does. My sister didn’t claim to be a lesbian (with all the prejudice that goes with that) she simply is one. No choice is involved.

There is a clip on twitter from Elliot Page saying ‘30% of young people identify as LGBTQ+’ which shows how ridiculous the statement is. From my limited understanding LGB is around 5-10% of a population. So who are the other 20%? People who just claim to be part of the ‘community’ to feel special.

Sorry for the rant, I use my name on twitter and as a teacher I have to keep my views quiet and bite my tongue.

I think the reality is that, even if “I identify as” originally had a genuine, useful purpose in disability discussions, the term has now become so bastardized as to be entirely discredited by anyone outside that tiny group.

So many young people decided it meant that, without any diagnosis, you could choose to describe yourself as “identifying as autistic” if you self-diagnosed yourself, that it is now meaningless.

Someone upthread said it was so HR could allow reasonable adjustments could be made. Any HR that makes reasonable adjustments on people’s self-diagnosis is asking to be taken for a ride by narcissists.

There are people who identify as having various conditions/mental illnesses. There's stuff like this going on in the autism community, there's even 'autigender' FFS. Don't get me started!

I saw something just the other day that put me in mind of this discussion, and added a somewhat different angle.

It was a survey that asked people to what extent they see their mental health challenges as an important part of who they are, part of their identity. They broke down the results by age, and gosh, they were disturbing. Basically, the younger the respondents are, the greater the degree to which their diagnosis label formed a significant part of their identity.

Totally apart from the language enabling people who want to take the piss, there is something very disturbing about it. And I think it applies to all the other labels too - younger people are not seeing themselves as fundamentally people, but as a series of brands.

A mischievous person might daydream about the explosion of Christian sects that occurred after the protestant revolution in the middle ages ....

Lutheranism (early 16th century)
Calvinism (mid-16th century)
Anglicanism (1530s)
Anabaptism (16th century)
Presbyterianism (16th century)
Methodism (18th century)
Baptists (17th century)
Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) (17th century)
Pietism (17th-18th century)
Methodism.
Pentecostalism (early 20th century)

I have always hated it.

Indeed, it is bizarre.

When I hear this nonsense I always feel like replying that I 'identify' as a Jedi master or a giant pink tree...

I have no time for this self-absorbed rubbish anymore.

I find it quite useful actually-saves a hell of a lot of time identifying (sic) the twats to be ignored.

I’ve only read the first few posts - short on time - but I will say this: when I come across the phrase ‘identifies as’, my brain does a sort of automatic, internal eye roll-shudder combination 😖

Its a ridiculous term. At college, we (or, I should say, SOME of us) just joke about it and say things like "I think I'll identify as a trash can today - come on, give me your rubbish!".

I'm listening to Annie Proulx's "Fine just the way it is" audio book. It came out in 2008. In it she describes a care home as "... identifying itself as western" and goes on to describe what that aesthetic means. I was surprised to see this used in a slightly jokey way, as we do now, 16 years ago.

Heh! From my very distant memories of trying to plough my way through The Shipping News many years ago, I don't think 'jokey' would have been the first word to come to mind to describe Annie Proulx!

Totally apart from the language enabling people who want to take the piss, there is something very disturbing about it. And I think it applies to all the other labels too - younger people are not seeing themselves as fundamentally people, but as a series of brands

This has been building up for years, with people basing their entire personality and identity around an illness, their sexuality, mental health etc. Like you, I find it really disturbing. There are online ‘communities’ focussing solely on life as a trans/ADHD/anxiety sufferer. There seems to be a whole lifestyle around whatever it is - people wearing similar clothes, hairstyles/colours etc. it seems very tribal. I wonder if it’s on the same lines as music - goth, punk, emo etc, where again there’s a whole lifestyle you can adopt? Is it a tribal thing? Also a desperate need to be seen as special/unique and get attention from others. Whatever, it’s worrying, unhelpful and dangerous.

This has been building up for years, with people basing their entire personality and identity around an illness, their sexuality, mental health etc.

All predicated upon the erroneous assumption that anyone gives a shit.

SerendipityJane
The self focus, self absorption and self importance around this, seems indicative of the increasing need for recognition, acknowledgement, attention for being special and deserving for constant tolerance and acceptance. Too much internal focus rather than on learning and participating in life in general and being part of society with all that can involve, and which considers others needs, rather than solely on the self.

Ive watched YouTube videos made by people who have the same condition as I do. Interestingly, many have diagnosed themselves, or after doctor hoping, been told they have it. Always the type there is no test for. All seem to be on the extreme end of severity - they have feeding tubes, stomas, use wheelchairs, have supports on every limb, have had multiple surgeries. They show a day in the life with the condition and every moment is based on some aspect of it - they take a special bag of supplies with them, have badges , clothing declaring their condition and call themselves ‘warriors’. It’s incredibly disturbing. I asked my consultant if he sees more cases of the condition now there is more awareness of it. He said no, but he sees a lot more people who think they have it. I found that very telling. For me, it’s something I work around. I don’t tell people I have it unless I need to. And no way do I want to broadcast it to the world at large by wearing a tee shirt declaring my ‘specialness’.

Not really. I identify as autistic and ADHD. I do have them formally diagnosed. I’m no more or less AuDHD than I was pre-diagnosis.

I have ADHD but I don't identify as having it, I just have it. I don't understand how I could identify as having it, any more than I could identify as having cancer, a broken leg or a cut finger.
Whatever happened to objective reality?

Objective reality is still there, whatever gaslighters say.