"Identifying"

(2021-11-10 21:10)DustWolf Wrote:  ////
I think in general we spend too much time criticising other groups and too little time actually talking about our experiences. It of course is not easy, but it should be the focus of what we discuss here. Of course that problem is somewhat off-topic too...

LP,
Dusty

I take it you're using "we" in a general community wide sense? I can't say I've noticed any out-group hostility within TG, but there is plenty of experiential discussion.

(2021-11-10 21:20)Tornir Wrote:  I take it you're using "we" in a general community wide sense? I can't say I've noticed any out-group hostility within TG, but there is plenty of experiential discussion.

I did mean TG, but perhaps you are right.

LP,
Dusty

(2021-11-10 11:51)Tornir Wrote:  I think we need to be very careful about policing language. People are going to find information on how to refer to themselves and their experiences on places like Tumblr that may have been shaped by an agenda that isn't immediately obvious to a n00b. What they want to say, and what we think we're hearing, may be two different things, and we won't find that out if we bite people for "uttering a heresy".

I definitely agree that we don't want to start policing language or telling anyone they're "wrong" for using the type of language they may have found the community with in the first place. Talking about the nuance surrounding "identify as" and sharing perceptions on what it means or can mean, though, I think is beneficial.

It seems to me that the most prominent reason we tend to keep having these discussions is because being a therian is sold as something trendy on social media. Perhaps efforts to de-stigmitize therianthropy have taken us down a less than desired path. It could be that stigmatization offered a natural balance which kept anyone from identifying as for reasons that had nothing to do with feeling like an animal.

(2021-11-10 21:00)Tornir Wrote:  That's how it was in the beginning. No lexicon of terms; you had to describe your experiences using standard English. That took some thought.
I wonder if that's robbed the community of a more nuanced self-understanding, now that folks can just look at a list, decide "Yeah, that one's close enough.", and state that {word} is what they experience?

I agree. I feel as if making things easier has not made them better and we've essentially enabled the new generation to take much for granted.

Lyc

My short 0.02..

People take things to the next level, particularly where these somewhat fad identifiers run in certain circles. Said circles then try to impose it on others and the environment becomes toxic. Such is what's happening with cancel culture in today's self centered society.

It's more prevalent now in the kin community than it was about a decade ago (it was there, but low-key). Such individuals will only get louder as the subset of society gets louder in the coming years (and they're LOUD). I feel this group has to age out and learn that people make mistakes. You're going to be misgendered once in your life. Correct it and move on, don't scream and stomp your feet for that one time (unless it's deliberately done in a harassment type of way..).

The problem is that society, mostly western, is moving towards a 'submit and coddle' approach. This is how cancel culture is a thing. We don't want to offend. Hell, I grew up with cartoons that were politically charged and very offensive, and that was the 90's, early 00s. None of those cartoons with their dark humor would fly by anymore in this current age.