In Defence of Microlabels | We can't let the exclusionists win!

[@ArtemisMunoz]

How'd I go with the teleprompter? I've had it for months but have been too nervous to give it a try. Here was we biting the bullet. Fingers crossed it worked 🤞

[@erelyks]

Alterous attraction is exactly what brought me to your channel in the first place, and I thoroughly agree with you: beyond having words to Google when you're doubting everything about your identity that tell you "huh, others feel this way too!", having specific labels that we can use to have discussions about society and human relationships is incredibly valuable. By the way, great job with the teleprompter!

[@DarthXShakespeare]

I just came across this video and the use of cis-genderless really resonated with me- like I'm a woman but I don't care what pronouns are used for me and I often like to switch up my style from very femme to androgynous. Once I even got called "sir" and I didn't really mind, though I did laugh as it was unexpected. I've always had the saying "I don't care how you refer to me as long as it's kind and you tell me before hand".

[@ArtemisMunoz]

There are many words out there - sometimes the right one just falls into your lap and it's almost a revelation, hey?

[@bridgethalfaker2153]

Well done with the teleprompter! I especially liked the retakes on the marine biology vocab. I’m so glad you made this video. I facilitate my school’s Rainbow Club, and I absolutely love the labels and terms that the kids come in with. I have only recently found some micro labels that help describe and communicate my queer experience. Each time I find another term or label that speaks to my reality I feel more true to myself and more sure of who I am. I use various broad/umbrella terms when speaking to people who aren’t at the micro level of communication. I even drop all terms and labels when discussing certain topics with certain people. All of these communication styles are important. But I would be lost without my obscure self labels, and I’m glad that people continue to have these discussions and create these words so that we can better understand the human experience.

[@threebirdsinatrenchcoat]

i always thought microlabels are good, and to anyone who's confused by them they can simply not use them. like, i just cant for the life of me care whether someone has some new words to talk about themselves, the only emotion i have about microlabels and ppl who use them is awe and excitement at the beauty of human creativity. it feels embarrassing when leftists and queer ppl are drawing lines at New Words™, as if their line is any more valid than any other bigot drawing a line at their discomfort of harmless self expression. ill see non binary people mad about microlabels and its like.... you're that. to many people YOURE a special crystal four leaf snowflake. what made you feel invincible. edit: still watching the video, feeling genuine grief over all those pages and labels that are just gone. thats genuinely horrible.

[@ArtemisMunoz]

My only concern with micro labels is of people use them to isolate themselves as opposed to find people to fight with and be in common with but in general I find that’s pretty rare and mostly people use them to have nuanced discussions about the intricacies of their communities which tbh I think is pretty neat haha

[@blobs2635]

On a similar note, I'd be down to see a video on anarchism, if you're into that.

[@ArtemisMunoz]

I honestly don’t feel like I’m educated enough on the topic to do it justice but maybe that’s a stretch goal for when I get my researcher brain back 🤔

[@kerycktotebag8164]

i noticed that the articles i was able to find in the past weren't there anymore, so i just used tumblr instead i didn't know it was due to a merger. i thought the other ones just couldn't pay for fees or something (ive never contributed to a wiki before). that really sucks :(

[@ArtemisMunoz]

Indeed it does!

[@snazzycollections]

??? Who thought microlabels were bad?? That is dumb

[@ArtemisMunoz]

It's more common than it should be unfortunately... (btw just want to let you know that using 'dumb' to mean ignorant isn't the best, as it's a term that describes a disability, I'm sure you didn't mean anything by it but thought I should raise it as disability and access is like 50% of my work focus)

[@snazzycollections]

@@ArtemisMunoz How does dumb describe disability?

[@ArtemisMunoz]

It refers to someone who is non-speaking (it’s an old term that’s considered offensive. I would not recommend using it in that manner either but that’s the historical meaning of the word and it still causes harm today).

[@snazzycollections]

@@ArtemisMunoz But its connotation has a different meaning today?

[@ArtemisMunoz]

@@snazzycollections Reply. In some ways, yes. I’m not trying to tell you what you can and can’t say. Just trying to give you a heads up that some in the disability community find that language harmful. That’s all 🙂

[@TheNerdyPengwin]

ahhh can't believe I missed this until now. I felt so stuck when it the fandom thing happened.... even though my microlabels were preserved, I felt like I needed to defend others by principle. so I tried to help build the site at miraheze.... but I'm not 20 anymore. All I had time for was to update my own microlabel (which definitely needed a little bit of work). Artemis, what site should we use now? Do we go back to Fandom after what they did? Is it still our best resource?

[@ArtemisMunoz]

Yeah. I needed to make this video to process it all. It ended up taking a route I was not expecting. I'm honestly not sure where to point to as a best resource to be honest. To be honest I think hosting information in a diversity of resources is healthy... harder for them to be suddenly erased.

[@TheNerdyPengwin]

@@ArtemisMunoz Good point. Resilient to erasure. ...until the day when lots of people hold it as common knowledge. I've been sharing the split attraction model with anyone who is interested or confused about their feelings towards others. ...It is so useful and inclusive of all identities and orientations!