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flexibeast"So, you claim you're poly / lesbian / trans / male / bisexual / female / etc., eh? Prove it."
The notion of having to 'prove' one's identity is an interesting one. On the one hand, it seems outrageous: what would it take, for example, to 'prove' that you're bisexual? On the other hand, it seems a reasonable attempt at self-protection by marginalised groups: it can help to ensure that there's some sort of coherent "group perspective", which in turn may help to provide a strong response to any attacks on that group. It's certainly not something new; one of the most famous 'proofs of identity' was the ability to properly pronounce 'shibboleth':
A lot of the time, i seem to 'fail' to provide the required 'proof of identities'. Yet identities are a succinct way of giving people at least a rough idea of one's preferred perspectives and behaviour; people often get upset if they feel you've 'deceived' them by not immediately specifying exactly how you differ from Normal Right-Thinking People.
It seems like a no-win game to me . . . .
The notion of having to 'prove' one's identity is an interesting one. On the one hand, it seems outrageous: what would it take, for example, to 'prove' that you're bisexual? On the other hand, it seems a reasonable attempt at self-protection by marginalised groups: it can help to ensure that there's some sort of coherent "group perspective", which in turn may help to provide a strong response to any attacks on that group. It's certainly not something new; one of the most famous 'proofs of identity' was the ability to properly pronounce 'shibboleth':
And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.And of course, the issue is closely related to the usefulness of the notion of 'identity', with its negative and positive aspects.
-- King James Bible, Judges 12:5-6
A lot of the time, i seem to 'fail' to provide the required 'proof of identities'. Yet identities are a succinct way of giving people at least a rough idea of one's preferred perspectives and behaviour; people often get upset if they feel you've 'deceived' them by not immediately specifying exactly how you differ from Normal Right-Thinking People.
It seems like a no-win game to me . . . .
