Labels...

I've hooked up with a few guys recently who claim to be heterosexual, yet wanted to mess around with another guy. Curious you say, well, I said the same thing. It got me thinking though; about labels.  Why do we feel the need to have to label everything?

I get putting a label on the leftovers so you know what they are and when they were made.  I get labeling the items in a store so we, as consumers, know how much we will be paying.  I don't get putting a label on a person. 

I was labeled as a kid:  speech impaired (I couldn't say my own last name, but then again, neither could any of my teachers), talented and gifted, the good boy. Some of those labels stick with you forever!  I am forever living down the good boy label!   

I have been with women and men - does that mean I'm not gay? That's how I self-identify. I have friends that have been with both women and men, and they are gay men, straight men, lesbians and straight women.  Who decides? Perhaps, as Kinsey pointed out all those years ago, our sexuality is fluid, and over time can change.  Perhaps, as in other cultures, these men and women are just more in tune with their bodies and what feels good to them, regardless of how others label it. 

Personally, I think if we, as a society, let go of some of our pent up need to make things fit into certain boxes or labels we would be far better off, and people might actually enjoy themselves a bit more.  Save the labels for the leftovers!