i do worry about the self-identification angle. as you say, it's almost like they're claiming membership in a club. it also seems to imply in some cases (although not with the 'transgender' issue, which is obviously an issue of identity) that the person has integrated their condition into their identity to an unhealthy degree. i knew a woman who'd been told by a psychologist that she was codependent -- and the way she talked about it, it was like that was some immutable thing over which she could never have any power. she said it the way someone else might say "i'm a quadriplegic." she seemed to have no awareness that this was something she could work through and conquer.
i mean, i'm very open about having depression. it's a huge issue in my day-to-day life, and chances are it will always be with me. but i don't incorporate it into my identity. it's more like a tapeworm. it's a parasite; it affects me, it's within me, but it's not part of me -- and i'll fight it with every fiber of my being until one of us dies.
as for the grammar angle, i can do nothing but bemoan the state of the American educational system. people can't spell, can't construct a coherent sentence, have no clue how to use apostrophes... and if the writing style of the average online teenager is any indication, in another 50 years proper spelling will have become as universally ignored as it was 500 years ago.
(no subject)
i mean, i'm very open about having depression. it's a huge issue in my day-to-day life, and chances are it will always be with me. but i don't incorporate it into my identity. it's more like a tapeworm. it's a parasite; it affects me, it's within me, but it's not part of me -- and i'll fight it with every fiber of my being until one of us dies.
as for the grammar angle, i can do nothing but bemoan the state of the American educational system. people can't spell, can't construct a coherent sentence, have no clue how to use apostrophes... and if the writing style of the average online teenager is any indication, in another 50 years proper spelling will have become as universally ignored as it was 500 years ago.