Dictionary.com has announced its word of the year: “identity.”
Upon first reading this, a smile was brought to my face. “Yes,” I thought, “finally, an accurate word to sum up this year. Not an emoji, not a hashtag, just one word.”
And I’m not talking about identity in terms of BuzzFeed quizzes. Though BuzzFeed is correct that if my spirit was a bagel it would totally be cinnamon raisin, I’m thinking a little more seriously about a person’s physical and mental being — the thing they have been since they were born.
It’s easy to see that we, as a society, have created many situations this year that have encouraged people to “come out” as who they are.
Furthermore, to be proud of it and to join in with others who identify in the same way.
Obergefell v. Hodges allowed gay couples to legally identify as married and inspired many to come out to loved ones as they found being gay became more accepted with the prevalence of marriages.
Protests and demonstrations surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and the increasing importance of racial justice all around the world have prompted many people of color to take pride in their race and to join in the fight, despite it being depressing that a fight like this must exist.
This year has been largely about gender and sexual identity, according to a statement from Dictionary.com about its decision.
The website noted an increase in the look-ups of “transgender” and “cisgender” and added many sexual orientation descriptors like “asexual,” “sapiosexual” and “demisexual.”
They have also added words like “code-switching,” which describes the action of taking on different characteristics to adapt to socio-cultural norms.
The mere fact that we now have the words to describe these things is encouraging for those who have struggled for so long to articulate them. They can now use words like asexual to explain to their family, friends and loved ones how they feel.
To be able to look up words like these in an online dictionary also implies that there are considerable amounts of people who identify that way.
It lets us know that we are not alone.
There’s a sort of negative stigma about labels.
But really, some labels are great.
They help us sort ourselves out and project our essence into the world through simple vernacular.
In turn, people can receive and interpret these words to help aid our interactions.
For instance, if someone tells me they prefer “they” pronouns, I’m going to be able to communicate with them more effectively because I will literally know how to address them in conversation.
Honestly, I don’t think we use the concept of identity as a way to distance ourselves or to make ourselves seem different.
I think we use it to express the way we feel and to find others who feel the same.
It allows us to create communities based on similarities, as well as understand more about our differences.
meickhof@indiana.edu
@maggie_eickhoff
