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“You can be queer and be girly. … A lot of times, lesbians are taken to be masculine. If you’re a lesbian … Do you want to be a boy? That’s not the case. There are plenty of very feminine lesbians.
I don’t like the word itself. Les-bi-an. It’s just like a lot. But I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what I am. It’s like the word ‘moist.’ It’s just like … ugh!“JoJo Siwa speaking to Yahoo! Life about her identity and joking about the word “lesbian.”
Related: JoJo Siwa reveals girlfriend on Instagram to mark one-month anniversary
Donston
She didn’t say don’t call her a lesbian. That’s the complete opposite of what she said. Y’all will just say anything for a headline.
Queers do seem to struggle a lot with the words “gay” and “lesbian”, especially in their youth. I suppose a lot of it has to do with fluidity, questioning, the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum. But a lot of it also has to do traumas and insecurities and internalized phobias and how “gay” and “lesbian” are still used to shame people or peg people’s dimensions, personalities and tastes. Even many out queers who embrace “gay” or “lesbian” identities still use those words to shame or to broad stroke people. So, I do understand the complicated relationship some have with those words. It is a shame that we’re still in the “I can be a ‘manly’ gay” or “I can be a girly ‘lesbian” phase of social politics. It just shows how basic a lot of people’s views of identities, sexuality, gender, love, relationships still are but also shows how insecure and self-conscious and respectability-focused a lot of queers still are.
Cam
She didn’t say what you said she did. This is an irresponsible headline.
jcool
don’t call her moist
Winsocki
I have absolutely no idea who she is, what she does or why she is ‘famous’ ( not so much since clueless about her ).
bachy
I don’t understand people’s issues with certain words. Language is a tool of communication. If you have revulsion toward a word, you’re not approaching language intelligently.
So what is up with the trendy disgust for the word “moist”? Adults acting like squeamish grade school children. May as well claim to be “grossed out” by a pencil, a pen or some other communication device. Asinine.
Donston
I think she explained her issues fairly well. She clearly thinks being a “lesbian” means a lot of things are assumed about your lifestyle and personality. There’s a lot of social baggage and hate that comes with all these identities, a lot of assumptions and insecurities, and a lot of different ways people use different words. It doesn’t mean she’s right. But at least she’s being honest about those insecurities and ego/sociological struggles, instead of pretending they don’t exist like many out people do.
Kangol2
So she’s a femme who doesn’t like the word lesbian and associates it with butches or believes others do. (Mad power to butch lesbians, aggressives, etc.) Even though US mainstream media primarily feature femme lesbians still (cf. The L Word, Orange Is the New Black, etc.) and in films and more than a few shows written by lesbians or with lesbians as producers emphasize femmes over butches (the amazing Twenties is a rare counter to this). Got it. At any rate, she didn’t say what you’re claiming she said, Queerty, but that’s hardly surprising.
Donston
I will defend her to a degree and say that no matter the representation, a great percentage of folks still have their ideas when they think of certain words. Over two-thirds of movies and TV shows that have gay-presenting male characters, the characters are “masculine” and “straight-passing”. There’s a decent amount of “straight passing” out dudes who are public figures. Yet, a lot of folks still act shocked to find out that this or that guy is “gay” or very “queer”. While a lot of queers do play up certain stereotypes. And there’s still a lot of ignorance when it comes to sexuality, gender, psychology, love, the general spectrum. Also, she’s still in the first half of her 20s. If she were older I’d find her words more cringe-y and borderline harmful. She I will need to mature and find better and more nuanced ways of communicating if she remains a public figure.
Brian
Yeah, “lesbian” has a weird history, and so does “gay.” (Gay used to be an insult that meant flighty, careless, immature, naive, etc.) Neither word is better than “homosexual,” which emphasizes the word sex as if love, friendship, and other things don’t matter much. What else can you do? Queer used to be an insult. MSM and WSW are clinical and awkward.
I think that, like a lot of people her age, she just doesn’t want interviewers to demand labels. She’s trying to live her own life.
Paulie P
nothing wrong with your headline. she doesn’t like the word. it is who she is but she doesn’t like it. my friend know i hate the word “chilly” as in it is chilly in here. and they will go out of their way not to say it.
Donston
Y’all will just post anything. Yet, complain about my redundancy or pretension.
KiwiJello
I have to agree with her. A moist lesbian is not one of my favorite things either 🙂