This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Descriptivism vs. Prescriptivism

Descriptivism and prescriptivism are each schools of thought in linguistics that describe the two different ways of understanding the meanings of words.
Descriptivists: study how words are used in society by the people actually saying them and then records that meaning describing the common usage of the word.
Prescriptivists: Follow the definition generally understood to be correct as recorded in a dictionary or other scholarly source and apply that meaning onto the usage.
So for example if you were to ask "Can I go to the Bathroom," a prescriptivist might say, "I don't know, can you?" as under a traditional definition of 'can' it describes capability rather than permission, where as a descriptivist would say "Yes" because they understand when people ask to use the bathroom, they need to use the bathroom, they aren't questioning their own biological functions.
In terms of queerness, it is essential to view any label from a descriptivist lens as meanings are constantly changing, evolving, and growing to fit speaker's needs. The word 'Lesbian' might be commonly understood to describe a woman who loves women, but as the queer community expands and diversifies, that simple definition might no longer apply to everyone who uses that word, such as nonbinary people or trans masc men who feel as if 'lesbian' is still the best way to explain how they love others.
Queerness is all about meeting people where they're at, forming community around labels, and being open and curious about things you don't initially understand. Remember to maintain a descriptivist view of learning and understanding when studying queerness and be ready to leave your preconceived notions at the door.

This page is referenced by:

The Queer Experience Queerness inherently defies labels and expectation. Over time, subgroups have formed as people found words that better described their experience, and then communities collected around those words.
The acronym for these experiences, LGBTQ+ is often used as a short hand to describe these communities, but it should not be mistaken as being an absolute or exclusive rule for what it means to be queer. The acronym hasn't always been LGBTQ, LGBT, or even GLBT. There was an era when the inclusion of lesbians, i.e. gay and lesbian, was considered not only radical but overly politically correct!
It's important to remember in the study of queerness that queerness has evolved and will continue to do so, and while this framework might be helpful right now to some people, it should never feel confining or be assumed to be the only way to be queer. As long as it’s consensual and outside of traditional cis-hetero understandings of interpersonal relationships, it's queer.
It is also important to remember that the LGB and T roles are descriptive rather than prescriptive. Even within the established communities there is a lot of cross over, lesbians can be bi, trans people can be straight, and gay people can be queer or ace. With that in mind, the pages linked down below will help you better understand how other people, and maybe even yourself, experience the world as queer people.