I am a white female, a student, and a nerd. She is Hispanic, a female, a white collar worker, and a freak. He is black, religious, a part of the working class, and lame. They are transgender, goth, and weird. We are all labeled. We are all judged and scrutinized. We are all human.
Labels literally define who we are whether they are used to say what color our skin is or what kind of social group we belong to. They aren’t always a bad thing, especially when we are using them in a positive way to describe someone, but the stereotypes that accompany the label can be hurtful and wrong.
Labeling someone as pretty or nice isn't the worst thing to be called, but there's always another side. Grouping someone in as being weird, a freak, or lame is not only hurtful, but the definitions of those words are social constructs. What are the qualifications of being a freak or lame?
Think back to high school and remember all of the labels that were used. Jocks, goths, preps, nerds, band geeks, sluts, and so many more were used to describe who everyone was. Which one were you in? Maybe you’re not sure, or maybe you were in more than one.
Maybe you were in the band, but did that make you a geek? Maybe you were a football player, but did you deserve the negative connotation that came with the label of being a jock? What if you were a member of the band and a football player? Were you a jockey band geek? Everyone thinks it is bad to break the status quo, but being labeled as one thing or the other isn’t fair. We are all multiple things, and we are more than the labels given to us by society.
The worst part about labels is that they follow us no matter where we go. Life is just like high school on steroids. People are petty, immature, and will call you how they see you, but perception is a wonderful thing. You see, it’s different for everyone.
If someone sees a black male in a dark hooded sweatshirt, they automatically become nervous or think that he is up to no good when in reality, he is just wearing clothes that anyone could wear. Some people see two gay men together and believe that they hate sports, love shopping, and are extremely feminine when they aren’t actually all like that. Yes, a person being labeled as black or gay may correctly describe them, but there is a stigma that goes with each label that isn’t one hundred percent accurate.
Labels can lie about who a person really is because people created a specific way to look at them. Just because I am a white female does not mean that I love the I Phone or always wear Ugg boots and go to Starbucks. Being black or white does not make someone a criminal or a saint. Whether you are a white or blue collar worker does not make you any less of a worker. Being a Muslim does not make you a terrorist. A person’s religion or beliefs does not mean that they wholeheartedly agree with what their religion does.
Stereotyping anyone in any group is never okay. No one likes to be thought of as something that they are not just because they are associated with a certain group. We all come with many interests, and we don’t belong in just one spot. One person is a thousand things and it’s their actions that describe the type of person that they are, not their skin color, ethnicity, or religion.
