Labels are bad, mmk.

Introduction: The Pervasiveness of Labeling

As comical as this can seem, the realization behind it is not so much. We seem to live in a society that thrives off of labeling everything. We used to think of labeling as something we did to our products like milk, peanut butter, pillows, etc., but then we realized that we did it to people too.

Historical Perspective: Segregation as an Example

Don’t believe me? Okay, then let’s take a quick history detour and look upon segregation for an easy starter. Yeah, you’re starting to get it now, aren’t you? As we moved forward in time and humans, in general, became more educated and book smarts, we learned that by labeling people, we were essentially segregating individuals or groups based on a label attached to them.

Psychological Insights: The Negative Effects of Labeling

In more modern times, psychology looked at this matter even deeper and decided that even by classifying someone by a mental disorder or illness, we are still labeling an individual that sets them apart from the rest of “normal” society. This creates all kinds of negative effects and essentially attaches a negative classification to that person or group of people.

The Paradox: Labeling in Modern Society

So, if all the education is teaching that labeling is bad, why then do we, as a society, feel the need to go against the grain and continue to find a new label for a person or group of people? Republicans, Democrats, Indians, Chinese, African American, White, the first (insert nationality here) to do this, the first (insert gender here) to accomplish this, etc. Everywhere we turn, there is a label identifying something for us, and we cannot escape it. In turn, these labels begin to separate us as a society and pit us against each other.

Personal Experiment: The Irrelevance of Descriptors

As my own social experiment, purely for my own knowledge, I began asking random people, specifically of a different nationality or skin color, if adding their own or my own skin color or nationality into telling a story made a difference. Of course, I received a few confusing looks, so I gave a simple example:

Storytelling without Descriptors

If I was telling you a story in which I had an interaction with another person, would it make a difference for the story if the person’s skin color or nationality were omitted from the story? More simply, I’m sitting in a restaurant and heard a patron start to complain about the service he was receiving. Does the fact that the man’s descriptor was omitted take anything away from this simple small example of a story?

The Revelation: Descriptors as Non-Essential

This is where I again received a confused look from the person I was speaking with. The look now was because they had never stopped to think about this, and I was now putting them on the spot. I know that this was what the look was for because that’s exactly what I was told. When they took a moment to think about it, they all said the same thing: no. The person’s skin color and nationality made no difference in the story.

Labels and their Impact: Setting Individuals Apart

The conclusion I came to is that the description of a person is not as important to a story unless the description is the focal point of the story. So, if I apply this to what we see in society today, are the descriptions given to us by the media, social media, government, Republicans, Democrats, etc., important if the description is not the focal point of what we are being told? I submit that it’s not. Regardless of the description, if it is not the focal point of the topic, then it will not change the effect of the story. Furthermore, adding the description now sets the person we are being told about apart from everyone else, in a sense, segregating them from the norm.

Political Examples: The Importance of Descriptors?

Now, I mean no disrespect in the following, but let me list a few I found interesting from our nation’s midterm elections:

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: youngest woman elected to Congress
• Sharice Davids: First lesbian Native American woman elected to Congress
• Ayanna Pressley: First black woman in Massachusetts elected to Congress
• Jared Polis: First openly gay Governor
• Rashida Tlaib: First Muslim Palestinian-American elected to Congress
• Ilahn Omar: First Muslim Somali-American woman elected to Congress
• Debra Haaland: First Native American woman elected to Congress
• Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia: First Latina women elected to Congress from Texas

Congratulations to every one of these individuals, and I mean that with the utmost respect. But in that congratulations, I must ask, why is the extra descriptor important? Are these descriptions of these individuals intended to set them aside from the rest of the American population? I agree with and encourage equal rights and treatment, and I believe that we see now more than we ever have in our nation’s history, a description or descriptors about gender, nationality, and sexual orientation added next to nothing. Do these descriptors mean anything more than that?

Striving for Equality: Labels and Unintended Consequences

But in such a time when equal rights and treatment have never been so abundant, why are these descriptors so important if not to simply set them apart from the rest of American citizens? Now, in their descriptors, I do not believe that they are any less of an American than I am, but the individuals or groups responsible for giving them these descriptors seem to want me to think that for some reason, these Americans are somehow different from me.

Questioning the Need for Labels: Embracing Equality

If we are fighting so hard to alleviate those issues which separate us as not just Americans but also equal humans, then why is there such a hard push to give individuals a label? Would these few individuals’ elections have been less exciting, important, and congratulatory if their labels were not present? Would they and their supporters not be as proud of their success if the label was not attached? Are they not still Americans who campaigned for their elections with the intent of helping their fellow citizens? Hmm, curious, because I would like to believe that without the labels, the victories would have still been just as sweet, the pride would still be present, and they were still Americans trying to help their country in the best way they knew how.

Beyond Politics: Labeling in Every Aspect

The conversation does not just stop with politics; it flows throughout every aspect of our lives. Gender classification is another area of contention that has caught social media by storm. Now, on that topic, I would say that your descriptor of male or female makes a huge difference in terms of medicine. Obviously, there are huge differences between those individuals born with male or female reproductive systems as well as their differences in hormones. But aside from this, does it matter what gender an individual “identifies” as?

Acceptance vs. Distinction: The Role of Self-Labels

Don’t get me wrong, I always hated when I was called “ma’am” when I spoke to someone over the phone, but I didn’t make a huge spectacle out of it. I simply corrected the mistake, if I felt so inclined, or I ignored it because whether someone thought I was a woman by the sound of my voice made no difference in what I needed.

I understand that this is my prerogative, and how I choose to carry on through life may not be the same because of the value I place on someone’s opinion of me. But why all the fuss? Is it not enough that a person is accepted as an individual, that instead of society placing a label on them, they must now place a label on themselves to set themselves apart from the rest of humankind? You say you are the same and should be treated the same, so why fight so hard to make sure you are seen as different from someone else simply because of how you identify?

The Complex Nature of Labels: A Personal Perspective

I do concede that I am ignorant in this area as I identify with my biological reproductive system of males. But even at that, I don’t care for the extra stress that comes with making sure I am seen as different from someone else. I’d rather be seen as equal in terms of my human characteristics than try to make sure someone saw me as different from the rest.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. Maybe my simplistic and ignorant view blinds me from the importance of these labels. Maybe my desire to live with the least amount of negative stress pulls a veil over my eyes and refuses to let me in on why a label is so important. I tend to agree with psychology in that labels are inherently damaging and that they should be avoided as much as possible. But then again, maybe I and the many much more highly educated individuals in our society have missed something, and in turn, the labels we want to avoid are exactly what is needed. Maybe we are wrong, and our ancestors had it right, segregation was the way of the future, and we were too blind to see it then.

I’d like to believe that we were not and that we are all equal, regardless of our labels, but hey, I’m just one man, and it’s my opinion. I encourage you to think about it and have a conversation with yourself because this is the only way we will all come together as one, as we should be.