Don’t label yourself or others
People will try to label you. Don’t make it easy for them. Don't put labels on yourself.
Don’t label yourself or others.
“People will try to label you. Don’t make it easy for them. Don't put labels on yourself.”
A gay friend gave me that advice about 30 years ago and it has stuck with me.
Now, you could say that to mention that my friend was gay is of course to label them. But I swear to you that this minor detail was irrelevant to the discussion we were having at the time. I only mention it because it’s relevant to what I’m trying to say right now.
People go to great lengths to label you.
They will exhaust themselves trying to figure out what box to shove you in.
They don’t do it for your benefit. They do it because it makes you easier to deal with. They do it to simplify their world.
We weren’t even talking about sex. At least not to begin with. We were having a broader discussion about the ways that people try to pigeonhole you. And how most of us go out of our way to pigeonhole ourselves.
People judge you by the way you dress, the way you talk, what music you’re into. Anything that they can use to get a handle on who you are.
People ask a lot of questions. Especially when they first meet you.
Who are you? What do you do? Meaning what job do you do — as though that means something. What you do for money isn’t who you are.
People will make all sorts of assumptions about you.
Why make it easy for them?
We’re so proud of our preferences. We want people to know who we are. We blurt out our labels the first chance we get. We wear them like badges. But hold your horses. When people don’t have labels to latch on to they’re forced to think for themselves.
There’s no need to wear your heart on your sleeve. Be yourself. Not a collection of affectations or stereotypes.
It’s not about hiding your identity, your sexuality, or your beliefs. It’s about allowing people to know who you are in the ways that matter most. It’s about eschewing labels altogether.
My friend was out and proud. I guess you could say that at the time I was still trying on different labels for size. They never gave a monkey's toss one way or the other.
Friends don’t need labels. Friends accept you for who you are — even when you’re trying to figure out who that is.
You don’t have to put a label on it.
Let people get to know the real you.
Tell them nothing.
I don't label people but this is a tough one for me, as I like learning about people. I even learn something from what job or work a person does. I like to ask how they ended up in that field and if they like the work they do.
I agree with this. While I don't think labels aren't inherently bad, they are so divisive, too.