As we give anything a "label," we're simply making a judgement that has a huge influence and relevance in our lives. A label can be an interpretation, an estimate or an opinion, and it has the potential to alter the reality of others whose lives are impacted by our decisions. When we label anything, we are subjective and we do it based on our own perceptions, which may or may not be an honest evaluation of another person.
Do you consider yourself a nerd? Perhaps you're an extrovert. When you read all of those words, you get a mental picture of what those items are. You're probably familiar with what a ‘nerd’ or ‘extrovert’ does and how they behave. These sorts of labels are also quite intrinsic to our brain-since it is an appropriate mechanism for us to just categorize information. A nerd is someone who is extremely indulged into a specific type of stuff, while an extrovert is someone who is very sociable. How do these labels, on the other hand, impact who we are as people and how we act and even present ourselves to the rest of the world?
Have you been noticing your friends label themselves as depressed on a regular basis - even if it's just a sad situation? without realising what depression actually is and how consequential it could be for one's brain to label themselves like that?
Just as we see a person who is organised or maintains cleanliness: many of us tend to just call it OCD, without even having a hint of what Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is really about or many times what does OCD even stand for.
Lately, these examples have become so familiar in all of our life’s. Instead of just understanding that a situation could just really make us sad or unhappy, we call it depression or rather than praising someone for being organised or clean we label it as a disorder.
As a rapidly growing generation, with all these fast moving technologies and stimulating content we are exposed to each day- we have normalised labeling each other and ourselves. People have certain expectations of us when we are labelled like that. We usually adapt to these expectations in order to fit into the image that others have created for us. Our self-perceptions are nearly entirely based on what others think of us.
It's time to stop labeling and just start Being flexible with your perceptions about others.
It's understandable why people want to maintain labels like a 'sweet person' but it's just as absurd to imagine that someone would live their entire life as somebody who would never say a bad word or do anything hurtful to anybody , or that a 'bad person' only ever does horrible things and always will.
We are constantly growing, learning and changing and bounding ourselves with negative labels or positive as a matter of fact does limit one's growth and holds a person back on many instances to break a negative behaviour or even start a new positive one. The ethnicity, sexuality, social class, or regional origins of a person do not define who he or she is or will become.
Some severe labelling examples are as follows:
Slut
Put bluntly, we need to stop calling women sluts. In our culture, this seems to have a double standard in which guys are praised for their promiscuity but women are pushed to feel guilty and responsible.
It is a choice of the individual whether or not to explore his or her sexuality. It is not the place of anyone to make a judgement.
Skinny or fat
Labelling someone as skinny as a compliment, even if they are underweight will encourage their thinking and just to fit into that label they might continue being underweight. Every day people compare themselves to pictures and failing to meet them is inescapable since they are based on an idea of perfection that does not exist.
We should encourage every body type in girls and in boys, if an individual finds happiness in his/her body - it is absolutely okay as long as it's healthy for them.
Our attitudes toward labels encourage us to consider a certain kind of society we wish to live in, as well as our own personal and social life. Do you think individuals should be given another chance to rebuild themselves? The substantial majority of individuals would answer yes. Allowing labeling less power means that people will give you the very same chance.
