You Are Not A Label

[Stacyzee]

"One word" in a chosen language,

is used at times, to define our entire existence as a human-being.

These words are called "labels".

Some of us hate them, and try to detach ourselves from the negative

connotations these words may hold.

Labels are given to describe an object, person, place, or a thing

Labels are solely perception based.

What I see, may be completely different from what someone else sees.

You see, labels as a whole is not bad.

Some of them are words that are positive.

The negative stigmas that follow behind some of these labels,

are what gives people their view of them.

Labels can hold words of hate and criticism.

These words can be so painful, that some people wish they were

eradicated.

"I am not fat!"

"I am not a slut!"

"I am not gay!"

"I am not a loser".

As detrimental as some labels may seem, a world without them,

would be a world without a voice.

Labels are used to communicate, express and identify basic needs.

Every single thing on planet Earth is labeled.

We simply cannot get away from them!

Freddy, can you tell me what color this box is?

....he says it's purple.

....I say it's magenta.

Even though we both are looking at the same box,

we see it completely differently.

You see, labels are not always accurate.

Although I perceive this box a certain way,

I will not define it by the label, instead

I will look at its value, its substance, and what it has to offer.

I can re-label it because perception is one that changes.

It does not always stay the same.

Sadly, not every one is willing to have the time or patience to figure out the true content, that

lies inside of this box.

Instead, this box will be given its label solely based off of first impression.

Ladies and gentleman,

It is up to you to define yourself as a human-being.

Do not let a label do that for you.

You are like that box.

You are filled with substance and value.

What you have to offer is way more powerful than any word.

someone else decides to attach to you.

Detach the word(s) that has been stamped on you.

Do not allow these labels to suck up your pride.

Live to your fullest, and project the greatness you have to offer the world!

I believe in you!

It's time you believe in yourself!

[bloodmountain1990]

Great take. A lot of people label me a metalhead and while I do listen to a lot of metal bands, there's still other genres of music I like. It's not that I take offense to the term, but what does get annoying is when some people will say oh you like this because you're metal or assume that I won't like anything that isn't metal and assume I'm very close minded.

Truth be told, there are a lot of metal bands out there that I can't stand. But good music is good music, regardless of the genre.

Same when people would label me as a stoner. Again, I don't take offense to it but it doesn't define me. It's not like I'm smoking pot 24/7 and still get things done when at work. Smoking pot doesn't define a person anymore than drinking defines a person.

[PeachSunset]

I totally agree. This reminds me of another take I saw about fate and how just because of how we are raised, or what our family lineage was, what we were told we were going to be, etc doesn't define our fate and we should choose our own fate. Kinda like labels, we've been given them and we let them define us but we should be defined by our personality and our actions because labels aren't skin deep.
Thanks for the be-eautiful take! :-))

[Stacyzee]

No problem. I saw that take too. It was made after mine. When I read it I realized she was delivering the same message but in a different route. It was also a good take.

Thanks for reading.
Much love.

[meowcow]

It is natural for all humans to quickly evaluate another person upon the first meeting and make a judgment on that person's character. No matter how much you want to prevent it, it will always exist because it is an inherent human quality to do so. What you are actually doing is trying to get people to resist their natural tendency to see and assess someone.

The reason we see, assess and judge a person is for our own protection. When a women sees a creepy looking person like Steve Buscemi,
www.movieactors.com/.../...buscemi-ghostworld9.jpg

The brain will immediately calculate whether this person is a friend, foe or threat to her personal safety. One evaluates their clothing, personal hygiene, personality... etc to create that assessment. There is nothing wrong with this, and many people would be dead if they never had this inherent protective mechanism. People who have a poor ability to assess others are those who are often scammed, taken advantage of for being naive (they trust everyone).

This method of assessment extends to all aspects of our lives. When we interview someone for a job, we want to see people who are clean cut, professional, speak proficiently and confidently. We also equate many qualities as positive or negative from our personal experience and from society.

An obese person is fat, largely of their own doing. A small proportion may be afflicted by some genetic problem, but that's the rare case. There is a reason why so many Americans are obese, and Chinese are not, and it has nothing to do with genetics. And from this, we equate obesity with poor health, poor decision making, poor choices, and low self control.

When we see minorities, it is influenced by how they are portrayed in the media. When you come across a black person in a dark alley, we create a vision of the average black person from our experience and perceptions, which is intended to protect us. When so many forms of black culture and music revolves around violence, guns and killing others, you cannot expect that person in the alley to perceive a black person dressed casually as having the same level of threat as a well dressed person in a suit and tie.

It's also important to note that most people will take the time to make a full assessment of a person who they are going to be around for a long time.

The quick and instantaneous assessment, which you are describing as "putting labels on people" is what we do to people who are going to see for 5 seconds, and move on.

[Stacyzee]

Did you read my article or only the title? I'm not trying to prevent labels. In fact , like you I go on to say that literally everything in life is a label. If we rid ourselves of it that's pretty much like abolishing our language because everything is described by a label.
The message in this article is that although we are given labels instead of being defined by them , define yourself through your actions.

You are not a label.
You are beyond one.

[Ratiocinative]

Umm... of course labels don't define who you are. Don't you know what a label is? Labels are a description of what something is. You buy food at the store, a pizza isn't a pizza because of the label, a pizza is a pizza because it is a pizza. The label just describes the pizza.

If you're body fat % is too high, then yes you are fat.

If you're a man who has sex with men, then yes you're gay.

If you're living in your parents basement with no job playing video games all day, then you're a loser.

And if you wrote this take, then you're an idiot.

You can "deny" the labels all you want, but it isn't the labels that make you what you are. If you're fat, gay, a loser, or an idiot it's because of the things you do. If you don't want to be those things you will need to change your behavior. Denying them doesn't change the reality of them.

[Stacyzee]

Read my responses to everyone else.

I'm not trying to erase labels. In fact like you , I stated labels are a part of literally everything. There is no getting away from them.
Some people allow themselves to be defined by labels that are given to them by others.

Instead of being defined by a word that doesn't always hold accuracy , define yourself through your actions. Don't let a label do that for you.

that is all this article is saying.

[Phoenix98]

In other words simple common sense, but yet at the same time you'll always be labeled and have a label whether it's your name, nationality, job, ethnicity of the like, that's the cost of living and being part of a society, unfortunately nothing can change this sure you don't have to nor should you let that label define who you are a person but you'll always be tagged or associated with one, that's just something you'll have to get used to.

[Stacyzee]

This whole paragraph is my entire point.

Simple common sense yet some people have found the need to argue with me over this

[Homebakedcookies]

Here we go again, blond woman dating black guy. Never a blond guy dating a black woman. And why is it only minorities get labels? White people have to carry the "cracker" and the "priviliege" labels. But I guess we don't count.

[Cerenityy]

My thoughts EXACTLY.

[Stacyzee]

Don't see where this is coming from. My take has nothing to do with these thoughts what so ever.

I clearly stated literally everything in life has a label. It is the human language has a whole

[Stacyzee]

You're just looking at one chosen photo and ignoring the words around my entire article

[Homebakedcookies]

Your words were good. But as they say, pictures speak more than a thousands words.

[Stacyzee]

I honestly didn't notice the color of their skin until you pointed it out. I see people as people. It's time others stop letting that be their main focus.

[Homebakedcookies]

It will never stop. It's human nature.

[Stacyzee]

That's what my entire article says. This is why my entire point is to define your self by your character traits not by the labels you are given by society

[Homebakedcookies]

Labels are given by groups to other groups, not by society. Obviously the ideal place to live would be a place where everyone is of the same label.

[DrKran]

I thought I was the only one who thought of this.

There's an issue about these categories though... One person in that category of people makes one mistake, they all get hated for it.

Why can't people just accept an "I'm not this, I'm not that, don't jam us all with a pack" because we're not all alike.

Just because I like chemical weapons, automatically they assume I'm a terrorist? I wouldn't use them personally but I'm always prepared for one with my yellow chemical resistant coverall.

People always think Arabics and Muslims are terrorists because of that one mistake. Go to afgan and you'll see who's the real victims now.

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

this is pretty stupid. i mean you're just disregarding reality "i'm not fat"... if you weigh 500lbs and have a huge body fat %, you are fat. if you have a lot of melanin in your skin, you are black. if you fuck dudes and are a guy, you are gay. lets stop pretending that just because someone may see it as a bad thing doesn't mean disregard it. like, if i'm 7' tall, how the hell would you expect me to justify me saying i'm short.

[Stacyzee]

This is "stupid" because you flew by my entire message.
I am saying, EVERYTHING has a label.
Some labels are subjective (and are not true).
I am telling people IDENTIFY beyond what someone labels you.
There is more to you as a person than the stamp people in society give you.

[Stacyzee]

Your interpretation is completely wrong of my article.

[Stacyzee]

The labels in this article are more in reference towards personality traits, not exactly facts like:
"You are black" , "You are white".

Even "fat" is subjective.
I've seen people call themselves fat and they are no where near it.

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

ok, i got what you were saying from the beginning... regardless, it's still wrong. saying you aren't something can be just as bad as saying a label defines someone. take tiger woods for example. he straight up said basically he's not black. yes, he's white, Asian, black and i think indian... but he's still black. he just also happens to be everything else too. whether you want to admit it or not, you do the same thing. to say you don't and shouldn't is a joke. would you expect a poor black girl in inner city compton to associate more with serena/venus williams or with paris hilton?

the only way labels are bad is when you let them be a detriment or a setback for yourself or in total udder denial. if you weigh 500lbs, who are you kidding to think that you can get on something that only holds 300lbs? and fat to a degree is subjective, however, after a certain point, you are fat. you look at body fat %, waist to height ratio, body composition, you name it.

to be continued

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

being fat or skinny or tall or short is based on benchmarks. if the average person makes $50k a year and sits on 1 million in assets and 500k in retained earning, no one is going to say they are rich by making a penny more in each category. but i think we can acknowledge that if you make, let's say $150k/year and have $10 in assets and retain $2 million, you'd say the person is rich.

and backtracking a lil' bit, again, being identified as 1 label and using it as a barrier or letting it become a barrier is 1 thing. combining everything you identify as makes you an individual. i'm black, i'm American, i'm smart, i'm skinny, i'm athletic, i'm tall. i can pull any one of my physical or mental traits and identify with them specifically. this is an extremely stupid example, but work with me. take an utz pretzel
i5.walmartimages.com/.../...b1-dc1d3089309b.v1.jpg

it's pretty salty and hard. however, would you say it's not hard because it's not as hard as a rock? would you say it's not salty cause a potato chip is saltier?

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

again, stupid example, but whatever helps get my point across.

[Stacyzee]

If you carefully read my article, I am not saying they are not a label. In fact, I go on a speak about how realistically, everything in life is a label.
The problem isn't the "labels" itself, its the fact that people allow themselves to be defined by it.
Do not let a label define you, instead define yourself by the attributes you have to offer.

And like I said, this article is in reference to labels that are personality traits.
Not necessarily things that we ALL know are true about a person, being black, or white, or tall etc.
Even if we "label" someone as black (which they are), they are STILL MORE than their label.

That is the overall message.

[Stacyzee]

The title: "You Are Not A Label".
Although every thing literally in life IS labeled, People are more than the words that are stamped on them.
So in reality, you are NOT A LABEL , you are more than it.

[Stacyzee]

A label tells me nothing about who someone is within. A label, is just a word whether its a positive one or a negative one.

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

the problem is that i'm taking label as something that's arbitrarily true. something at face value. in other words, simply saying that something is something. you are taking labels and tagging stereotypes and negative connotations only that go along with it.

[Stacyzee]

Again, I am saying people are beyond the words that are stamped on them.
I stated in my article that realistically, everything IS a label.
This article is for people that have posted numerous times on GAG that they want to remove the bad labels from themselves such as slut, or fat etc.
The reality of it is, that can't be done.
But what CAN be done is a person representing themselves by actions that go beyond what you are "stamped" as.

That guy is black...
That girl is black...
This girl is loud...
People are BEYOND those things and should not get upset when people look at them as such. If they are a person of substance, they possess many great attributes.

[Other_Tommy_Wiseau]

there's some things that are still wrong with what you said, but i'll admit i'm probably not smart or articulate enough to explain to you why what you wrote is wrong. but i'll say that 1 problem is that you try to have it both ways. and by it, i mean the fact that you interchange fairly frequently between what is perception and what is reality and what we can and can't control about ourselves. maybe someone smarter than i can do it, but i'll leave it at that. anyways, i'll just say i'll agree to disagree and leave it at that.

[Stacyzee]

I don't think there's anything wrong with saying be beyond the label that you have.

but all in all,
agree to disagree like you said.

[tayoker]

Our labels define us if we believe in them as individuals, well they don't if we believe we all one, but our actions are not yet capable to reflect what we want, or what we think we can make, getting resisted from a group of people called "society". That we know each one of them have their own way of looking at reality from their own perspectives but still they keep pretending they are traditionally accepted that deep down they know it doesn't fit them... si the only way to change the society is to change the action of one individual. .. to be as a "common" thing.

[CuteVenus]

Nice take, powerful even but people still have labels, we can't help it, we try not to do it but we can't help it, it's like casually looking around and saying that person is gay, black, Indian, and a bunch of other bullshit we don't have to say it out loud but our brain computes it that way

[Stacyzee]

Yes.
We have all labes, there's no avoiding it.
We are MORE than a label (that is my soul message here).

[Stacyzee]

*labels

[Stacyzee]

You can be labeled, but not "be the label".

[CuteVenus]

That makes sense I guess, thanks! :D

[Stacyzee]

In other words, you are not defined by the stamp society chooses to give you. You are instead defined by your actions. No problem <3

[Anonymous]

Well, muslin is a belief system, being gay is being homosexual which means your attracted to people with the same chromosomes. These are proven labels, calling someone a gender is, t a good label , gender is proven by science to a social construct, calling someone black is also a label from a. Social construct, call in someone male or female sex is ok, it's proven by science I. e your chromosomes. We sometimes give labels based on feeling vs fact and that is where the problem really lies

[Scrambledagain]

When I studied psychology I was very fascinated by labelling theory and many psychologists don't tell you what you have because they don't want to label you as "depressive" or "borderline". They just admit you have flaws in your thinking and try change it. Unfortunately though, to tackle your demons, you need to name it "fat" , "ugly" "nice guy"

[Stacyzee]

Yes, I agree.

I stated here that there is no getting away from labels. They are literally the entire English language. However we as people must not be defined by these labels but rather the positive traits we have to posses.
Labels aren't always true depending on who is giving them to you.

[Scrambledagain]

You are also less than what your label says as nice guys learn the hard way. You know my stance on the nice guy thing so I will just leave it there.

[Stacyzee]

Yes , you are right sometimes people are less than their label.

However since I wanted this to be an uplifting article , I wanted to gravitate things towards the direction of assuming this person has positive traits , and to show that side to the world.

[JustinTheGreat]

I agree. Our labels dont define us as people. Like yes Im gay, but Im not going to introduce myself like "Hello Im Justin, im gay" No. Gay isn't who I am. Its not a personality trait. Its not the thing that makes me Justin.

[Riggers]

Your examples here, "I am not fat!", "I am not a slut!", "I am not a loser".

Sound more like denial and an inability to accept reality.

[Stacyzee]

All of those are perception based and not fact.

A successful person can feel like a lower based on the decisions they have made in their personal lives.

Depending on someone's moral standard for themselves they can feel like a slut if they have slept with five people in their lives or even kissed a certain amount of people.

Fat is also perception based. How many people call themselves fat when they are no where near it?

This take is to discuss labels that are perception based not facts like , you are black or white. That would be a different story and would be equivalent to a person in denial.

[Stacyzee]

*loser

[Riggers]

You make it out like all fat people aren't fat, and all sluts aren't sluts.

If someone is very overweight then they are fat xD, the name isn't "hurtful", it's just the truth

[Stacyzee]

I didn't say that or implicate it. I am just saying those things are subjective.

[Zeanobia]

Fat is not perception based, it's science and whether you're into BMI or fat% there's just some level that is healthy. Below that level means you're underweight and above that level means you're overweight and at the risk of diabetes, heart attacks and death. How is that perception based?

[Zeanobia]

I define a fat MALE as anyone with a body fat percentage above 25%. Unless said MAN is muscular or otherwise athletic build I would assume HE has a BMI above 30. 50 is "whale"

[Zeanobia]

This is a fat male:
upload.wikimedia.org/.../Obesity6.JPG

[Anonymous]

Lebels limit and keep us ignorant. Also wow @ all the angry hateful guys that answered this. You showed great patience towards them. Kudos to you.

[Stacyzee]

A lot of people only read the title.
Those that actually read were able to capture the message.

[AlphaAussie]

I wish I could get away from being labelled but that's all the cops do to me, white male, 6'5, brown hair wearing only cowboy chaps last seen fleeing down whatever street.

[SweetHomicidalQueen]

"We're all just humans telling other humans to stop being human."

[Pinkbeauty]

nice mytake but for got the label such as specail needs

[djwaalebabu]

girls here said they wouldn't fuck me because i am ugly, thats a label too technically

[djwaalebabu]

i am unfuckable

[Anonymous]

Good luck getting people to drop the 'white' label.

[Stacyzee]

You missed the point of my take.

I stated it's impossible that labels are dropped because literally everything as a label. Instead of worrying about labels people shouldn't take a given title define them , instead define themselves by their behavior

People are not a label they are beyond that.

That is the message here

[Stacyzee]

*people shouldn't let a given title define them

[OrdinaryGentleman]

I am a classified as i don't give a fuck. just give me a bed... i need sleep up in this biatch

[Kingfrosty]

Im black who cares i just have a bigger penis ^^ this world cares 2 much what others think