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November 09, 2005
Labeling
In Empress of the World, Nic is trying to discover her identity both sexually and indivividually. How does the world influence what we become? How can we break free from labeling others and being labeled and develop independent of this obstacle?
Posted by Robin Barton at November 9, 2005 10:42 AM | Empress of the World
Comments
The image suggests the adolescent is constrained and inundated by labels. Our lives our saturated with media images that pull adolescents in many directions. Breaking free from labeling others and being labeled is a difficult task, requiring the adolescent to "know" her or himself implicitly. Looking inward rather than outward to what one wishes to become is not easy in our media-blitzed society. Developing oppotunities for self reflection and affirmation would be an important step forward for self-realization.
Posted by: Mary F. Wright at November 10, 2005 11:08 AM
This world influences what we become in more ways than most people would ever like to admit. Since the day you are born you are immersed into a culture completely determined to shape your every idea about well, almost everything. Like what Mary said, I feel the best way to avoid worldly influence is to understand that "orginality" is what you discover within. No matter what outwardly appearance you may have, someone somewhere will be able to (and will) put labels on you. It is when you begin worrying about these labels, that you begin giving in to them and eventually becoming them. I feel that once a person begins understanding who they are (and an awareness for how labels have affected or are affecting them), they also begin losing their use or desire to use labels on others. Often times I feel people use labels because they are insecure with thier own skin and need someone else to feel as they do. But, no matter what you do in life, you are always going to be faced with this issue, that is why it is up to each individual to look beyond vanity, and discover personality.
Posted by: Nate Miller at November 13, 2005 08:23 PM
There's a commercial I just saw the other day, in the new "Above the Influence" campaign. It's really relevant to the idea Nate introduced about labels eventually turning you into others' perceptions, as well as Mary's insight that young people need to be able to look inside for answers to their development confusion.
In the commercial, a teenage boy stands in his bedroom. A series of people in his life are continuously making him over-- from an athletic looking guy to a "goth" with a mohawk, the tagline at the end says something like "If you don't shape your own personality, everyone else will."
There's a website for this campaign, it can be found at www.abovetheinfluence.com
I think that idea is absolutely key. Adolescents need prompts to develop their own personalities, opportunities to delve into their own selves and reflect on what they find. Without these opportunities, some might never choose to search, and might instead adopt whatever label society slaps on them.
Posted by: Randi at November 15, 2005 02:49 PM
Children growing up have alot to deal with. They don't only have to play the role of a student, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend, nephew, aunt, but they also have to play the role of belonging. With society today it is getting even harder for children to fit in because you have to act and look a certain way. Everyone puts a label on everything and it is hard to find out who you really are. Society is telling you that you have to buy the right clothes, you have to have certain hair and belong to certain groups. This is overwhelming and all what you want to do is be yourself but being yourself isn't good enough. I know this is true because I went through this when I was growing up and now I am seeing my sister and brother, who are 14 years old, go through this as well. I don't think that labeling will ever go away but I do think that you could break free from it. I know it would be hard to do this but just don't care what other people think of you and be yourself. Find out who you are and don't try to act or be like someone else. If you do you will find out the hard way that looks and what you own don't mean anything. It is what you have on the inside that counts. Your personality, talents, and outlook for life are just some of the things that matter. So a long story short don't care what Suzy or Bob thinks about you care about how you feel about yourself.
Posted by: Kimberly at November 16, 2005 09:45 AM
Children growing up have alot to deal with. They don't only have to play the role of a student, brother, sister, son, daughter, friend, nephew, aunt, but they also have to play the role of belonging. With society today it is getting even harder for children to fit in because you have to act and look a certain way. Everyone puts a label on everything and it is hard to find out who you really are. Society is telling you that you have to buy the right clothes, you have to have certain hair and belong to certain groups. This is overwhelming and all what you want to do is be yourself but being yourself isn't good enough. I know this is true because I went through this when I was growing up and now I am seeing my sister and brother, who are 14 years old, go through this as well. I don't think that labeling will ever go away but I do think that you could break free from it. I know it would be hard to do this but just don't care what other people think of you and be yourself. Find out who you are and don't try to act or be like someone else. If you do you will find out the hard way that looks and what you own don't mean anything. It is what you have on the inside that counts. Your personality, talents, and outlook for life are just some of the things that matter. So a long story short don't care what Suzy or Bob thinks about you care about how you feel about yourself.
Posted by: Kimberly at November 16, 2005 09:46 AM
When I tried posting my message it said that it had an error so I tried posting it again and then it posted twice. Sorry
Posted by: Kimberly at November 16, 2005 11:57 AM
The way the world influences us is like a series of check boxes. it will be different for every person, but everyone is pretty much given the same set of chices. Somepeople may check the box "I like kittens" in the world while others do not. and by doing this, we see what other people have "checked" by asking information of them and see what they didn't check that relates to our likes. Because of this, other people's views on what they "checked" can influence our views on the same thing, just because we see that they have a lot of the same OTHER views as us, we want to associate with them, and change our check boxes to be more like them.
As I see it...labeling isn't a total bad thing, sure if it is meant to be hurtful to somebody, it is a terrible thing to do, but labels are more of descriptions as we see them. Labels help us to distinguish between certain people from others. We like things in somewhat of an order, and becasue of labels, we are able to put them in this order.
Posted by: Brian Reed at November 20, 2005 07:17 PM
The media and public opinion greatly influences what we become and how we learn to sterotype others and in turn, become labeled by the society around us. Televison programs and movies are constantly utilizing stereotyped characters for entertainment purposes, which sets a very poor example for viewers. I have been labeled many things throughout my life, and shedding these labels has proved to be very difficult. We are a culture that prejudges people and places them into categories, like what Brian was writing about with the check boxes and like what Robin's image depicts. We all have our own ideas of what is right, wrong, cool, lame, sexy, fun, etc. and when another individual doesn't fit into our preconceived ideas, we often judge them critically. It would be wonderful if we could all open our minds and move away from pigeon-holing others into specific labels. I believe that we all have to make a conscious decision to do what the old saying preaches and "not judge a book by its cover."
Posted by: Rachel Skelton at November 21, 2005 02:08 AM
Every day someone seems to be telling us what to be, whether it is our parents, our peers, or the media. Do we really need to listen? We often ignore the advice of those same three groups, so why do we let them dictate who we become? It is an interesting idea. How is it that we can be so easily lead astray, going against even our best intuitions? I once read a book devoted to the reasons why Germans became Nazis so eagerly, while never questioning their own actions. The book essentially made the same arguments that we do for the influences of others on ourselves. When studied, we discover apparent psychological arguments for who we become. This all seems to be based on what is going on in the larger community, or the world, and what we are currently dealing with, such as the reeling Germans post-WWI. To bypass this hurdle we must develop a sense of self and stick to it. I have many unique friends, and actually prefer them that way, because they know who they are. They do not need others deciding this for themselves. Since they feel no need to label themselves, they do not label others. It becomes a circle of individuality that resists breaking.
Posted by: Sandy at November 25, 2005 07:08 PM
I feel that the world influences of what we become in many different ways. These influences can be both positive or negative but they are usually negative in a teenagers point of view. With all of the pressures of being "perfect" in today's society, many people go to through most drastic changes they can think of just to "fit in" with the others. TV, magazines, people your own age, parents, billboards, as well as many other things show you a side what they want you to be and what they think is right. It is somewhat hard to be your own self and not worry about what anyone else thinks. It is instinct to want to know what others are thinking and talking about. To me that is really sad and unfortunant. I feel that we can break away from being labeled by just letting everyone be their own unique individual. Diversity is what makes the world so wonderful and it should never be discriminated :)
Posted by: Brittany at December 5, 2005 03:05 PM
Labels, in the non-judgemental way, are used to categorize and define something that we aren't aware of. Imagine going into the grocery store not knowing what is in a particular can. You are there for beans and you find out you picked up corn. Unfortunate, but true that labels are sometimes necessary. I try and look at it this way, no matter who you are or how hard you try, you use labels everyday. We label ourselves as students, those that teach are professors, etc. It is when these labels become hurtful are they truly harmful to a persons identity. Sometimes it is necessary to know that beans are in the can that you are buying, but other times it is the surprise of corn that makes life that much more interesting. Avoiding labels can be just that, an exciting discovery, and hopefully when people decide not to tear down others, they too can see past the label to what is inside the can.
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