Opinions On Blanket Statements/Labels On People

Most people are judged on how they dress, or how they think, act, or the way they do certain things. I would like to know other ZU members opinions on labels, and how they affect other people. If you are labeled, please explain why you think you are labeled and also why you should/shouldn't be(im taking into cosideration the people that actually DO the labeling themselves). i know that this Thread will eventually get off topic but I tried.

I think labels are pretty stupid, everyone should always have an open mind to new ideas or old ones for that matter. Labels are ways for humans to exclude or include one another, they are ways to separate each person from others by like you said the way they act, or dress, or how they think. Maybe if we didn't have labels we wouldn't have so many problems. I don't really know where I'm going with this but bear with me.

I'm a person who's usually labeled as a shy goth-like person. :confused: I'm not really any of those things. I'm usually very outgoing in a group but I don't smile very often so people who don't know me label me as shy and anti-social. :cool: (I'm too cool for smiling...at least that's what I tell myself, just kidding see a virtual smile) anyway, with the goth thing, sure I have some morbid thoughts but that doesn't make me goth or any other thing. I'm me!!!! and every other person is themselves, not punk, goth, preppy or anything else. If you follow trends because everyone else says it's cool then your a label, but if your yourself then I think your an individual.

The whole blanket statement ordeal comes from a weakness, really. The fact is that there are trends, and so people judge others on the trends. Now, is this justified? Well, maybe. There is some truth to it. It's fine as long as it doesn't get in the way, the fact is that how you perceive someone is not really how they are. Just remember that, after you get to know someone, then you can make up your mind. Making up your mind before you know someone, that's the real evil.

For those who are being wrongly judged, just do your own thing. That's the only way to break the cycle, really. Show them that you are you, and not the stereotype.

I don't like it when people label me as things I'm not. Most people that don't know me would probably consider me a "Goth" or an "Art Freak". They percieve me as Gothic just because I like the color black. And the art freak thing is mostly true (I even call myself that). The only thing about is they seem to think art is my whole entire life. People who pass me by can usually find me drawing some sort of thing in my notebook and this just gives them the idea that I spend all my time drawing stuff and spend every dime I have on art supplies.

So the way I see it labels are used when someone sees something about someone else, possibly blows it way out of proportion along the way, and gives it a name. Everyone is guilty of using a label at one point or another. I know I am (I usually use the word "preppy" to describe the popular and/or slutty people who are stuck up because they are popular and have rich parents who can get them nice clothes).

Labels. God damn sterotypical type casting. It's just the "cool" thing to be a "punk", "goth", "emo-kiddy", etc. It's just damn retarded and half the time its just plain derogatory towards the person, as they exclaim "NO I'M NOT".

It's just another way of typecasting you into a "genre" of people that are all the "same". The thing is, I'm pretty much different from everyone I know. I don't get called these "nerd" or "geek" labels, but more-or-less express them through myself and they seem to accept it. Well, not for what I am, more for who I am, and that is what counts.
Labels, labels, labels. Oh how I loathe thee.

I think before anyone starts labelling someone, define "what is normal".

We should all have labels sown into our skin, just so people know who we are.

Yeah, good point, then they wouldn't have to bother making things up for us.

There is no normal. Often normal is perceived as 'cool', which is why so many people strive to be that way.

I am often labeled as a geek, dork, or nerd. I'm smart in class. Really smart. So a lot of people that don't know me assume that I'm a no-life dork who loves school, when I'm not at all. Very often people will be SURPRISED that I dislike school. What's with that? Just because I'm good at it means I like it?

It feels really good to know that someone shares my opinions.....I'm one of the poeple that no one can label b/c ill come to school dressed in black one day, and then the next day ill come to school looking like a complete prep. I love my art of every kind, i do everything from draw to act. I play video games, i go through books like crazy,I go through CDs like crazy, im really smart, yet underestimated because of who I hang out with. I'm my own individual personality and i dont think thats fair of other people to try and contain all of those traights into one word. People have tried but I really dont give a rats hid quarters what they say about me because I don't agree with them. I also don't have to hang out with them if I dont want to, so who cares?

labelling is one of the worse ways to think of people. I'm often called the: crazy, wierd, funny, sweet, honest guy among my friends. I don't dress in a certain way to be a poser, I just slip on what I like and go on with my day. I don't really care what people label me, all I know is that is very stupid

I totally agree with you. I either a)wear whatevers clean(it never matches and i dont give a rats hind quarters) or b)were w/e the frek I want to what is the matter with these ppl and why do they have probs. w/ what I wear? :mad:

Originally Posted by markedbypurity

I totally agree with you. I either a)wear whatevers clean(it never matches and i dont give a rats hind quarters) or b)were w/e the frek I want to what is the matter with these ppl and why do they have probs. w/ what I wear? :mad:

Well, what can you do about, eh? Let them be whatever and don't let it bother you

you are really sweet did you know that? I know and I don't let them bother me I just don't understand it. Is it amusement? :confused:

Hmm... Well you see, I have probably made the most labels on the most people more than any one else I know. The reason why: I am horrible with names. I just don't use clothes in my labels though (clothes don't make the person, unless they constanly wear mini-skirts in any kind of weather -meaning I know people who strut around the school in tiny skirts during the winter- then I label them 'slut'...) I personally refer to my labels as nicks anyways, because, like I said, I'm horrible with names. I need these nicks, and I do try to learn their names too, I'll ask someone every once in while if they found out so-and-so's name (I don't know these people, and I have no intention to know, that's why I don't ask them myself... They play small roles in my high school life -like Spanish-Dude, he's really hot and has a cool accent.)

I have labels amoungst my friends though, I'm a video game geek, a nerd, I'm rich (that one isn't true because I'm not rich, I just make cheap clothes look good, and my house is huge, but like 200 years old... plus, I'm in dept for so many things.), and I'm the 'nice-guy' (girl, whatever... flows better to say nice-guy) in our group, and strangely enough, I'm also the 'sarcasticly annoying one' at the same time as nice-guy... oh, and my one friend calls me talented because I always beat her at video games and sports ... I'm not talented, she's just hand-eye co-ordinately challenged... I don't care if they call me those things though, because... well, I just don't care about many things that people may, or may not, say about me.

What I'm trying to say (as I've noticed I've been going on for a long time now) is that labels can be used to identify people, like nicknames, but I don't see how they are used to classify them into groups... At least when I do my labeling, I understand that people are complex, and there's more to them then they let on. For instance, I basically have two different lives. With one group of friends, I'm Inu-Yasha psychotic, DBZ fanatic, Zelda entranced, Harry Potter lovin', cartoon-aholic, and a Rock maniac. With the other, I'm other language speaking, majorly sarcastic, loud-mouth, bad-mouth, annoyingly smart, lazy, and I have a too-cool attitude (Only my best friend knows all of my personality.) See? So anyone who judges a person's whole... existance on one feature, is shallow and not the sharpest tool in the shed. But IMO, if the person labeling you can only see that one feature it doesn't make them horrible people. They're just lacking knowledge. I'm able to accept that I am lacking it when I give out nicks.

I've been called many things, mostly "weird" and "elf ears". No one has really made any comments on my clothes really for a while. People used to ask me why I wore green all the time. It was just my colour back then, I liked green. To me putting a label on someone you know nothing about is like putting a title on a book you never read. Labelling people by the way they look is stupid. Ex: "That guy's weird because he has elf ears." The next person who remarks on my ears is going to have a hard time chewing the next day, unless they aren't just being mean.

I HATE LABELS!!
I hate being labelled Goth or EMO, and the way others' are labelled Chav, Trendy, and anything else likr that crap!!
It is horrible to label someone, just so you have a name to call them when you want to take the mick out of them!!
I am me, I don't have a label, I have a name, use only my name!

I'm really not sure nor care what I'm labled as. If people are willing to judge you based on appearance and your social circle, then chances are they aren't worth your time.