We are all labeled. I’m not sure we even have a say in what
the tag reads actually.
Slut
Fag
Nerd
Geek
Bombshell
Bitch
Asshole
Prude
Ditz
I can go on and on. Most of you identify with these “labels”
because you likely have been given one once… Maybe even still.
My son is Autistic << A label. It’s funny because I fought for him to have
that “label”. Have it so he would stop being forced into “General population”
at school. So that he didn’t have to eat in a library at lunch behind dividers
ALONE just so he could focus. I fought for “it” so he would have the education
he deserves, so that he could blend and not be a different label: Weird, Freak,
Know-It- All.
One label for another. Right?
Many days he says, “I wish I was normal. I don’t want to be Autistic.
I don’t want to be.”
A label for a label.
This is my example. Because this is my life. A son, one so
special and amazing I needed to fight for a “label” when all he wanted was to
be “normal.”
My road is mine. No other can travel it. And no one can
travel yours.
What are you? I am Human, I am unlabeled.
So what is it, label or no label? Some protect us. Most hurt
us. WHY A LABEL?
“He must be gay.”
“She is totally a dyke.”
“That kid is totally retarded.”
Labels are judgments based on NO facts.
If HE is gay. If HE calls himself gay HE WEILDS THE POWER.
If SHE is a lesbian --that’s LESBIAN! -- And she calls
herself a lesbian it’s HER choice.
Retarded is never okay. The End! Get a dictionary and an
education.
Point is. Silently we label. Some are more vocal. Why?
*shrugs* not sure. Perhaps it’s our own insecurities.
I look at my son who FOREVER no matter what he does, lose
weight, shave his head, gets older, married, has children, becomes a doctor,
janitor or architect. If he’s on the cover of Forbes Magazine as one of the Top
10 wealthiest men in the world. If he is the most eligible bachelor, most sought
after human being on the face of this planet he will ALWAYS be Autistic.
The girl is school you called Large Marge. The boy you
referred to as Hairy Larry. Time will change them, or not. YOU labeled them.
They didn’t accept it. They can… YOU can rip off that label and burn it.
My son has a DIAGNOSIS: Autism
Many people have a DIAGNOSIS of OCD or ADHD or Bipolar
Disorder and so on and so on…
Diagnosis is not a label and that is what I explain to my
son every day. Society will call it a label.
UNLABEL ME! That’s his plea.
Straight, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender fluid… Not a
diagnosis NOT a label. It’s an Identity!
Identity is not a label!
UNLABEL ME!
Prude, slut… Need I go on? These are unwanted labels created
by hateful people.
UNLABEL ME and more importantly Unlabel yourself. Because
when you pass the pen and write on the skin of a human being to judge them, to
label them. You label yourself.
Unconscious choice perhaps… Either way. Change your path.
Throw away the pen.
No More Labels!
I have mixed feelings about this. I was trained as a scientist and labeling and categorizing is how I sometimes make sense of the world, to find relationship among ideas and people. So on hand, I'm not too bothered by labels. But I've been hurt by them too. I've said this in a few blog posts, but I think it's not the label themselves that are hurtful but the values we put on them. My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and we missed it (he's 15 now) because of our misconception about ADHD (that kids are hyper, they can't sit still). He is quiet and looks like he's listening to a teacher but he was having difficulty focusing.
ReplyDeleteMy son had an opportunity to work with special needs kids in middle school. In one program, kids got a chance to talk about labels.. Retard, nerds, jocks, freaks, losers.. These are just some of the words kids use to describe each other.. They got to talk about how they are hurtful and why they do. It all boiled down to kids afraid to learn about people who were different from them and also about their own insecurities.
I'm rambling, I'm sorry. I don't know if labeling will ever go away. But I think the more we get to know people for who they are and not just their labels, the less those words have significance. Thank you for this post!