Labels.

This is actually an old article that i just found so I thought to put it up before I'd lose it again, plus someone recently made me re-think my view on labels, so I'd probably write a follow up soon...look out for that, but for now this is simply an article I wrote about two years back ithink...and I did not want to touch it up, so allow me even though it might seem a bit rough! :)

Labels.....

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=57602281556


I once heard that labeling spoils the uniqueness of a product, and now I agree.
 
Why do we feel the need to brand people-even ourselves? We often fail to see that putting a name on a product turns the product into that name- thin rice isn’t thin rice anymore, its Uncle Ben’s rice; cereal isn’t cereal anymore, its corn flakes. Similarly, we label and brand ourselves so much that we lose the vitality and beauty that warranted such a label.

I want to talk about people, because in the end that’s what we all are, people. Men, women, black , white, stupid, smart, husband, best friend, bitch, lesbian- in the end all these labels replace who we really are, so much so that we start to forget who we were before we became who we are. The love dies in a marriage because the husband and wife forget the friendship and love that brought them together and start to act in completely different patterns just to fulfill the expectations of their label. He's a bossy husband, she’s an argumentative wife, and soon enough they are completely different people.

Basically, I’m just trying to understand why a boy you’ve liked for so long, and wanted for so long suddenly becomes less interesting once he asks you to wear the brand of his girlfriend. He fails to see that without asking you, you both have everything, friendship, love, companionship, and trust. But once he labels you, jealousy sets in, mistrust over little issues and squabbles that could have been avoided.

It’s all so simple but people don’t see. Why can’t we all just be who we are- humans? Let go of labels that put people in tight situations and categorize us. We are not what people say we are-we are who we choose to be. You don’t have to be dependent on a man just because you are a woman, you don’t have to be less of a friend because you have been called a girlfriend, and you don’t have to be more dominating because you are now a husband. It’s all very simple but people don’t see- you are not who they label you to be. Indie Arie sang a song saying “I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am not your expectation…” similarly, we are not who we are branded to be. Boys, girls, cheerleaders, jocks, husband, clerks, boyfriends, musicians… In the end, when it comes down to the very end, we are all just people.

We are all human beings.