What's Gonna Hurt With a Little Name?

here's a big label... haha

LABELS!! They're everywhere around us whether we notice them or not. Some help us understand, some mislead and some limits how we think. Let's all take a look here and see where our thoughts take us.

Labelization came a long way in our civilization. We find things that we don't know, give them names, so we always know them as such. It goes from our everyday things to abstract ideas, for instance, food, products, places, animals, warning signs, human beings, diseases, and conditions...etc. Labeling things definitely saves time by skipping the thinking process into cognition. However, are the labels always right or good? How could they harm or confuse us?

Smoking: it's usually cool in the movies but lethal on the package.

Clothing: unbranded price vs. branded price

food: healthy junk food? Fat-free(high sugar)?

The list could go on and on and I'm not here to criticize business strategies, at least not this time, no. We can usually find an explanation for business-Money. Smoking is bad but the money is good; branded items are more expensive because product image costs too; labels on food products aren't lying what they say but rather highlighting what we may care about. As you can see, there's not much to discuss.

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What about human labels? What are those that are on us? We are very good at categorizations. That's for certain. It is so we have stereotypes on every group, from races to religions, from neighborhoods to schools we attend, from single parents to single children. Each group has its expectations from the general public or even themselves. You grow up in a black community; therefore, you live in a dangerous one. Or, to use a more relatable analogy for us Taiwanese people, we grow up in a tiny country; therefore, we must lean on the superpowers of the world to survive. To clarify, both of the mentioned above are not true. Perhaps you don't but why do we think so then? What's the purpose of such labelization and who are the benefactors? These labels may not only be about money.

What about religions? Christians and Catholics go to churches; Buddhists and Daoists go to temples; Muslims are terrorists. I feel terrible to have typed the three-word sentence. As you could see by now, labels are the origins of stereotypes and are likely to turn into hate.

Hey, but labeling isn't wrong... is it?

Fair accessibility IS, without doubt, a must.

Should we have the terms "crippled, disabled, impairment...etc."? The terms exist but should we be using them? Does it bring more good than harm? I suppose it's good for the government to have set up access-free trails, priority spots for the needed and I'm certainly not here to say we should get rid of them. However, when we treat people with special needs, does it make them feel better or worse? Do we limit their being as who they are? People with broken legs cannot run are the disabled. "The disabled cannot be the same as the able". Is there such an implication like that? It's fundamentally immoral to have different standards of treating life and yet we must. How can we measure our methods?

The same question applies to mental conditions. Is it a good idea to have categorized children who are diagnosed with retardation, ADHD, Asperger...etc.?

"These children need special care and special education!"

"Maybe." Knowing your own conditions and needs as well as letting your guardians acknowledge the situation certainly is the key and the first step of mutual respect and understanding. With all the intentions of well-being, yes, it's the right thing to do. I cannot come up with a better argument or solution but still, I believe by doing so, a lot of times we simply make false presumptions and restricts the possibilities of children. This is mainly the case for the anxious types of parents. The ones who are meant to love but misunderstood the word.

The idea of labeling people always gives me a sense of negativity, especially in education. This is where we fight the war of normal vs. abnormal, encouraging vs. suppressing, and intended vs. expected... Children aside, we label ourselves and suffer the same consequences.

"I'm so stupid!" "Why are you so lazy!"

"I'm the world's worst...."

At the end, we are likely to be euphemistic and change the terms rather than getting rid of them because that's just how it is. We need labels. However, we cannot stop just at the name. We must not let the names define people, define who we are. We must see beyond labels and explore further.

The other side of negative labeling is motivation.

Yes, you can.

#selfreflect