Labels. Tools or Cages?
Imagine a box full of T-shirts. Each one has a different label. Well, we are kind of a box ourselves too. With time, we gather more of them. However, rather than only having labels imposed by the manufacturer, we also receive them from how people perceive us and how we perceive ourselves.
Labels can make communication easier and help us find like-minded people. But aren’t they inherently limiting? And isn’t it that the more labels you carry, the more separation between others you have? Labels also breed bias - not only do they shape how we see, but also how we’re seen. The issue isn’t the existence of labels, but how tightly we cling to them.
So when does a label become a tool, and when does it become a cage?
At first, a label helps you explain who you are. But when it starts dictating who you’re allowed to be, you begin to avoid things that don’t fit the label, even when they call to you. The artist feels guilty for enjoying business, and the introvert hesitates to dance at a party. A label should describe, not define. It should help you understand your shape, not seal you in a box.
The more labels you add to your “box”, the more fragmented you are. Society loves tidy boxes. They make the world seem simpler. If your labels stop fitting the societal norms, you risk being excluded, even by those who wear the same tags. Truth is, real people never fit perfectly into one category.
Maybe that’s the point.
We spend so much time trying to sort ourselves into boxes that we forget we were never meant to fit into them. The box is just a metaphor - the real self spills over its edges, blends, overlaps, and evolves. Some labels will fade, others will stay, no matter how much you wish them gone.
Maybe the goal isn’t to discard every label, but to stop mistaking them for who you really are.
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