Labels (was Yet More about sexism and division of labor)

[davewitley]

Amanda wrote:


> There's always going to be people who label others. Personally, I 
have found
> this broad generalization to be a useful tool to help me interpret 
someone's
> style, and it helps me to more easily interact with them. I don't 
have time
> for value judgements, and if someone wants to label me as a lesbian 
because
> I can handle competition and confrontation, fine. Hell, there was a 
rumor
> around one place I worked that I was a lesbian, because I wore a 
certain
> kind of *boots.* Why does this matter?

I think what you are saying at bottom is that your sense of self and 
what you are is stronger than the labelling that others put on you.  
Quite apart from the practical issue that some of these labelling 
people may be in a position to take decisions that affect you life 
significantly, which is bad enough, it matters more fundamentally 
because most of us are *not* like that.

I consider that most people's sense of the kind of person they are is 
very strongly affected by what they are told about themselves by 
others.  It would be nice to think that it is part of growing up to 
develop an independent sense of self (though I believe many cultures 
consider it anti-social to do so), but for the majority it just ain't 
so: that's what JKR means when she calls the patronus a very advanced 
form of magic.

So I consider that shrugging and saying 'who cares what they think?' 
is unrealistic advice.

David