In a Box

The world is full of labels and stereotypes. We’ve all heard them, some of us even fit into them. People are trying so hard to rid the world of labels we are forgetting that not all labels are bad. What about: MOTHER, BROTHER, SISTER, FRIEND. These aren’t just names to call people they are labels. So if these aren’t bad, why is Dyke or lesbian? Yes, I am a lesbian. It’s not a job description or title that says I have to act or be something I’m not. I’m just me. Hasn’t anyone ever thought that maybe the reason there are stereotypes is because we make them happen. I have short hair, I like motorbikes and sports and I used to wear a leather jacket. I wear men’s clothes, (including underwear) and I’ve been called a man hating feminist and I didn’t shout back that they were wrong. I hang around like minded people that enjoy the same things. I have discussions with people online and in person and there are a large group of lesbians that think and act a lot like me. Which brings me to the point: Stereotypes, fact or fiction?

I’ve been having some conversations around the “labels” issue. If we didn’t have labels how would people know where they fit in? Okay, I’m sure I’m pushing it here a little. Most of us have been through high school right? So answer this for me: Why did the new kid in town always find the right group? It’s because we subconsciously send out this message that attracts like minded people. It’s not because there’s a sign up sheet at the front of the class for chess club.

Everyone is different, but yet we are all the same. We all eat, sleep and crap the same way. We all have skin, a heart, and a mind that allows us to think for ourselves. So many people in this world live inside a box. They never open up and explore how great the world could be. This little box can be damaging to your existence. Why do we do things just because everyone else is doing them? Be yourself! Love who you want to love, live how you want to live and like one of my favourite quotes says, “dance like no one is watching.” I could care less about labels attached to me. If there is a label that I don’t like then it’s only because someone came up with a quick opinion of me without getting to know me at all. So here is a list of my labels: Daughter, sister, partner, friend, dork, computer geek, lesbian, gay, feminist, optimist, perfectionist, creative, love blossom and sometimes I can be a bitch. I’m sure there’s more than even that. The only reason I have all of these labels is because I am all of these things. Not one of them is a lie or fabrication of the truth. I’m just me.