Labels - good? bad? neither?

Lately I've been thinking a lot about labels.

Specifically the ones associated with identity(ies). See in sociology we have a term called "labelling theory" basically it's the way one calls oneself kind of defines how one will act. Or was it "self fulfilling prophecy"? I think labelling theory is the one where others define another by a label and "sfp is where an individual believes in that label and it becomes true.

Anyway, I think about a lot of terms that are thrown around campus. Liberal. Radical. Conservative. Moderate. Feminist. Activist. Queer. Straight. Normal. Poet. Writer. Academic. Real World.

What do all these things mean? In the specific realm of identity, I feel as if I label to fit in with other groups and to keep me excluded from others. For example as a "liberal" college student I feel extremely awkward around family functions because most of the rest of my family is in the military and very conservative Republican. Now here's an interesting thing another intern said at work the other day- the difference between Republican/conservatives is that they think Democrats/liberals are wrong. Democrats/liberals think Republicans/conservatives just don't know. Simplistic, but I suppose more apt than other statements.

But I digress. Back to the thought process (stream of consciousness really).

However, I feel less like a liberal/activist when I think of the students at my school and in other schools which feel more community-based or community grounded. Whereas I think I am more of a liberal in a intellectual/philosophical sense. There is a certain society wide expectation of someone to be such and such way when labelled such and such.

I don't know if that made any sense at all because I am still trying to process it in my own mind.

On a Related Note:

I know these labels are suppose to create self identified groups where individuals could talk to each other and form coalitions (or whatever else useful to the cause verb the group needs), but I worry that labels are also misleading and actually helping to separate the groups it means to connect.


For example, Asian Americans took the label "Asian American" as a panethnic term to unite for greater rights in society when AAs weren't considered a part of society at all. Thus, AA the term was born. Then in the 80s AAs are pictured in society as "model minorities" "whiz kids" "prodigies" "Asian tigers" etc. Problematic to say the least was that most AAs are represented as the slit eyed yellow/olive/light skinned East Asian foreigner with the accent. Fast forward today when AAs are cited as "the new white people". Obviously, that is not the case. Immigration. Poverty. Lack of education. Most of these issues still affect many AA groups. So there is the creation of ethnic specific labels such a Asian -> Chinese -> Hmong. See the growing specificity. I would not say all Asian ethnicities are the same. Obviously we all have different historical trajectories, different brushes with imperialism/colonialism, etc. So in that sense, it is important to note that certain groups are affected in different ways.

But what I worry about is the ideology of "divide and conquer". While this specification is helpful to acknowledge different identities, it also separates groups. Makes a Southeast Asian person different from a Malaysian person. I still think there is power in a "people of color" identity. Because obviously it points to a shared history that being a person of color in society (literally being marked as different for being the "wrong" skin color) affects how you are treated in society.

Sometimes I think these labels are only to mark out those who are different from others. But in a sense that is ok. Because using vague words like "multicultural" can be used in a positive way to unify the separate ethnic groups, but can also be misappropriated to be a catch all term that really means nothing at all. The very notion that we live in a "color blind society" and shouldn't use racial terms at all scares me. Because it is obvious that it exists, but if you take away the power to use the word to point out the injustice- then it is almost as if the injustice itself didn't exist.

It is important to note differences and similarities. I wish there was a word or words that at once were specific and broad and adapted according to the situation. Unlike our current situation now, where still old used words like color black/white are still being used to designate race. Although I also understand the difficulty of putting such a wide affecting term such as "racism" into a few words. I don't even know if I made any sense.


On Another Note:
Hmm. Just thinking about this really. Very present in my mind. The whole Supreme Court decision about education and race. Really two steps forward, one step back. Or one step forward two steps back.