Me? I'm just a [insert term here], you can tell me by the way I walk.

I keep forgetting I have this blog. But I made it to rant, and I have definitely not stopped ranting, only now I do it on twitter which is just dumb. Extra work and I'm definitely annoying people, which is exactly what I hoped to avoid by creating this blog.

My latest peeve is LABELS. I see I've mentioned something similar before, in my clothing/style-post, but it's an ongoing thing. I can't stand mobs. If I'm in a discussion with two people who agree, I have to disagree. Even if I agree with them in the first place. There's a million sides to everything, and just because people agree with one thing it doesn't necessarily mean they discard everything else but I need to remind them.

This is a bit different though, one thing is to find a label for your identity, it's something else to build an entire identity around a label. And it's almost entirely an online phenomenon.

We all know them. The ones who find themselves, and then really BECOME themselves. We're talking memes. Mentioning your new "title" to everything you do, because suddenly you're everyday activites have a deeper meaning. Sharing everything related to it because "look! this person is like me".

It somehow always makes me think of Tim Whatley from Seinfeld, who Jerry suspects converts to Judaism just for the jokes.

Is this really you, or are you just delighted to finally find some life instructions?

It's obviously a confidence issue. These people have probably struggled their entire life, whether it's sexual orientation, cultural identity or mental illness. Suddenly there's nothing wrong with them (not that there ever was though), they're just a different breed! The ugly duckling all over again.
But to me, this doesn't seem like a solution at all, at least not when it comes to confidence. If you need to see a bunch like you to understand you're worth something as a person, then you still have some issues to sort out. It's like those who can't be confident with their own choice unless they see someone else choose the same. (This does NOT mean my previous examples is in any way choices. But how you cope with them are.)

And it's almost like we're automatically supposed to understand something better if there's more of it. If I met a single Brony I'd think he/she was weird. If I met a whole crowd of Bronies... nope, still weird! Your choices might be percieved as just as strange by others, no matter how many you share them with. (Take religion, for instance.)

A person asking you about you will most likely want to hear YOUR opinion anyway. If they ask you about something personal, speak for you! Don't speak for your religion, your subculture, your gender or your diagnosis. You're your own person. Unless you just sound like you're part of a cult.


Another thing is when I see people sharing links to articles on "this is how to act around someone with depression/anxiety etc. (the list is endless)", and it's always the people who have these issues themselves. You know what? I think people would appreciate hearing it from you personally rather than be directed to what someone else said on the matter. Besides, it's not this that makes you interesting, because people in general are interesting! So many fascinating facets and different thoughts, why anyone would voluntarily sum themselves up with a few generic terms is beyond me.

And the worst part is how we all agree that some terms are idiotic: "You're a girl/boy, therefore you must be...". We all hate that! In fact, we usually dislike whenever anyone assumes anything about us. And yet we're perfectly happy with assigning our own. Even though it is hard work, as there's always people out there ready to tarnish your image and you constantly need to clarify what you're really about. Like that person who got annoyed that there's so many different definitions to the word "vegetarian" and that made it hard to find food. How about just saying what you can eat, rather than worry how other people interpret interpret the word? In fact, most people who find words to describe themselves still need to explain what that means on a daily basis.
Seems like a total hassle if you ask me.

I guess it's our herd mentality. Most people need, and even want, a pack.
We want an individual identity, but apparently preferably one that comes with instructions.