Labeling

[Zombie Tainted Coffee]

Okay, so Honeydew Syndrome mentions high school labels we all know. There are a lot of them, such as emo, goth, stoner, geek, jock, prep, etc...

So we should discuss them and our experiences.
Do you label people?
Does your school have a labeling issue?
Have you been a victim of labeling?
Have you seen someone victimized by labeling?
.etc?
Tell us stuff!

I have been called an emo before. I guess my hair/attire/occasional music choice (I can't help that Dashboard Confessional appeals to me sometimes...VINDICATED, I am selfish I am--enough of that....) kind of puts me in that category. But, still it's not cool. Some kid shouted at me, "HEY, emo! Cut my wrists and black my eyes!" or some ridiculous-ness.

So labeling shouldn't exist...just because you dress some way or like some music, that does not mean you automatically do certain things. Totally uncool.  

[Skizzors]

Labeling people is fine. Some guy is on three sports teams and works out after school every day? There you go. Jock.

Stereotyping people based on labels isn't. Some guy is on three sports teams and works out after school every day, so he's stupid? Nope.  

[Kerii-tan]

Actually, my school's got little to no labling whatsoever. Only thing I've seen is this girl (who is the only person I can say I hate, have always hated, and will always hate, because she's a fricken psycho hellbitch) wrote EMO on this kid's locker -.- No one else feels a need to bug him except for this freak girl -.-
 

[~[ Jaune Poison]~]

Well, my school is spit into 4 extremely obvious groups.

The thugs/gangsters.

The jocks/preps.

The emos/goths.

The stoners/skaters.

The slashes are simply pointing out that these people hang out with eachother.

I think it's sort of a bad situation. I have friends that come from all those groups, so it's really hard for people to label me [labels at my school are derived from the people you hand out with].

We watched a movie in Health about this kinda stuff...like, Break Down the Barriers or something.

But I don't think it's that easy D:  

[Zombie Tainted Coffee]

Skizzors

Labeling people is fine. Some guy is on three sports teams and works out after school every day? There you go. Jock.

Stereotyping people based on labels isn't. Some guy is on three sports teams and works out after school every day, so he's stupid? Nope.

Hmm, I agree with that. The stereotyping is the harmful part. But that wouldn't begin in the first place if the labeling didn't exist. Saddly, you can't get rid of labeling.  

[Skizzors]

Labeling is a necessity. You can't get rid of it, it's a convenience and.. logical. "Jock" is the shortened term for someone who plays a lot of sports. So if you play a lot of sports you're a jock. There's nothing wrong with just giving a name to an idea -- the negativity, the connotations that are almost impossible to separate from the name are the bad parts.  

[Excited_Calm]

Hmm... I don't think I label people and actually stick to it. I mean, if I see a guy who's fit and is coming from the gym, I might think 'yeah, could be a jock', but it doesn't stick in my mind that he's jock ya know? And today I saw four people dressed in pure black, trench coats, baggy pants and was like "Holy shite! They must be hot! whee "

No, my college doesn't have a laveling issue... or if they do I don't pay attention to it. confused Yeah, real observant of me eh?

Oh yes, definately a victim of labeling. Goody two shoes, goody goody, teachers pet... so on and so forth. Never bothered me though because so what! If I didn't get in trouble and did my homework then I was okay with that. 4laugh

Yeah, I've seen someone vicitimized by labeling (in my high school). He was harrassed by people for being 'gay' and wearing a sports bra. confused Now, I wasn't in favor of seeing his said bra but I never called him or did anything mean to him.

And yeah, I agree it shouldn't exist but it does. But it doesn't really mean anything, at least to me it doesn't. So they say you're emo or punk, big deal. If you're okay with yourself what the hell does their opinion matter. mrgreen  

[Tinuu]

My school wasn't so bad about labeling, everyone sorta hangs out with each other. And HoneySyn was based on my school, which is why you see Jay (scene kid) handing out with May (emo) and Charles (normal/keener).

Oh yeah, there IS labeling. People dress like... emo and scene kids. BUT they don't get made fun of for it. That's what I meant. xD  

[Zombie Tainted Coffee]

Skizzors

Labeling is a necessity. You can't get rid of it, it's a convenience and.. logical. "Jock" is the shortened term for someone who plays a lot of sports. So if you play a lot of sports you're a jock. There's nothing wrong with just giving a name to an idea -- the negativity, the connotations that are almost impossible to separate from the name are the bad parts.

I do wish it was that way...playing a lot of sports=jock and nothing more. It really is too bad all that negativity is attached. Using one word to just define a person really isn't right. But, I mean, unless you know the person, that's like the only means you have of identifying them.

Quote:

Hmm... I don't think I label people and actually stick to it. I mean, if I see a guy who's fit and is coming from the gym, I might think 'yeah, could be a jock', but it doesn't stick in my mind that he's jock ya know? And today I saw four people dressed in pure black, trench coats, baggy pants and was like "Holy shite! They must be hot! icon_whee.gif"

No, my college doesn't have a laveling issue... or if they do I don't pay attention to it. icon_confused.gif Yeah, real observant of me eh?

Oh yes, definately a victim of labeling. Goody two shoes, goody goody, teachers pet... so on and so forth. Never bothered me though because so what! If I didn't get in trouble and did my homework then I was okay with that. icon_4laugh.gif

Yeah, I've seen someone vicitimized by labeling (in my high school). He was harrassed by people for being 'gay' and wearing a sports bra. icon_confused.gif Now, I wasn't in favor of seeing his said bra but I never called him or did anything mean to him.

And yeah, I agree it shouldn't exist but it does. But it doesn't really mean anything, at least to me it doesn't. So they say you're emo or punk, big deal. If you're okay with yourself what the hell does their opinion matter. icon_mrgreen.gif

Haha, you're like the opposite of me (i'm not a bad kid, but i'm not the best student, either =D), but that's cool. If I were a kid in your school, I would just be all the more willing to befriend you and ask for help on my improving my horrible grades. Hahaha.

But yeah, I agree with that. It's not like the people that use them on you mean much to you in the first place, anyways. Later in life, it won't matter. what they said.  

[Arhena]

Well, in my high school labeling is pretty much inexistant. Yes, people joke around about it but we don't take it seriously.
I think it means nothing to label someone unless it is meant to harm that person. From what I've seen and lived so far there doesn't seem to be a specific type of specific preference of friends between people... so everyone pretty much hangs around with everyone. That's so cool.

This one time, while my friend and I were walking to eat lunch at school, this girl who we talk to every once in a while was walking with us. So it went something like this:

Girl: So... where do you guys have lunch?
*we arrive*
Me: "Here?"
Girl: Oh! *in a slightly amused tone* With all the Goths and Emos?
My friend: *laughs* Oh my God!
Me: Dude... what the hell? xD
Girl: Well, it's true...
Me: You're funny.

So yeah. It was uncalled for and unexpected. >.> Seriously man. I'm pretty sure it was because of the way most of the people dress there. The predominant color is black and almost everyone is very creative in a number of ways. We all know each other and we talk to each other. I don't think she meant it in a bad way (I HOPE she didn't) and that she won't start making assumptions about my friend and I based on who we hang out with.

Anyway, labels are weird like that...  

[Zombie Tainted Coffee]

Yeah, they are weird. Really, like you mentioned, it's not bad I suppose unless people are using it in conjunction with the negative terms brought with it sometimes.

This really makes me want to do a photo collage. I would like...find a Jock and say, "Here, hold this really complicated literature." and take a picture of it. Then I would find an emo kid and make him smiling really big...etc. It would be fun to do...  

[Nyang]

I don't really think people can necessarily help labeling others. Here, where there's a high degree of ethnic diversity, the kids also tend to hang around with other people of their own race, so there are those kinds of labels too, not just the usual emo/goth/skater. There's the hongers who like to speak Cantonese in public, the "bananas" who are yellow on the outside and white on the inside, the Vietnamese, who are supposed to be involved in gangs, and so on. Like some people in the thread have pointed out, it's not really a bad thing unless you start stereotyping based on those labels.

Seriously though? Making fun of emo people (by just about everyone else in the free world) has gotten real old. Teenagers are self-absorbed and melodramatic?! SAY IT ISN'T SO!  

[Spanish Leek Squared]

Do you label people?
Yes, everyone does. xD;

Does your school have a labeling issue?
Not really, but there will always be a group of ignorant people that do have issues with certain people.

Have you been a victim of labeling?
Yeaah, i've been called a goth, emo and dyke. x__x;

Have you seen someone victimized by labeling?
Happens all the time.  

[Mikael Hart]

Ah, well, everyone has good answers about labeling... I agree that it's necessary, and not always a bad thing, if it isn't used negatively or as a means of offense.

I label people in my head, but it's not as if my friends and I sit around categorizing people. Actually, my gang is full of people with different labels (nerds, preps, scene kids, gamers, to name a few), but we all get along fine. Maybe it's 'cause most of us are in college and have gotten over separating ourselves from people who have different interests.

I wasn't the most observant kid in high school, so I didn't notice the labeling issue. People thought I was goth back then (ftw), but I never felt like I was much of the type; didn't paint my nails or use eyeliner; the only thing that was 'goth' about me was the fact that I wore a lot of black. Uh, 'emo' wasn't really a label back then, but I guess if they would've called me that if it was.

People are too complicated to just stick to one label, though. Like, if a jock liked staying up all night to play WoW, Counterstrike, etc., would that make them a jock-computer geek? XD


I'm a writer, and categorizing/labeling my characters is one of the things I like to do. I like comparing them to each other; what's similar, what's different, and I like comparing them to the labels given to them. It amuses me when I take stereotypical quizzes for them, though, because they don't match with the answers. My characters can be labeled, but they aren't stereotypical. :9