I'm just beginning to realize how truly dangerous labelling is. To label another is the natural tendancy of a human being. We see another person and we ask, "who are you?". What is their job, what is their religion, what is their sexuality, what is their gender, what is their politics. Student, Atheist, Heterosexual, Female, Libertarian. That's me with some labels. None of them fit though.
I'm a student, I'm also a teacher. Being a student is not who I am though. It is not my entire existance. Neither will my career define me in the future. It will be something I do, not who I am.
I'm also not truly an atheist. Do I believe in God? No. Do I believe in god? No. Do I believe in science? Yes. Do I believe in the supernatural? No. Yet I'm spiritual. I believe in the soul, I believe in Nature. I believe there is something that joins all living creatures. Some call this god, some call this God, some call this Mother Nature, some call it Physics, I call it Something. Does that belief make me religious? There is no answer to that question. I cannot be categorized into a religious belief system because there is no system that I agree with 100%. I am not a system of beliefs. I have an organic set of beliefs that grows and changes over time. I'm currently calling myself a spiritual atheist, but that's just because I find it pretty funny.
Heterosexual. Technically I suppose that's what I am. I'm certainly not a lesbian. But if I had the chance would I mess around with a girl? Definately, I'll try anything once. Does that make me Bi? I don't know. I hate this type of label more than most. I love who I love. And because I don't define gender as binary, Heterosexuality and Homosexuality have no real meaning for me.
I am Female, I am not Female. I have a vagina. I have many feminine characteristics. I also have many masculine characteristics. I generally relate more to Males. I beginning to learn that is because gender is a spectrum, and completely decided by whats inside a person, not whether they have a penis or vagina. I am me, neither Male nor Female.
What are my politics? The closest thing I see to me is Libertarian. Democrats call be Republican. Republicans call me Democratic. Libertarians call me Crazy. I fit in no category. I don't judge policies based on some category or another. My politics fall under no name unless it be "Brynnlee's Politics".
Labels are used to define someone, to make them easier to deal with. It's easier to brush someone off if you call them mentally ill. Its easier to damn someone if you can call them an Atheist. Exclusion is made possible by putting someone in the category of other. But that's a well known phenomena that many people have studied. What I find even more interesting is that labelling is used to force certain ideas onto people.
Once you are put into a category you are expected to believe everything they (those mysterious people, who may or may not exist, who compose the category) believe. If I'm labelled an Atheist, I'm expected to agree with every other atheist in matters of religion, and somewhat science. Though I'd be hardpressed to find another Atheist that agrees with me. Yet the pressure from within that community is even greater than from the outside. Each community united by a common label works to assimilate its members. Works to force a common set of beliefs on them. Labelling is the opposite of tolerance. When we label, we judge. When we label, we act a certain way towards a person and they react a certain way. It's amazing how in any group, there are categories and sub-categories and sub-sub-categories. I think that shows how any label is insufficient. No two people are the same. Not even a single aspect of two people are the same. Everyone either rebels against their labels, or changes themselves to fit them. I will do neither. I simply wont accept my labels. Don't you dare assume to call me one thing or another, when you don't really know me. If you knew me, you'd know that no label out society has created is sufficient to describe who I am. And there never will be such a sufficient label. Language is too limiting, it cannot adequately describe a persons spirit. The human spirit is simply too complex. And dynamic. Having a label limits someone from growing. From changing. If you've been labeling Libertarian you are more likely to keep your Libertarian beleifs and drop other beliefs, and not change or question your Libertarian beliefs. But the wonderful thing about the human spirit is that it isn't static, it changes and grows. Every day, every moment, I learn something, experience something that changes who I am. If I don't label myself, nothing in me resists that change. Yet sometimes I love my labels so much, that I try to hold onto them as long as possible and deny the changes within myself. Sometimes I love my labels because they give me security and authority. But that security and authority is worthless, based on a false perception of who I am. At least now I've realized, no matter how useful these labels may be, they are dangerous and should generally be avoided.

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