I recently saw a commercial on TV for a popular reality show that stunned me; it is one that pairs dancing professionals with mortal folk of questionable fame for the ultimate in extreme dance competition. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this show. My husband and I watch it together.
The thing that struck me about the commercial was how it announced the contestants. It labeled them by profession or notoriety. One such contestant was announced as an actress in B movies. Seriously, they are saying that out loud? They actually said “B movies.” They might as well said she’s not really famous but you may have seen her face somewhere in an under par movie. Why would they do that? More importantly yet, why would she allow that?
When people are labeled by family, coworkers or society, most times those labels stick. Whether they were applied in jest or intentional meanness, labels can affect the way we see ourselves and shape our personalities.
We have grown twin sons. At an early age personality differences were evident. Perhaps because twins are noticed often, people tend to comment on them. At the ripe age of four, one of our boys was asked if he was funny like his brother. He replied, “No, he’s the family clown.” This caught me off guard because we had worked diligently to protect their individualism. The children were not labeled. We never even referred to them as ‘the twins’ but rather called them ‘the boys’ or by their names. So to have a four year old make such a statement and have awareness like that, was shocking to me. Where did that come from? He must have heard it somewhere…..and it stuck in his mind.
My brother, Michael, is a mere eighteen mouths younger than I. When he has the occasion to introduce me to people in his world, he always makes a point of describing me as his older sister, much older. In reply, I simply point that I am indeed the older sister but I am also the intelligent pretty one, too. This is all done in jest and adult sibling playfulness. No harm, no foul. Not all siblings labeling is as benign.
Sadly, I’ve seen situations where someone was known by their label where their name became a non-issue. It is easier to remember someone as the troublemaker than by their name apparently. In groups of children it is common to hear, “he’s the tattle-tale, she’s the crybaby, he’s the whiner, the bully, the problem child….” Having worked in a daycare I can tell you, the kids even label one another from an early age. Again, as with my son, they heard this somewhere along the way.
In today’s environment of mistrust and animosity we see and hear all sorts of labeling in the evening news alone. This reflects the world at large in sorting and grouping people by gender, race, political affiliation, religion, education and the overused ‘class’. The latter I find particularly offensive but that’s just me.
The good news is that God disregards all the labels and gets straight to the heart of a person. He does not see us as the world sees us, nor is He influenced by labels the world has plastered all over us. Thank God for that!
This is me pulling off one label after another…..
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