Sitting in my third period health class, I heard a few things. "Nerd!" "Geek!" "Prep!" and "Goth!" were among them. What do those words really mean? I thought. I decided to write what I thought they mean, then ask other people what they think.
My definitions:
Nerd: Uh, me!!!
Geek: Someone who spends way too much time on a computer . . .
Prep: A person who wears super tight clothes and try to show off their curves or, in boys, someone who wears extra baggy pants to show their boxers (thank God my boyfriend is not one of those people . . .)
Goth: Someone who wears all black or wears chains and dog collars with spikes (cue creepy music).
After I thought about my definitions, I realized I was playing a game I had never agreed to, a kind of twisted and cruel Monopoly: the Label Game. The Label Game has no rules except to insult other people as much as possible. This is so not my kind of game. What had I gotten myself into?! It was like until that point in my life, labels were just another way to say a person's name.
Today, I realized labeling someone is not at all like calling someone by their proper name. If it were, I wouldn't care about being called "Idiot" or "Geek" instead of "Allie". Then I got to thinking again. Why does it matter what someone calls me?
It matters because those names are insults.
It matters because I'd like to be called Allie, thank you very much.
It matters because those names suck away my self confidence.
It matters because no one should try to make me feel inferior without my consent. (Eleanor Roosevelt said that, by the way)
Above all, it matters because I am my own person. No one owns me. I want to be treated as an equal to someone that's incredibly rich or unbearably poor. I want to be treated as a boy would. Wealth, the place you live, gender, age, these are all things the Label Game thrives upon.
The Label Game gobbles up happiness and self esteem just as much as the dementors in Harry Potter do. The Label Game stuffs the confidence in it's mouth like I do with a big maple bar from Dunkin' Donuts. Dang, now I want a donut.
I've decided to forfeit the game I was playing. I'm gonna start a new life.
