Entry 359 - Labels Make it Easy to Judge Others

9/30/20

The reason why I don’t always label myself in all areas of my life is because if someone can’t label you, then they can’t judge you. It gives power back to the person to simply be and helps others avoid the backlash of their judgment because what you send out into the world returns to you with the same measure.

How do you judge something you don’t even know? And why would that person need your judgment if your judgment is based on your perception, not their reality? Would it even be of any help? There’s a good chance if you’re already negatively judging someone, you’ve come to a conclusion in your mind of whether that person matches your personal morality scale or not.

Through labeling, we define something according to our understanding and then make a judgment, comparing it to the scales of morality we deem fit. Maybe she wears short shorts, and you see anyone who wears short shorts as not moral. Or maybe she swears, so you consider her less moral than you.

However, if you keep your label open, that requires people to stay open because they don’t know how to categorize you into their preconceived judgments based on their perceptions rooted in whatever beliefs they already have about it.

It’s like if I’m posting videos of me cuddling with a girl. If I don’t say anything, some people might assume I’m heterosexual and have always just liked to cuddle. Others might assume I’m asexual but homo-romantic, and others may assume I’m flat-out gay. But the reality is, no one knows for sure because I didn’t label my sexuality (or lack thereof), so they cannot judge what is not defined!

There is freedom in this because if someone really wants to know what your sexuality is, it forces curious people to ask you rather than to assume. You’re much more likely to convey your reality to them, where they will try to understand rather than just judge you about it.

Labels can come in handy for helping like-minded people find others like them, but with the wrong people, they can be used as a weapon of judgment—hurting the person judging and potentially the person they are judging, depending on whether they accept that judgment or not.