The Dangers of Labeling
- Khwaish Gupta
- Sep 15, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 30, 2023
“There’s no way we could be friends- he’s not a feminist!”
“Mom, why are you so sexist?”
“His family is extremely racist and classist!”
“So you’re against plastic? Are you an environmentalist?”
“I don’t like him anymore. Discovered that he is a bhakt and islamophobic.”
While listening to Course Correction’s episode titled Love, Hate and the Power of Listening, a thought which had crossed my mind several times before, now seemed fairly valid. Stuck in the social media pandemonium where youngsters are sharing reels, tweets, memes on pressing matters like environment, patriarchy, racism, privilege etc. it has become increasingly necessary for people to pick sides. There is less or no space for a middle ground, neutrality or the golden mean. One is either pro-x or anti-x. You can try your best at it all, but it is only a matter of time that netizens will hunt you down and make you subscribe to a label.
Describing someone in a word or short phrase Labeling
While labeling is not a new phenomenon, we see it getting polarised (and intensified) more than ever before due to social media platforms and internet activism. People are being made to subscribe to these labels without having a rounded knowledge about what it means and stands for. Once having subscribed to that label, one is left with little choice to agree to what the other end of the same thread speaks about.
Labels are also an easy way out of conversations, about matters of importance, which then hamper people’s ability to reflect on their actual beliefs.
For example while discussing issues like reservations for women or getting rid of bras, a feminist may conveniently step out of the conversation assuming that she supports these moves by the virtue of ‘being a feminist’ with a good chance of a change in opinion remaining untapped if presented with a more in-depth conversation. In a way, labeling shuts the door for indulging in conversations, reinforcing of same ideas, and gaining perspective through debates.
Another relevant example could be supporters of Black Lives Matter struggling with supporting the looting and rioting that was a part of the movement. It was an ‘unpopular opinion’ and a struggle to be a BLM supporter and also condemn the riots because of the fear of being labelled ‘racist’.
To give you yet another example, terms like ‘bhakt’ and ‘liberals’ have come to be more pronounced with each side bashing the other both subtly and visibly. Netizens are in a constant rut to identify who is what, which then influences their conversations with them. We also mustn’t forget the complementary labels that come with one. The moment someone calls the other a ‘bhakt’, the one of being an ‘Islamophobic’ will come attached. There is a high possibility that the so labelled person takes offense, cuts-off the dialogue by not listening anymore. Isn’t that harmful for the greater discourse and at a personal level when you lose respect for each other?
Labeling is being capitalized and polarized by the day. To give an oversimplified (another danger) example, The Wire benefits by using the ‘liberals’ against the ‘bhakts’ whereas Tatva cashes on people who believe in ‘Hinduphobia’. This polarization is becoming more inescapable and is hampering the discourse heavily.
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I must reiterate for more clarity- labeling comes natural to us when we are forming identities and opinions. The problem is the scale at which it exists today, making it a divisive catalyst for the larger discourse. During this whole process, we are dehumanizing discourse. We must recognize that everything exists in a spectrum and containing it in binary will only do more bad than good. Social media tells you there is a dire need to fit in -isms.
But here’s a reminder for you to-
choose quality conversations over conveniently labeling yourself and your peers.
not reduce every issue to airtight labels.
not label anyone when in a heated confrontation because then it closes all doors for resolution.
LISTEN
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