Boxes, Labels and Angry Women
My mother is a Feminist
Well not exactly, she believes in the strength of a woman, and wouldn’t stand for anyone who will try to disrespect or take advantage of her simply because she is a woman. She is strong-willed, a force to be reckoned with. She is the type of woman lesser men would tag as angry and bitter, unwoman-like etc. yet there is a problem.
She doesn’t believe that she is a feminist and doesn’t want to be labelled that way. I think the term “Feminist” rubs her the wrong way, she does seem to prefer “Humanist” because she believes that women should be treated like human beings and not some second rate sub specie of the human race. I would try not to bring up the subject of “semantics” and move over to the next idea.
No One Likes To Be Boxed
In all fairness, however, I am no different from my mom. I write and perform poetry but do not want to be called a poet. I prefer the term “storyteller”. A term that seems pretentious, but I believe to be necessary simply because “Poet” doesn’t capture the full scope of the things I do.
“Poet” doesn’t tell you that I am a filmmaker. It doesn’t tell you that I am an avid smartphone photographer. It doesn’t tell you that I am that tech nerd who runs Linux just for kicks. It doesn’t tell you how many hours I sink into writing things aside from poetry. It doesn’t show you just how much I want to not be bound by a box, but at the same time seeking one big enough to comfortably house the different facets of me.
Own It
Whether you love it or hate it, we would all be put in boxes and labelled something. No matter how many times you try to break the boxes, or tear the labels. However, there are only two ways to deal with this.
You can either get comfortable in the box or decide to ignore the label because what is truly important are the freedoms and constraints you put on yourself. You get the last say on the labels and boxes that stick and how you interact with them.
