Labels vs Self-Identity

Labels are used to contain something, to identify something. Nutritional labels, price labels, geographic and racial labels…the list is endless.

Self-Identity is how we see ourselves, or, rather, our Self.

I am labeled disabled. I self-identify as crip.

I am labeled homosexual. I self-identify as lesbian.

I am labeled unemployed. I self-identify as domestically challenged.

It is this difference, this label vs idenity, that makes a difference between a character in a story and a person in a story. We want our readers to believe this person could be them or someone they know. If we label our characters then they become too generic and therefore unbelievable.

While we do need to label our characters to some degree (male, female, strong, weak, tall, short) it is how we expound on those labels that make the identity. It is even how we string the labels together that can further add to the identity. A minor character important to a scene can be labeled in a certain order and the reader automatically can relate. A short man. We all know, or should know, about the ‘short man syndrome’. A blond woman from California. A hyper child.

Self-identity is how we see our Self. What happens to that Self identity if we take away one of the labels? Would I be ‘me’ if I weren’t a crip? What if my disability was more recognizeable by the general public? How would that affect my attititude? How would that attitude affect my Self Identity?

What if a character lost one of his/her Self Identities? A phyiscally strong warrior is disabled permanently or long-term? A painter goes blind? A bright intelligent woman develops amnesia? A magician who speaks his spells loses his voice? A Type-A business man gets a major migraine? A Southerner is forced to move to Russia?

What happens to that character? What happens to their Self identity when the labels are shifted or changed?

Ever read those statistics that say ‘the average American…’? Do those people really exist? (Who is eating my portions of steak?? And whose chocolate am I stealing??) Why should we make our characters average? That is why we are encouraged to give our characters some sort of something, a quirk of sorts, that pushes them off the average platform. A Type-A businessman who has fish at home that he likes to sit and stare at. A big butch lezbo collects unicorn figurines. A veterinarian with cat allergies.

Some of these thoughts can be plots to themselves.