Transcriber: Ashley Hoang Reviewer: Hani Eldalees
In seventh grade, I found myself diving headfirst into the depths of
the dark side of social media,
the site that all your parents and teachers warned you about
Pinterest. Yes, I'm talking about the land of DIY recipes
and mommy bloggers. Although not
the most conventional form of social media,
my time soon became completely consumed with hours and hours spent on Pinterest.
I might have learned a craft or two during my time on the site,
but most of my time was devoted to scrolling through pens about my favorite
books, art ideas, but most importantly, those related to social justice.
With this new exposure, I began to learn the terminology of beliefs that
I had always held, including that of feminism.
I found myself vehemently standing up to small instances of sexism in my everyday
life and even having conversations at recess about feminism with my friends.
To me, if anyone asked, I was quick to identify as a feminist.
Later, in eighth grade , even giving a small speech to my class about it,
to me, my label of a feminist was a source of pride for me,
a marker of my identity as an activist and a woman.
It became so closely tied with my identity that my friend gave me
a pin with the word feminist on it for my birthday.
It was quickly a favorite and I soon proudly displayed it on my pencil bag.
As I got older, I was exposed to more people other than just
the bubble of my old middle school.
with this, I began picking up on other people’s attitude towards
the label of feminist and was surprised to hear it in a somewhat derisive context.
I began hearing the word to describe women who were loud,
mean, angry and outspoken, man haters, and not at all in
the manner of those who believed in gender equality.
I was confused and frustrated by this attitude
as someone whose identity had become so closely tied with the word.
It was as if someone had taken this integral part of my sense of self
and twisted it into something that I could no longer understand.
Because of this, I was tentative to identify as a feminist and began using
a different pencil bag, one without my feminist pin shouting out for all to see.
Because of the misconceptions surrounding the world,
the shouting out for all the world to see,
it hurt me that a part of myself that had been so crucial,
a badge that I proudly wore had been twisted and contorted into something that
I couldn't recognize. But because of
the misconceptions surrounding its meanings,
I was scared to reclaim the label.
Today, I see many of us adhere to different labels to gain
a sense of identity and in turn use labels
as weapons against those we don't identify with.
These labels become markers of our identity and humanity,
and because of this, we are quick to antagonize those who fall under
a different label. For those who fall under a different label,
we tend to forget their meaning and instead perpetuate harsh assumptions,
stereotypes and hasty generalizations.
When looking into the concept of polarization,
I came across what is known as the robber's cave experiment.
In the 1954 study, psychologists divided
a group of fifth grade boys into two camps.
The groups were separated in a remote park in Oklahoma Robber's Cave State Park,
hence the name. And during the first week,
the boy spent time getting to know one another,
bonding through activities such as hiking and swimming.
To cement their commitment as a group, each chose a name, one group,
one by the rattlers or the others call themselves the Eagles.
After this first week, the boys were informed of their neighboring camp
and were presented with a series of competitions over
the next few days with games such as baseball and tug of war.
Animosity quickly spread between groups with some of
the boys even getting into physical altercations.
When finally separated and asked describe the other group,
the boys attributed members of their own group with positive qualities,
while only describing the other group with negative language.
Eventually, after manipulating the boys to grow to hate each other,
the researchers attempted to lessen the divide, which was far overdue,
considering that some of the boys had burned the flag of their counterpart.
And some had ransacked the cabins of the others.
Unfortunately, these opportunities, bonding opportunities that they provided,
including activities such as a movie night or shooting firecrackers,
did prove to be inconsequential
and did nothing to actually repair that divide.
To those of us who have gone through the ups and downs of 2020,
not to mention January 6th and the rest of 2021, up until now,
this study should come as no surprise.
The divide in our country is as deep as ever.
In the US especially, we tend to attach ourselves to certain labels
and in turn use the opposing labels as weapons against others.
These are similar to the fifth grade boys in Oklahoma,
We cling to these labels as markers of our position
on politics, religion, social justice and more.
Although these labels can allow us to have
a sense of clarity in our selves in such a convoluted world.
This clarity is often only extended to ourselves,
and we fail to place the same careful discernment on others.
It's easy to blame others for the divide in our country,
and although our accusations may be accurate,
they do nothing to actually reverse that divide.
We are only responsible for our own actions,
so that’s where we’ll have to start. When we give labels,
we often simplify the complexities
in humanities behind each individual that are identified with them.
Although labels can unify,
they can also allow for a sense of exclusion
for those that don't feel fully accepted within the bounds of that language.
Despite the growth of the movement for intersectionality,
many people of color and those in
the LGBTQ+ community feel excluded from the label of feminism as in
the past, and unfortunately, even now.
It’s been limited to the problems and advocate advocacy of white women.
As a white woman that would consider herself and intersectional feminists,
it forces me to question whether the label is even necessary.
And I'm sure, like with any good TED talk, you're wondering while Courtney,
what is the answer? What is the point of all this?
Or have I just completely wasted my time? to answer the latter question,
I really hope not. But to answer the former,
I don’t have the perfect answer. As with any complex issue,
It's not as easy as just saying there's only one right answer.
But before you label someone anyone, no matter how inconsequential it might seem,
pause for a moment. Is this label making it easier for you to perceive
an individual or group of people?
or is it just an easy way for you to avoid fully empathizing with those in question?
I can’t tell you much else beyond that,
I can't spin it into an easy to read pin on Pinterest or a phrase
on one of those cringing minion mems. The truth of the matter is,
is that it shouldn't be this easy to understand,
thinking that this is just a black and white,
right or wrong kind of issue, defeats the purpose of it all.
Things are never as clean as we might wish them to be,
and we just have to accept that this issue is messy at its core.
Being able to slap a quick label on something and call it
a day, only serves to create more issues.
And we just have to recognize that this is complicated.
So, before you make a generalization on someone based on their label
or classification, anything from political party to religion to
whether or not they like pineapple on their pizza,
which is obviously the superior pizz. topping. Question, question, question,
You might not find the answer,
but the process will remind you of your own biases and give room for more empathy.
Thank you.