Who am I?

In a broad spectrum, I am a human being. I am also a girl. I am the thoughts I think and the emotions I feel.
On a more individual level, I have been labeled as an INFP (introverted, intuitive, feeling, and perceptive) on the MBTI test. I was born in December, which according to different cultures’ astrology makes me a Sagittarius (Greek or western), an Owl (Native American), a Rat (Chinese), and a Fig Tree (Druid). My mother has stated on multiple occasions that I exude traits of a rat terrier: jumpy, persistent, and obsessive.

All of these things put me in a box. While they might all be true or close enough, these generalizations of my character do not take into account all of my many personal contradictions.

Humans have a natural affinity for categorizing things around them. This was originally intended as a survival skill. For example: a cave man, let us call him Bob, was out foraging for food. He spies some delectable-looking, shiny, red berries. Wonderful! About an hour after ingesting the berries, Bob begins to feel ill. This causes flatulence, nausea, and finally, regurgitation. Bob learns quickly that shiny red berries are not something that should be eaten. Because of categorizing, Bob can live longer.

However, in the modern world, we do not need to learn by trial and error which berries are poisonous. It has already been done. Nonetheless, the instinct of categorizing is still very strong, in the form of stereotypes.


In the 1960’s, black rights were on the fore front of everyone’s mind. The south (and the north) was seething with racism. Racists categorize people who are different from them into the same little box. The white supremacists thought that all black people were the same and deserved to be treated like less than dogs. Consequently, black people began to categorize all white people into the box of “racist” or “they think they’re better than me”. This domino effect of categorizing is still an issue today.

Luckily, most people have learned that judging someone based entirely off of skin color is wrong and inaccurate. Still, there are stereotypes in the modern world; blondes are dumb, people who wear glasses are smart, and Canadians are just insanely nice. While these categorizations are not necessarily bad, they can be untrue and possibly hurtful. For example, Bernadette Rostenkowski of the Big Bang Theory, is a petite, cutesy, blonde woman. From appearance, she seems like a nice, somewhat unintelligent, very ditsy girl. As her character becomes more known, viewers quickly learn that Bernadette is a feisty, competitive, very sharp and brainy scientist. Who would have thought?

Personally, I hate being judged. Most people assume that because I like to read, that I am also smart. I do not see myself as smart, merely average. I live on a farm, so I have to like country music (I don’t). I am slightly overweight, so I must eat unhealthily and never exercise. These boxes that people put me in do not match who I am. Same with astrology of all forms, it might not all fit the individual. While that used to be a major contributor in the Stone Age, it is now, just something to have fun with.
I do not think that as humans we can ever get away from categorizing things and people around us. It is too ingrained in our nature. However, we cannot let preconceived notions and generalizations get in the way of getting to know people. And we should not let other things categorize ourselves. We are more than the boxes. We are people.