Fashion Beauty Friend Friday: Labeling Yourself

On Thursday Katy of Modly Chic wrote a post about labeling and why she think it is detrimental. As she was considering ideas fortoday's questions, B of Beautifully Invisible suggested she use the post as this week's topic. This week's Fashion Beauty Friend Friday questions are intended to be tailored specifically to fashion/beauty blogging, as the topic can encompass so many things. So here goes...

Image via We Heart It

1. As a someone who writes/blogs about fashion, have you placed yourself into some sort of blogging category?

It's funny...I don't think I was equipped to answer this question until just the last few months, when my blog focus became more clear. After going through my posts, it's obvious that my blog is generally centered around body image and my personal take on beauty standards and fashion. I am a writer, and my posts are not only much longer than most bloggers, but include a substantial amount of research. However, my posts are incredibly personal in nature. And I also include outfit of the day photos in most of my posts. I suppose my blog is impossible to put in one category - and that's kind of great.

2. What keeps you from or encourages you to label yourself as a certain kind of blogger?

I'm hesitant to put myself in a single category as a blogger (see my explanation above.) The last thing I want to do is put a label on what I do - it's incredibly restrictive and suffocating. I'd much rather be individual, and have a blog that's meaningful and reflective of who I am and what I find important, than one that fits into a specific category.

3. When picking blogs to read and follow are you drawn to ones that indicate a certain group or way of thinking/being?

I tend to be more drawn to blogs that speak not only about personal style, but also beauty, body image, individuality, and the role fashion takes in the author's life. I like reading blogs that teach me something - whether it's about fashion, or the author's personal struggles, or thrifting advice, or ways to increase my self-confidence. I am drawn to blogs that are intelligent and individual, and difficult to categorize.

4. Do you think there are benefits in labeling yourself or others?

By definition, labeling puts oneself in a category. Human nature likes to place items in categories - from an evolutionary perspective, it is what we are innately conditioned to do. We are social animals, and like being able to identify those around us who share our beliefs, and those who do not. But labels must always mean something. When I call someone “friend”, is this a fact or a necessity of social networking interaction? The benefits of labeling are that they allow us to understand where we fit in, and decide whether we're comfortable in that category or want to redefine our place.

5. Agree or Disagree - We're all just people; we don't need all the labels. 

This is a difficult one to answer. Labels are creations of the human mind. I don't think the issue is the label itself, but rather the ideas that are being put forward by the label. Labels use a single word to categorize what could be an extremely complex set of ideas. But we need them to communicate who we are. However, while we need labels, we should not depend on them to encapsulate another individual. The problems start when we use labels to judge.