An Essay on My Experience with Labeling and Diversity

Who am I? What assumptions do people make when they see me? What labels might I pretty much wear across my chest because of the judgments that are made by others on a daily basis due to my appearance? I am blonde and thin on the outside, intelligent and inquisitive on the inside. A Christian, a feminist, a sorority member and a figure drawing model. I am many things, some positive, some negative, some known only by those who have grown up with me, and some widely proclaimed through my actions and words. Despite the myriad of characteristics that make up my unique identity as a person, there are always people who I encounter who attempt to define me and judge me based on qualities that are easily seen and that they think they understand. Our group's activity to better understand diversity was to participate in the Campus Activities Board's publicity of the Jane Elliot lecture on campus. Our part in the publicity was to wear a t-shirt with a label blatantly imposed across it, a label that our society attaches to people with stigma and disdain. We were to wear these shirts one day as we went through our daily routine and take notice of the differences in how people treated us as compared to when we were without the label. My t-shirt read "Addict", Robert's read "Abuser", and Nicole's read "Pregnant". …