Daily affirmations of a word mercenary
Labeling Theory*
11Oct2007 Filed under: JournalishUndeniable proof that I am each of the following:
HIPPIE
High school bedroom was school bus
Have vague beliefs about manifestation, energy, and universal systems
Lazy with body hair maintenance
Enjoy free-form dancing like NIA
Intimately acquainted with yurts
Have been to Burning Man multiple times
RAVER
Know how to use glowsticks
Have had “relations” with at least a half-dozen DJs
Edited rave magazine
Have flyer collection
Familiar with acronyms like 2CT7 and 5-MeO
Can list at least 30 genres of electronic music
Have been to Burning Man multiple times
YUPPIE
Live in condo
Work for MSFT
Have worked for law firms, Disney, etc.
Have housekeeper
Drive Subaru Legacy station wagon
Drink Chai
Read marketing blogs for fun
Have been to Burning Man multiple times
BORING
Married
30something
9-to-5er
Like to go to bed at 11pm
Instability-averse
Have been to Burning Man multiple times (HA!)
*Labeling Theory is a sociology/criminology concept from back in my undergrad days. The general idea is that labeling someone influences their behavior.
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17 Responses to “Labeling Theory*”
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Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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lily
October 11th, 2007 at 9:43 am
i wuv my Ariel. all of you.
Elly
October 11th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Haha, that’s great! I’ll have to try it on myself. There are several labels that instantly come to mind, both self-designated and society-designated (but hmm, which came first?)
amy.leblanc
October 11th, 2007 at 10:40 am
i think “Have been to Burning Man multiple times” should also go under HIPPIE.
and i am also/have been all of those things, although not quite to the extreme that you are/have been (i’ve only dated 1 DJ and i’ve never lived in a yurt), which makes me more BORING than anything.
Kristina
October 11th, 2007 at 10:50 am
On one hand, I am a bit of a boring yuppie. On the other, I am a goth-influenced hipster. I always blamed it on being a Gemini and not-so-secretly relished the schisms in my personality and lifestyle(s). Perhaps I am not as unique as I would like to think. Sigh.
Ariel
October 11th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Kristina, several of us here may qualify as alt-yuppies or bobos.
mark
October 11th, 2007 at 10:59 am
What a great exercise. In addition to snappily illustrating the many facets of Ariel it’s also a great example of how when marketers use stereotypes and putting people in boxes it is usually partially right but overly simplistic. If only a big company like, say, Microsoft had someone on staff who could point this kind of thing out. Oh, uh, wait . . .
Kate
October 11th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I love this. I’d like to wear mine around my neck occasionally when I’m feeling pigeon-holed!
I’m a brain, an athlete, a basket-case, a princess and a criminal…
Ariel
October 11th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Mark, HA! You crack me up.
Ariel
October 11th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Oh and Amy: great suggestion. I should add Burning Man to the BORING category, too.
amber
October 11th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
ah, i must try this myself…
would be broken down into these categories:
~goth-ish
~raver
~pseudo-geek
~suburbanite
~boring
Wonton
October 12th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Obviously, no one can be fully be defined by a couple of labels. So, out of curiosity, I wonder what your list would look like if it were made up of reasons each of those labels might not apply to you.
Wonton
October 12th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Obviously, no one can be fully defined by a couple of labels. So, out of curiosity, I wonder what your list would look like if it were made up of reasons each of those labels might not apply to you.
Ariel
October 12th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Great question, Wonton. Here’s my answer:
NOT HIPPIE
Politically disenfranchised
Love synthetic fabrics
Wax legs
NOT RAVER
Almost never go out
Judgey and bitchy toward regular drug users
Like sleeping between the hours of 11pm-7am
NOT YUPPIE
Would rather work less than make more money
Drive 10 year old car w/ 200k miles
Uninterested in climbing corporate ladder
NOT BORING
Plan strange comedy events
Have alternative views on marriage, family, employment
Can make amazingly realistic chicken noises
Arielmeow
October 13th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Awesome post, awesome comment thread. I want to hear your chicken noises. And I owe you a cream puff.
nobodobodon
October 15th, 2007 at 10:33 am
I’d like to have a conversation entirely in chicken noises with you sometime, for at least 5 minutes. In public. Preferably at Burning Man Regional.
I don’t get out to “the Nevada Regional” anymore, but I do go to Burning Flipside.
If you’re ever down in Texas, look me up.
Tyler
October 20th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
HIPPIE
-I have worn hemp pants and thought they were AWESOME…
-Green Party member for about a year
-Lots of jam band concerts…..ever so many.
-Went on a voyage of self discovery, in the desert, by myself, and didn’t really discover anything but how peyote makes me ill^_^
And now I’m in the military…go figure how we all change so much(but I still miss jam band concerts).
kim
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
kirt’s nickname is yurt and it’s how i commonly refer to him around my house (because my upstairs roommate’s name is also kurt, so it prevents confusion when both are around simultaneously)
i once wallpapered his computer with photos of yurts.