Put Down the Label Maker

I’m going to make an educated guess, okay maybe just a guess, that we all hate being labeled. The one huge caveat to that is if the “label” is exceedingly complimentary like genius or beautiful. Then most of us are probably thinking go ahead and keep those labels coming.

But as a general rule I believe people get a little chafed at being labeled. For instance, I hate the label “normies.” I hear that word a lot in political discourse. As in, “if you take into the consideration how the ‘normies’ vote the election is going to be tight.”

What the heck is a normie? Yes, I know it’s supposed to mean ordinary and/or average people, but here’s breaking news – no one thinks they’re average. We all think we’re very special. Mainly because a lot of us had parents that told us we were.

Some of us, me, even aspire to be normal. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve moaned, “Why can’t I just be normal.”

Yesterday I said exactly that to my cat because I had spent an entire day thinking about barrel shorts.

You don’t want me to go deep on this. So let me just say that barrel shorts are the “must have” fashion for spring and the best description I can come up with is that it looks like jodhpurs and a mini skirt had a baby.

Apologies in advance if any of you will now be thinking about this the rest of the day. Hopefully you have a cat to talk it out with.

One of my least favorite acts of labeling is what I’m going to call frivolous categorization and it’s usually the result of self-labeling.

Two self-inflicted labels that make me sigh, roll my eyes, and then sigh again just in case the first sigh didn’t deliver the impact I wanted is “no drama mama” and “girl’s girl.”

If someone tells me they’re a “no drama mama” or wears any article of clothing that says “no drama mama” especially if it’s spelled out in rhinestones (note this happens a lot in the competitive dance and cheer milieu) I know with 100 percent certainty that they are indeed full of drama, live for drama and excel at manufacturing drama.

A woman proclaiming herself a “girl’s girl” is another ick. Don’t despair if you’re thinking what does that mean exactly. I also had to google it when I first started hearing it bandied about.

In the simplest terms a “girl’s girl” is a woman who “encourages and values other women.”

This could just be me but shouldn’t encouraging and valuing people be the baseline for being a decent human? Do you need to go around saying you’re a “girl’s girl?” Much like the “no drama mama” moniker I’m suspicious of anyone that feels the need to broadcast this.

To me it feels like you’re cosplaying being a person with some measure of goodness and hence your hankering to make sure everyone knows you’re a “girl’s girl.”

A label that just downright confuses me is “boy mom.” I actually thought I was a boy mom since I have a son.

But years ago, I was rather rudely corrected by a “real” boy mom (who had the sticker on her car “Boy Mom surrounded by balls”) that since I have a daughter “I don’t qualify.” To be a “real” boy mom you can only have sons.

This woman then sneered at me and said, like it was an insult, that I was “just a mom.”

I laughed and as far as labels go well, that’s one I have no problem with. In fact, I can say with confidence that “mom” is my favorite label.

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Here’s another label I love “reader.” If you adore funny, fab books please give one of mine a lookie loo. From Empty a “laugh till you cry” menopausal revenge adventure perfect for any woman who buys wrinkle cream in bulk to the Snarky four pack – Back to School, Trouble in Texas, Four Seasons of Snarky and Killer Dance Mom.

Back to School is a hysterical read for every mom who’s marinated in elementary school parent drama. Trouble in Texas is a tall tale of what happens when a mother just can’t stop meddling and enlists her 40 something daughter in her schemes. Four Seasons of Snarky is the ideal book to give to someone who needs a primer on suburban revenge plots. AND Killer Dance Mom is the first Snarky mystery that involves all the crazy of being a dance mom especially when a judge gets murdered.

Just click this Amazon link to find out more!