Have you ever thougt about the signal effect of a label? Or a tag?
Just think of it. When you were born, the midwife or nurse immediatly gave you a label. A plastic bracelet around your wrist and maybe one more around your leg. Inside the plastic pocket she placed a small piece of paper with your mothers name, your date of birth and maybe your name too, if you had one. In Czech Republic they even tag the poor baby with a special pen on the thigh, with the mother's name, just to be sure.
If you ever go to a festival, you'll probably get tagged with a similar bracelet. Maybe with a color code if you have special permissions during the festival, or belong to a defined group.
In the western world, a bracelet around your wrist means eighter that you're a patient in a hospital, or a normal person who paid for admission to a peticular place or happening.
Another way to tag people when you bind a small piece of paper around the big toe. Yes, when the person is diseased. A photo of a bare foot with a label fastened with a string is quite powerful. You know that this person isn't alive anymore. You might have aversions to have a label like that on yourself. It might makes you feel bad.
So what about the labels? I went to Thailand six and a half years ago. For a huge scout camp, a so called "World Jamboree". 30 000 people gathered on a beach for eleven days. Everything was ready for the camp of our lives! We were all given a plastic bracelet with a plastic pocket to put a identification paper in, as usual in such big gatherings. The command was clear: Wear it, or you'll be asked to leave the camp immediatly. There was only one problem. For the thais, and for most of the other asians, this wrist-label was synonymous with death. A bracelet like this is mostly used to label dead people in Asia. A lot of young people was forced to wear something they felt belonged to the dead only. It's like if we where admitted to a hospital and the nurse tagged us with a toe-tag instead of a bracelet... I can just imagine how it must have felt for the asian scouts..
Strange, though, I wasn't labelled when I was admitted to the hospital in april. I think they just forgot it.
8 kommentarer:
You have written a very good petit or essay "Labels". You write like an experienced journalist.
O'dad
I actually like to be labelled, or having to wear a bracelet. At least I don't mind. It's a signal that I belong to something, that I'm allowed to be somewhere.
After being to a music festival for instance, some people keep the bracelet around their wrist forever, or at least for a very long time. This I can not do. It would feel like being trapped, a claustrofobic thing almost. Our bodies is just not meant to wear something all the time, without pausing from time to time.
Let your body decide where you want to go, high or low, fast or slow.
/Ola Salo
Nice, but too many typos
Yes, it's a lot of typos. I'm not english, you know. When I'm tired or have a lot on my mind, my english tend to suffer.
firstly; stupid to comment on typos.
Interesting point of view, i don't fully agree though. I think ppl choose to wear long-expired labels (eg roskilde bracelet) for a long time because it makes them feel special, almost as in a "secret society". Ppl with this bracelet have something in common.
I didn't know the asians had their death-tags on their wrists, but i would hardly compare them having to wear a completely different wrist-bracelet during a summercamp, than eg us having to wear a toe-tag. This because also asians wear watches, bracelets etc.. its simply much more common, and this imo, they know.
Good luck with everything. xo
Visste ikke at du også var speider, kult:)
Er litt enig med deg, vi merkes allerede ved fødselen. Det aller første som blir spurt etter er kjønnet, og vi får enten et rosa teppe eller et blått.
Etter det blir vi behandlet helt forskjellig. Men hva hadde skjedd hvis barnet ble pakket inn i et gult eller grønt teppe?
Hvordan hadde barnet blitt behandet da?
Når det kommer til armbåndene så får vi vel vanlige plastikkarmbåd.
Jeg har sett mange typer armbånd i forbindelse med leire og festivaler. Noen er bare vanlige plastarmbånd med sånn plastknapp, andre er vevd (feks større festivaler). På speiderleiren jeg nevnte fikk vi sykehusarmbånd i forskjellige farger (etter hvilken underleir vil tilhørte), og måtte legge i en papirlapp med identiteten vår på, samt hva vi gjorde der (speider, leder, IST, administrativ osv).
Du nevner noe jeg synes er interessant. Rosa = jentebaby, Lyseblått = guttebaby. Selv kledde mamma og pappa meg i blått da jeg var lita. Søstra mi i gult, og broren min i brunt. De kledde oss etter hvilke farger vi passa, og hvilken personlighet vi hadde. Det så mye bedre ut en stereotypien (så og si ingen baby kler gyserosa..)
Ja fy... jeg tror jeg ble kledd i mye hvitt og blått. Marineaktige og praktiske. Tror det var mindre vanlig med masse rosa når vi var små egentlig.
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