If you identify as a particular type of person…

you become a narrower type of person.

Text-based art featuring the phrase “If you identify as a particular type of person you become a narrower type of person”.

I devised this phrase with contemporary identity politics in mind where in some spheres of life such as sexuality there are a myriad different identities to choose from. My thinking was that as soon as people adopt pre-set identities with which to label themselves they restrict and diminish themselves. Contemporary identities are often seen as being liberating, allowing people to at last proclaim who they really are, but in many ways they are also restricting, allowing people to only operate within the definitions of their identity labels.

The phenomenon doesn’t only apply to contemporary identity politics though: it’s a recurring feature in much of human social engagement. It’s particularly easy to see it in teenagers, who after all are young people who are often desperate to be seen in certain ways so that they can be part of a particular group, with clothes, hairstyles and music often being the signifiers of their chosen group. A teenager (or anyone else) doesn’t wear a particular item of clothing because of its innate aesthetic qualities but because it is the preferred clothing of their chosen group (Of course it’s arguable that some aesthetics are actually generated through this association). Within a group other styles of clothing, hairstyles and music are verboten, so as a result being a member of a group restricts the choices of the member.