Labels

“Ownership. I hate being owned.”

– Count Laszlo de Almásy [when asked what he hates most], The English Patient movie

As much as I would like to stay away from anything labeled or tagged, I can’t. Everywhere I go or anywhere I look, there is always a tag or a name that describes a declaration of ownership. It makes me wonder at times why we really have to put our name on something, even on the obvious things that belong to us. How many times have we seen Panda ballpoint pens or Mongol pencils with the owner’s name on it? I also know some people who put a label on almost everything they own, even pirated DVDs. It’s practically stolen, why put your name on it?

I perceive labeling as a self-esteem generator. For the entire world to see, it would mean that this thing is his or hers and it’s better than theirs or yours. Labels invite judgment. It also signifies that we have lost trust on people and we have to make sure that no one would steal our precious properties. Talk about insecurities. It’s the highest form of ‘pambabakod’. But regardless of that, it still gets stolen anyway.

But when it comes to relationship labels (or statuses), the only tolerable thing would be the declaration of the Married status. It’s self-explanatory. We don’t want to mess with married people. But then again, there are people who let out this status as an advantage to getting what they want, like the I’m-Married-Take-It-Or-Leave-it statement. A disclaimer. If you cross the ‘bakod’ of morality, they think it’s not their fault but yours. So let’s not go there.

As for the Single status, it's even more complicated. There are no Single statuses anymore, it’s either you’re Single-Single or Single-In A Relationship (which is really more complicated). If one is technically single, why would that person put a limit on that status? Again, it’s another way of declaring ownership. This time the ‘property’ volunteers to tag himself/herself as that, for the benefit of the owner. Lucky owners. I envy them.

As for me, I have to live with all these labels. I cannot escape the tags and the statuses. I am even a walking label myself. I am Cat and I want to be your new owner.

© 2008 Cat Ramos