Teen Identity Politics: Why We Should Hope For More

That's me in high school. And yes, I was a nerd. I still am, to some extent. When I first saw the movie Revenge Of The Nerds, I definitely identified with Gilbert and Louis more than I did with the picture-perfect cheerleaders, I always got good grades, teachers liked me, I was socially awkward and I never got into trouble. I did not seek out this definition of myself; that's just how it was. Sure, I had other interests besides school. And they didn't necessarily align with anyone else's. Firmly entrenched under the nerd umbrella, I still retained my individuality. Even now, my hobbies and opinions are based on Tanya the Individual, not Tanya the Nerd. 

I watch various videos on YouTube that feature different social groups of young people, and it concerns me. It seems many of today's youth are more interested in placing a label on themselves, and calling it a day. I have not seen many teens depicted who seek to step outside of these labels and find who they really are - not who it's trendy to be. I was a nerd and very straight-laced, but I have stepped outside that definition in many ways. Being a nerd does not really allow for much creativity if that is the singular definition I have for myself, but it isn't. I am a mother, a wife, an artist, a poet, a singer, and so on. I always tried not to limit myself in any way. But maybe I might have if I was given a label saying "This is who you are. This is what makes you a unique individual, just like these other 20 people." 

Labels pigeon-hole people. Not only negative labels, but also the positive identity markers that individuals assign themselves. The labels do not allow for the individual to grow, to become something more than that label. And that is where I think today's youth are at a disadvantage. They are told that labelling themselves is liberating, when really it becomes a crutch and a prison for them. High school was not exactly a paradise for me, but I am glad I was a nerd and not a non-binary otherkin who watches My Little Pony on the weekends. As a teen, we used to pity people who reached their peak in high school. When did it become a life's ambition?