Breaking through Stereotypes and Labeling

As a writer, I try to break through stereotypes and labels. I don't want to write about cookie cutter people because the world is filled with snowflakes of people. We're individuals. Sure, we might look for like minded people to play with, but life is so much more interesting when we step out of our comfort zones and get to know people from all walks of life. I don't lump people into a box and say that is who they are, I try to get to know them based on their character, their ideas, their passions.

That is how I've raised my daughter. Yesterday she came home with a taste of being labeled and she was angry. Very angry. She is a theater/drama student. She loves performing and has participated in many musicals, plays, Improvs and choir performances. Performing is as natural to her as writing is to me. She eats, lives, breathes theater and the arts. Her peers come from all walks of life and are also very talented individuals. Yet, the 2011 Yearbook treated them as a stereotypical bunch of shy, scared kids and they had to share a page with the choir kids.

Homecoming got 2 or 3 spreads. Sports? Don't get me started on the bias of PRO sports in this area. And the worst part? She felt like they were portrayed as geeks and losers, not winners. And my kid is no loser. She is in the top 50 of her 800 2012 class. She is not afraid to embrace the challenge and the thrill waiting for her after she graduates. She's is one of tomorrow's leaders. So are many of her peers.

I was offended. As was her father. The sports, homecoming, snow days received better attention. I thought long and hard about it, discussed the situation with my daughter, and finally decided to contact the yearbook teacher about this inadequate coverage. Below is an edited version of my letter.

September 28, 2011

Dear XX:

My daughter is a XX High School Theater Advanced Production student. She is part of an outstanding group of approximately 300 young people at XX High School who are as dedicated to honing their craft on the stage as a football player is dedicated to winning the Homecoming game. However, unlike an athlete at XX HS, her theater and choir groups were given very little space in the 2011 Yearbook.

This lack of attention disappointed us, but we were more offended by the journalist’s portrayal of this diverse, multi-talented squad of actors and singers. She relied on stereotypes to describe the group by using words like “shy, crawling out of their comfort zones, breaking out of their shells” with an emphasis on overcoming “stage fright.” She also didn’t go out of her own “comfort zone” to discover the wide variety of students involved in the technical aspects of theater or the top student acting body in Mr. XX's Advanced Theater Production class.

Ms. XX, as a theater parent I can assure that I haven’t met many shy, retiring, scared kids who are only able to crawl out of their shells through theater arts. Just as a football player must overcome game day jitters, an actor or singer has to fight nerves to play a role on stage or sing a solo. I’m positive football players don’t want to be thought of as Jocks with no brains as is so often portrayed in the movies. I know my outgoing, bright and talented daughter doesn’t want to be labeled as a shy kid with theater as her only refuge.

Nor do her peers.

We’d like to believe the journalist did not intend to offend the theater/choir students with her portrayal. We know the Yearbook staff can do a better job for this diverse, talented class. In 2010, the choir and theater departments received individual spreads. In addition, the 2010 Yearbook did not use stereotypes to write the spreads. That journalist had an intimate understanding about the theater/choir programs because she participated in them.

Ms. XX, we sincerely hope that the 2012 Class of Theater and Choir students receive individual, honest, and fair spreads that showcase their diversity, talents and dedication to honing their craft and giving winning performances.

Have you ever had to break through a stereotype or a label? How did the label make you feel? What would you say to a person who labeled your child, your child's peers negatively?

Label Maker

There are many labels in my life. There are the clothing labels I have to read when I do the laundry. There are tags on new clothes with sizes (larger ones for me unfortunately) and prices. There are ingredient labels on food products and there are mailing labels. Labels are a part of life.

Labels help us identify the things we are looking at and make decisions about them. To buy or not to buy? To try on or not to try on? To eat or not to eat? And to know or not to know?

To know or not to know? That is my question as a consumer and as a writer. I label people. A lot. I label situations. A lot. I use labels as place markers when I write. I use them to remember situations I've encountered. And I'm not the only one. Most commercial writers use labels. We have to use them to create character templates, log lines and more. We use them to sell our story ideas to potential agents and editors. Labels are a big part of our lives.

Writers aren't the only label makers. Imagine going to the movie theater without reading a blurb about the movie? That blurb is a high concept sentence or two, usually around 25 words, that labels the movie. It gives the potential viewer information about the movie so the viewer can make a decision about whether or not to go to the movie. Newsmakers use labels all the time. Though I can't speak for other countries in the world, I know that the USA newscasters use labels to describe all the major events occurring in our world. Labels like STORM OF THE CENTURY to describe weather events and more. I've watched non-writers in my country, can't speak for other countries, who called the snowfall in Virginia and NYC Winterpaloosa.

So is labeling a result of one's nationality or is it a result of wanting to narrow down one's world into easy, descriptive elements so understanding comes quickly? Who knows? I don't have the answer.

But I do confess this: I am a Labeling Junkie. I think I always have viewed the world in sound bites and quickly labeled events and people in order to file them in my creative brain for future use. Now that I am a writer I use labels to create quick descriptors for my stories, characters and settings. First I figure out my character archetypes. THE COMPLETE WRITER'S GUIDE TO HEROES AND HEROINES: SIXTEEN MASTER ARCHETYPES by Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever and Sue Viders is my reference for this process. Yes, there are more than 16 ways to look at people, but as a writer it is easier to formulate my story and unravel my people if I stick to the basic types because they resonate with all people. Successful screenwriters and writers knowand use this fact every day.

Remember Gilligan's Island? The Professor, Mary Ann, Gilligan and the Skipper, too? They were basic archetypes: professor, chief, spunky kids. Ginger? A seductress. I can rattle off dozens of examples: Angel, Seinfeld, Friends to name a few. The characters had specific roles to fill and the writers knew what qualities each character had to have to fulfill each roll. A Professor archetype is going to respond to problem differently than a Chief. They might both lead, but each will bring their specific way of looking at the world into their decision making process.

Cool right?

So yes, I confess. I am a people labeler. It comes naturally to me. I may even offend some with labels, but creating place markers is as ingrained in me as doing a high kick is to a Rockette. After all, I'm a writer. I think people who don't understand the real necessity we have as writers to create labels might be afraid that we're judgmental. But that's not true. At least not for me. How a person chooses to live, where, or why isn't my issue. It's not my place to make that kind of judgment. Lord, I don't do or live the way other people do, so why impose my decisions and conclusions on others?

I don't. I am just constantly observing the world and looking for interesting story ideas and fascinating characters to incorporate into my stories. Nothing is sacred. I might see a child tugging away from her mother and a story will come to mind. Is the mother a harried working mom pulled in too many directions, or a lonely stay at home mom who just moved and is looking for a new friend? What about that older man sitting at the mall watching the people stroll by him while he drinks his takeout coffee? Why is he alone? Is he a retired, bitter man with no family because he drove them away with nothing better to do, or is he a grandfather who's actively involved with his family who is taking a break on the bench while his wife of fifty years shops for new clothes?

Oh the possibilities! This is when my writing brain kicks into gear. My mind is always whirling and trying to figure out angles about people. My labeling habit spills into my day to day life as I talk to non-writing friends. I find a label, I use it as a place marker and, like a dog with a bone, I bury it in my mind knowing I might dig it up and use it one day in a story.

I also have to use labels to pitch my own work to agents and editors. I'll be doing that in about 10 days. I have a short blurb ready, a Goal Motivation Conflict pitch prepared, and a log line printed out onto labels which are pressed to the back of my business cards. I have a title--a new one--that labels my book for the editor in way to reflect the publishing line.  And I have a label for my writing style should anyone ask me.

I also have a personal label for myself: I am a fierce, motivated writer. What about you? How do you define yourself?

The Week Moves On

I managed to work over two hours on Saturday, then pushed over an hour on Monday. I skipped Sunday--one day off isn't awful. I am slogging ahead and seeing the book progress forward. This one hour a day goal is a good one because even if I want to skip it, I tell myself, "it's only an hour."Then I want to work. And it is amazing how sitting in front of the computer, working through the "gee I don't feel like it" feeling leads to getting words on the pages! Wahoo.

Today I have to battle the printer to make labels, run to the bank to deposit a check, go to the Post Office to buy stamps for the Christmas cards, and then do the Christmas Cards!

I got smart about the Christmas cards. Ordered them with my new address on-line. Now all I have to do is print labels, add a few checks, a few personal greetings, and off they go. Voila, more time to write!!

An hour is my goal today. I also want to read through my workshop lessons and make notes for the revision.