Unboxing the Human Boxes
By Jo Douglas
I am an INFJ, 4w3, and a Leo. According to Google, this means I embody some, if not all, of the following traits: empathetic, idealistic, creative, passionate, ambitious and dramatic. That’s just to name a few. On social media, memes and aesthetics fill feeds on each of these labels. Sometimes, I find myself relating and reposting. Others, I feel misrepresented by the poster, as if they knew me personally. They’re a funny thing like that, labels.
Categorization is such a human urge. We’ve got to give everything a name or a classification, and then sort it among the rest.. If something can’t neatly fit into these systems we’ve created, we panic. We fear it. And, more often than not, we end up creating a brand new grouping– just so that we may feel the taddest bit more comfortable.
We also tend to create little hiveminds. Whether we like to admit it or not, we’ve got a nasty case of mob mentality. It’s all throughout history, across continents, despite gender or ethnicity. People will find something in common and they will gather together, whether that be because of religion, social class, etc.. We delight in community, find pleasure in inclusion.
Cruelty is always a topic of discussion when it comes to humanity. It goes without saying that with this sense of inclusion we create amongst ourselves, we must then, too, bolster a sense of exclusion. Anyone who is othered is not worthy of the group, or is to be judged, or needs to be somehow swayed to become one of the pack. Us against them. Exclusion because of inclusion.
In the age of technology, community is simultaneously at our fingertips and oceans away. Maybe that’s why we created personality tests like the Myers Briggs and Enneagram. It allows us to effortlessly categorize ourselves, so we can group together as we see fit. When I share a post about my Myers Briggs type, I’m engaging with others like myself, and therein participating in the community. So, it makes us feel seen, to have these labels.
Of course, the exclusion also exists. People make judgements on others based on something as silly as their zodiac. I’ve seen people gatekeep personality types, as if someone falsely claiming it is sacrilege. The “right” tests are hotly debated, as well as the “best” or “worst” of each personality type or star sign. It's ridiculous. It’s human.
Personally, I try to just have fun with all of it. I enjoy finding myself in these labels, but I don’t take it too seriously. After all, last year I was a 4w5, and every Myers Briggs test gives me a different answer: ENFP, INFP, ENFJ. Although I am interested in zodiacs, I find my relationship to my own sign lacking. At the end of the day, it’s all flexible, and none of it really matters. It’s fun to have fun and to be seen by other people, even if you;re going to be judged.