Are "the Boxes" Necessary?

Male. Female. Gay. Straight. Mammal. Reptile. White. Black. These are the boxes we as humans have put ourselves into, and not only have we done this to ourselves, but we have done it to everything around us. We put whatever we can into a category in order to try and understand it, to tell it what it is, but have we gone too far? What are the implications of these boxes, and are they even a necessity?

"Categorical labeling is a tool that humans use to resolve the impossible complexity of the environments we grapple to perceive. Like so many human faculties, it's adaptive and miraculous, but it also contributes to some of the deepest problems that face our species." (Adam Atler, Psychology Today)

How many of us have filled out a form like this? Whether it be at the doctor's or school, I am guessing most, if not all of us, have come across a form like this at least one time or another. Let's start with whats missing from this form. How about the countless number of people left off of this list. How can we limit ourselves to so few boxes, when people come from all over the world, with a number of different races in which they can identify with? Why is it that we have a box marked just "white"? How is it that there is not anywhere for me to specify my origin, yet there are several boxes for Asians and Islanders? If we are going to have these boxes, let's include everyone. 

But do we need these boxes? What are they really telling us? Click here to read about race/ ethnicity collection. We are told we collect this data to give equal opportunity to all, but how is insuring one race gets a job over another equal? I have seen people of all races work hard, and others not work at all. These jobs need to be going to the most qualified candidates, and giving a job based on race is simply not equality. 

When filling out a questionnaire, I have only ever been given the options of man or woman. But look at all of these other options we have to select from. Look at how many people yet again are being left out when we ask simple, straight, men vs women. The number of people that exist in this world is over 7.125 billion. Isn't is possible that having only two options for sex is limiting ourselves?

Again, we need to ask ourselves the importance of these categories. Yes, you may identify with one or more of these groups, yet we need to know the importance of keeping records like this. This information is obviously helpful in many ways, as people do differ, and when going to a doctor they must know the anatomy of all bodies, but how does this play out in the real world? Other than the care received by individuals, the collection of the data has no other real purpose. But when we limit ourselves to two options, what bathroom do these others use in public? What changing rooms are they allowed in? These are actual problems people are faced with on a daily basis, all because we put ourselves into boxes that limit us. 

Penguins are an animal we all know and can't help but love. The way they waddle around is cute to watch, and the way they slide on their bellies is unmatched, but other than swimming, these are their only means of getting around. They cannot fly. Why is it then that we have classified them as aves, or birds? The definition of a bird is "a group of vertebrates that have wings, feathers, hollow bones and numerous other adaptations for aerial life". Penguins do not fit this description, they are an exception. 

A number of other animals fall into an exception of their own as well. To name a few, we have emus, ostriches, electric eels, an octopus, the platypus, and there are many others. And this is not limited to just our animal kingdom, but plants, too. Plants such as seaweed and bacteria do not fit their classification. So why do we have these cut and dry boxes, when we have so many exceptions to these "rules" we have applied to the world. It seems to me, no one fits in a box. 

Let's look at the role of gender. In this clip of Friends, Chandler is a man seen taking on the role of a woman. This is something that clearly disturbs his friends, and he sees as not being "normal". If we limit ourselves in gender to that of just male and female, Chandler is way out of his category in the way he is acting because it is "like a woman". But where did we get this concept that not being able to throw is considered feminine? The way he puts on chap stick is "too girly" for his friends to understand, and even something as simple as the way he wears his towels is considered unmasculine. I have known many women able to throw, and men who just do not have this skill. I know men that have worn towels on their heads, and I as a woman have never put on chap stick, or lipstick for that matter, in the way shown in this scene. By saying that Chandler is now a woman because of the things he does in this episode, we have said that all men can throw well, and that all women are helpless in a way. We put ourselves into a box of male or female, but how many of us are not the barbie girl to fit female, or the manly football player with no emotions to fit male? I am going to say almost everyone. We need to look at gender as a spectrum, because looking at it through the frame of boxes simply does not work. 

This video to me says it all. Why are we putting ourselves and everything around us into these small simple boxes, when there is so much outside of that box that people are. I have always been told to think outside the box, so why would I place myself inside of one? I do not fit in one box, nor do I fit inside 100 boxes. There are so many parts of me, and so many exceptions to these rules that have been applied to us, that there is no box that anyone could ever make that would describe me. So if no one fits into a box, can't we do away with them? Is there a need for these boxes? Many of you might say yes, how can we understand things without these boxes, but put me in a box and you still cannot understand who I am. You do not know where I have been, where I came from, and the experiences I have had. In this case, are your boxes really helping you, or limiting you?

When looking at all of the ways we as humans define ourselves with these boxes, we can see the lack of benefit that comes along with categorizing everyone and everything. By doing away with them, we can being to understand people on a different level other that rash judgements and mass groupings. While it is good to be proud of who we are and where we came from, we do not need to stuff ourselves or others into a box, a label, a category. If no one actually fits into a box, then to me the answer seems quite clear. Not only are these boxes hurtful, wrong, and simple minded, they are unnecessary. 

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