Ragne's Abyss

Franz Kafka once said, “I never wish to be easily defined.” Yet, on social media, it feels like the internet is obsessed with putting people into categories. I keep seeing labels like “clean girl,” “alpha male,” “type A man,” “downtown girl,” “performative male,” and a ton more. Some of these titles are incredibly mindless—like “Green Tea Girl.”

Putting people in categories is a way to try to understand a person without getting to know them. It’s easier to judge people and decide whether you want them around when you automatically place them in an “aesthetic. People wish to be different, but continue to create categories of people.

Maybe it’s also because people secretly don’t want to stand out and wish to have a community that they belong to. How can you be different in a group that fits your personality and style? There are so many groups now that, regardless of whether you are following them or not, you fit into one. Uniqueness no longer exists in the context of the internet.

We are in search of being labeled as one thing. This is why, on the internet, shallow and mundane things are being highlighted as categories. We’re taking basic concepts and turning them into something that differentiates us from other people. In reality, we’re placing ourselves into boxes that other people can put themselves in.

Now, we’re stuck as one thing, and it’s holding us back from being unique. Being different can single you out, but being different doesn’t make you unique. This concept has been more prominent in recent years due to social media and trends.

There used to be a time when being different made you unique. It was like spotting a unicorn in a field of horses. Now, it’s more like seeing a donkey in a field of horses. The difference is there, but there are over 50 million donkeys and 60 million horses; There’s nothing unique about it.

Returning to Franz Kafka’s quote, he, too, is placed into “aesthetic” categories. An author who wishes not be defined is being used to define others. The fact that I will be defined and categorized even when I don’t want to be is bewildering. Humans are too complex to be labeled as something as mindless as “horse girl”.

To place a person’s nuanced personality into a stereotype strips their individuality. We’re lessening ourselves by trying to make ourselves feel like we’re more and or important. Being differential shouldn’t be sought because it only leads to replication. Uniqueness stems from authenticity. How can we truly know if someone is being authentic if we don’t know them? So, I bring another question: In a society that categorizes people, can uniqueness be found?