Typecasting
Getting caught up in labels and how to break the cycle
This is the weekly paid issue of (In)Decent Taste.
Why You're More Than a Type
Life is not absolute. Yet everywhere we turn, we're encouraged to define ourselves in absolutes, to squeeze the magnificent complexity of human existence into neat, predictable categories. I’ve been noticing it with increased frequency.
Perhaps my effort to lean into my curiosity has helped me take note of these moments. Or maybe I’m playing the contrarian. So I am here to say style is not as rigidly binary as we try to make it. For that matter, neither is almost anything else. Please bear with me on this psycho-philosophical exploration of style habits.
You are not your astrological sign. You are not your psychology textbook personality type, not absolutely. Your life is more diverse than any horoscope, which is precisely why they're written with vague, broad appeal that could apply to anyone on any given day.
We are not our Enneagram type to a T. We are not pure stoics or existentialists, unwavering in our philosophical commitments. We are not the sum of our Myers-Briggs letters or our Big Five scores.
The Natural Human Impulse to Categorize
There's something deeply understandable about our love of categories. This desire to define and explain is fundamentally human. We do it with everything in our lives. Our neocortex is on fire, constantly working to rationalize and organize everything into these predefined boxes.
We categorize music into genres, food into cuisines, movies into types. We sort our clothes, our books, our thoughts. It's how we make sense of an overwhelming world. Categories offer clarity in chaos, a sense of understanding ourselves and others.
But here's the beautiful complexity: rarely is someone one personal style. A preppy. A mod. A goth. Most of us are a delightful mix, borrowing from different aesthetics depending on our mood, the occasion, or simply what speaks to us that day.
Think about your own closet. You might have a crisp blazer hanging next to a vintage band tee, designer jeans paired with thrifted boots, a bohemian dress alongside tailored trousers. Each piece represents a different facet of who you are, a different energy you want to embody on any given day.
The same is true for our personalities. "I'm an introvert," we say, as if that explains everything about how we navigate social situations. "I'm a Type A personality," we declare, wearing it like a badge that validates our approach to life.
But here's the uncomfortable truth: we humans simply do not react perfectly or predictably. We are not machines running on consistent code. We are living, breathing contradictions. We are capable of being both logical and emotional, both confident and insecure, both generous and selfish, sometimes within the span of a single conversation.
When Categories Become Limits
When we over-identify with our "type," we can unintentionally limit ourselves. We begin to live our lives as prescribed by the diagnosis we've accepted, rather than as the full spectrum of who we actually are.
In style, this shows up as powerful self-censorship. Working in retail, I’ve seen it countless times. “I wish I could wear that color.” “I don’t think I could pull that off.” From time to time, it makes me want to shout an Aaron Sorkin-esque manifesto to inspire them to be free from their invisible cerebral bondage. It usually comes out as, “you could always try it on…what’s the worst that could happen?”
These labels can become invisible boundaries that keep us from exploring the full territory of our humanity.