Some of Our Parts

An investigation of the labels we give ourselves and how they affect our lives and our sense of selfIn a culture of personal branding and the elevation of wellness jargon as a substitute for meaning, we seek out individuality in tribes. We want to be different, but we don''t want to do it alone. This book will open with an exploration of the role of labels in our culture - the stigma they bring and the doors they open. The way that they can both lubricate our understanding and confine our potential. Comfort and unsettle us. Laura Kennedy explores her own changing relationship with labels - the ones applied from childhood through to adulthood and how they shaped her thinking and experience; how and whether we choose to live outside the limitations of labels that help define our identity and our role in society. This book considers the fact that popular labels are not necessarily - as they can often be treated in popular discourse - a form of subversion, but in reality, a symptom of intellectual trends and social conformity.