My non- binary diary

Stereotyping.

Today I would like to talk about labels and stereo types. We have all been labeled and stereotyped for those labels wether we know it or not. Every label has a stereo type to go along with it. For example all gay guys are feminine, or all lesbians are tough.
These are generalizations made by everyone, wether your straight or not you have stereotyped people.
Stereo types are usually based on how someone looks, or who they hang out with, or how they identify themselves. Like if you dress up in "nice" clothes everyday then people might start labeling you as gay. If you hang out with the football team or are on any major sports team people will say that your "just a jock". You end up becoming a label rather then a unique person. I don't like this.
I want to correct these false stereotypes that people set for me. I'm labeled as a lesbian female to my school world and just female to the rest of the world. As a lesbian there are stereotypes like tough, butch, drives a u-haul. As female there are many gender norms that I am supposed to follow, like wear dresses when going out, wearing make-up, having long hair. (I'm not saying that everyone follows these stereotypically things, but these are the things that have been personally imposed on me.)
If you read my first chapter, or the title of this book then you know that neither of these labels are true for me, but these stereotypes are how the world labels me or sees me. I wrote this because of something that happened a few days ago.
My friend and her dads had just come out of the movie theater and she was worried about being in downtown. Her dad preceded to tell her it was okay because her friend (me)  was a lesbian and all lesbians are tough. Now I really didn't expect to hear that coming from him, because he is a fairly feminine gay guy. I thought he would care more about stereotypes, and maybe he didn't even realize what he was saying, was stereotyping me. I didn't say anything then.
I decided that I needed to speak up for myself, and out against labels and stereotyping. It isn't hard to find someone who has been stereotyped or labeled hurtfully.
Thanks for reading.
-Dawn