DistantNews
Support us
🇦🇷 Argentina /Crime & Justice

Paula Echeverría on Labels: “Identity Does Not Have to Be a Sentence”

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • Paula Echeverría says people build their identities from experiences, other people’s descriptions and memories, but those narratives can become restrictive when treated as permanent.
  • The article contrasts statements such as “I have asthma” with “I am asthmatic,” arguing that language can shape expectations and behavior.
  • Repeated labels from oneself or others may lead people to accept limitations associated with an illness, difficulty or personality trait.

“Identity does not have to be a sentence. It helps anchor us, but at the same time it can be a story under construction.” Paula Echeverría’s formulation captures the central idea of her discussion of labels and the way people describe themselves.

From childhood, people build a story about who they are from lived experience, comments from others and events that leave a mark. That story helps create continuity. It allows us to feel like the same person over time. But it can also become a cage when we stop seeing it as something that changes and begin treating it as a fixed definition.

Identity does not have to be a sentence. It helps anchor us, but at the same time it can be a story under construction.

· Paula EcheverríaHer central argument about treating identity as something flexible rather than a permanent definition.

The distinction can appear in ordinary phrases. Saying “I have asthma” describes something a person experiences. Saying “I am asthmatic” turns that condition into part of an identity. The same shift occurs between “I am going through a period of anxiety” and “I am anxious,” or between describing a current weight condition and defining oneself by it.

I have asthma.

· Not attributedAn example used to describe a condition without making it the whole of a person’s identity.

Language can influence expectations. Someone who thinks of themselves as sedentary may avoid exercise because they believe it is not for them. Someone who identifies as asthmatic may avoid physical activities while anticipating failure. When a person defines themselves through an illness or difficulty, they may begin to adopt the limitations they associate with that label.

Labels from other people can work in a similar way. A child repeatedly described as distracted or shy may eventually add that description to their own personal narrative. The label may not be entirely false, but repetition can turn it into an explanation of who the child believes they are. Echeverría will discuss how to move beyond limiting labels at the Bienestar Fest on October 24.

I am asthmatic.

· Not attributedAn example of language that turns a condition into an identity label.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog