Tying Identity to Inconsequential Things

How often do you hear people say things like, "I'm a size 10?"

As if the size of clothing you wear is tied to who you are. Notice it's not, "I wear a size 10," or "Size ten fits me." "I am a size 10."

You are?

Why do you reduce yourself to a size, an arbitrary number assigned to women's clothing?

It's not that big a deal, right. It's just another little thing that people tend to do that... I don't know, it bothers me somehow.

You are a lot of things. You could be a student, an environmentalist, a parent, a vegetarian, a worker, a model, a sex addict--you could be a lot of things that actually say something about who you are as a person. Who you are that others see in you and you see in yourself.

So why are you also a number that says nothing except what number you have to look for on the tag when you go shopping for clothes?

A lot of people, it seems, tie self-worth and identity to relatively shallow things. I can understand why--it's easy to look around and see lots of people who "look better" (i.e., are smaller) than you. Saying you ARE a size kind of accepts this in your mind.

This is so touchy-feely for my rants. But, dammit, it is common. I get excited if I can fit into a smaller size, too, but I'd like to think it's because that means I've been acting healthier. It's a confusing mess, this maze of self-worth, and you could say many things are attributable to both good and bad causes. You can justify it, too. It just sickens me how such a little thing can collapse the train of logic into one stupid reason to feel bad about yourself.