UNBOXED: a podcast about labels
In collaboration with the Filles d'Action Foundation, La Converse is proud to present the podcast UNBOXED. This project is led in English by four students Charlie, Maiya, Rena and Gheerti.
We are happy to present this beautiful project that asks many crucial questions about identity, stereotypes and relationships with the community. As part of a joint effort to serve English-speaking QTBIPOC women in Montreal, we worked with great people to ensure the success of the project. For everything related to sound recording, editing, and design, we worked with Emmanuelle from La Zone Podcast. Emmanuelle described the project as a “rewarding experience”, and we totally agree with it. It was also exciting for us at La Converse as we were able to make way for the stories of these bright and creative young minds. Speaking of brilliant minds, we warmly thank Allison from the Girls Action Foundation for finding the perfect candidates for such a project. Her effort and care were factors that contributed enormously to the success of the project.
Is a label something to adopt? Or something to ignore? Or even an empowerment tool?
As part of the first Converse School podcast project, we are happy to help Charlie, Maiya, Rena, and Gheerti structure their ideas and present them in an organized, concise, and intriguing way. The project starts by defining what a label is: “To attach a label is to put someone in a box, it is to categorize someone according to their own interpretations or prejudices” (Episode 1: Peeling Back the Label — Remove the label), and soon after, he developed what a label could be when it was self-assigned.
Taking an intersectional approach to exploring the idea of labelling, Charlie, Maiya, Rena, and Gheerti discuss and explore their own identities throughout the project by asking themselves compelling questions, such as: is a label something to adopt? Or something to ignore? Or even an empowerment tool? Over the course of both episodes, we learn that labels are endless and can be about anything — from race and gender to mental illness, physical ability, gender identity, nationality, and profession — and that they change.
But who are these remarkable young people and what labels do they use?!
Inspired by the first episode of the podcast (Peeling Back the Label — Remove the label), each stakeholder initially defined themselves differently, but there were also similarities, as most of them called themselves “neurodivergent.” Gheerti called herself “Tamil, autistic [with] the pronouns she/she”, Rena declared that her pronouns were “she” and called herself a “student”. Maiya said that he uses any pronoun and that he is “part of the LGBTQ community” and is “a student too.” Charlie, coming last, presented herself as “gender fluid,” using the pronouns “he, he, she, and purr,” in addition to defining herself as one. “Immigrant from the United States.”
Working with these young people has been extremely rewarding as we have been able to highlight topics that are particularly important and relevant in the public and private spheres. “Working with Charlie, Maiya, Rena, and Gheerti has been fun and inspiring. We really enjoyed listening to them and helping them express their concerns about today's society and transform them in the podcast. UNBOXED, an informed conversation about the labels that are attributed to us and the effects they have on us,” explains our editor-in-chief, Lela Savić.
We have learned to use some tools to better understand that labels are created consciously and unconsciously and assigned to different groups in our society that have both negative and positive connotations: “According to research, people who are labelled negatively are more likely to act deviant. Positive labeling acts as positive reinforcement, while negative labels act as negative reinforcement” (Episode 2: Labels Stick — The labels stick). In addition, we were able to connect to the podcast on a very introspective level, asking ourselves what labels we accept and defend or, on the contrary, reject, and how these labels represent us and our multifaceted identities. As Gheerti notes in Episode 1: Peeling Back the Label — Remove the label, “[r] representing comes with its share of pressure though... and I think that's where you [can] be kind of locked in; they think you're a representative of all Tamils and Tamils, and everyone is different.”
What part of UNBOXED Did you like it the most? What labels do you use to define yourself, if any? Listen to the podcast UNBOXED today to discover hidden gems, and let us know the favorite part of the project!