A run through being a "marked" teenager

At some point in our high-school lives', all of us have experienced a moment where we became "marked". Whether it was because of what we were wearing, or what we said, or how we acted;somebody made the conscious decision to mark us because of it. 

Until this week, I didn't really realize what marking was. I mean, I knew I was judgmental...but what highschooler isn't. After reading Tannen's piece, "There Is No Unmarked Woman", I had sudden realization: what I considered judging was really just marking. I would label people based on clothing, hairstyle, shoe choice, really anything. See the thing with judging and marking is that usually judging is linked to a negative connotation, when judging someone you usually are being negative about them. Marking is simply defined as "scrutinizing"(Tannen,389) someone, whether it is positive or negative.

"He isn't like the other Indians, he doesn't smell bad and he isn't gross!" is a perfect example of how I was marked. Yes...that really did happen. I was deemed worthy of being a cool kid because I didn't follow my apparent cultural norm. Apparently all Indians smell bad, all of them. Every. Single. One. (This isn't actually true, I can guarantee that only 3% of the Indian population at Troy High smells "funky") I was marked as being different, based on a physical trait, just like the women in Tannen's piece. Tannen "considered the clothes each women had worn"(Tannen,389) while those who marked me considered the way I smelled. Seriously, how did they get close enough to smell me, I don't like anyone enough to let them get that close what the heck. 

Anyways, being marked or marking someone doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Even handing out compliments can be considered marking someone. Sadly, most of the time it is meant in a condescending way but that's highschool. Much like I was marked as cool for not smelling, I was marked as insane for choosing to run for fun. However, being marked as insane for that reason seemed pretty exciting to me. I, for one, don't mind being labeled as crazy because I've met those who are just as crazy as me through running. A perfect example of how being marked isn't always a bad thing. So while judging is fun and makes you feel good about yourself, try marking someone in a positive way for once. You could actually end up finding those who relate to you.