It is sad to read about the people who have changed, but still have the stigma hanging over their head, like in ratbastid's account. Maybe, I have more people in my life that just have the mentality of "If they think that about me, it must be true" and continue to live up to the stigma. My dad is an over-eater. He lost the weight, but then put it back on because people still considered him an over-eater. It's a vicious cycle. This is why I think the capacity to fall back into the stigma is always present. Is it right? No, but it's the thought of 'once a *insert stigma here* always a *insert same stigma*'.
It makes me wonder if people have to want to do it for them and tell everyone else to piss off. In my family, they still think I'm S the Smoker even though I've been quit for almost 3 years. I still have the urge to light up sometimes though. I must admit that if they were cheaper, I just might have one every once in awhile. I'm also considered the nomad, family deserter, and the black sheep. I don't see that all of those as a negative thing though. Maybe some people don't see their stigmas as negatives as other people do. Most people are great at justifying their actions to make them 'correct'. My credit score also labels me irresponsible with finances although I can easily justify every bad mark on the report. It is a hard stigma to overcome, but after a few years of responsible actions that can be erased. If only personal stigmas were so easy to overcome.
Of course, Noodle's last paragraph says my point better than me.
