A category created for efficiency can become a life somebody must defend themselves against.

Categories are built to make handling many people possible. Then the category acquires consequences, and the person inside it spends years explaining that they are not quite what the label implies. A tool made for the convenience of the system becomes a description the individual has to argue with, in every room where the label arrives before they do.

When you use a category, keep it as a working shorthand rather than as a fact about someone. When one has been applied to you, it can help to state the specific thing that is true before the label does its work. Naming yourself first is often enough to keep the shorthand from hardening.