the true nature of labels

Of late or maybe not only of late labels(in the broadest sense of the term, as in what you're trying to do to figure out what I mean by labels) have gotten a bit of a bad rap, and considering that when I talk to most people they react as though by applying labels some how defines what there applied to I can see why.  Though if you ask me the issue doesn't lie with the application of the label but the misconception that the label defines the item.  When this isn't the case a label is defined by a set of parameters and if an item meet these the label applies it doesn't it doesn't.  Then of course there are names which or labels defined by the item to which they are applied.  An' in nether of these cases dose the label define the item in fact it is the label being defined.