On being quiet

I get told all the time how quiet I am.  By friends, family, colleagues, and it's been this way my entire life.  At 27 I definitely feel that I am more vocal than I was at say, 13, but generally speaking I truly am a quiet girl. 

I get annoyed at times by this generalization.  How is one supposed to respond to this accusation?  Because that is what I usually take it as....an accusation.  There is no question in the statement "You sure are quiet", and yet I always feel my accuser is looking for some kind of response, some kind of explanation, and to be honest I usually find this annoying.  As a kid I would usually just shrug my shoulders, blush, and maybe mutter some kind of rebuttal.  As an adult, I smile, nod, and usually say, "Yes I am."

Am I too sensitive about this?  It doesn't bother me that I am a quiet person but is it a problem to the people around me?  I guess I'm just not sure if I should be insulted by this typecasting or take it as just a spoken out loud observation of one of my character traits.  

This quietness has been a trait of mine since I was a kid.  Sure, I could be loud and outspoken with the right group of people, but for the most part I liked to observe, to keep to myself, or to only indulge ideas and confidences with individuals one-on-one.  I had no qualms about speaking in class but it wasn't something I felt compelled to do all the time.  I also had no fear of asking questions, but again I preferred the one-on-one setting as opposed to a large group.  

I have to wonder if my quiet nature is somehow tied in with reading and writing, two things I obviously love to do but that are both very solitary acts.  Very quiet acts.  I have always felt most confident about speaking and expressing my opinions after I have had time to think them through completely and internalize my thoughts.  I am a person who needs that time to process, to analyze, before making a definite conclusion.  And again I ask, is this a bad thing?  

Sometimes I think people assume that because of my quiet nature I must not have any thoughts, opinions, or ideas.  Maybe they assume that by calling me out on my quietness it will prompt me to open up the floodgates and release a torrent of words that otherwise would have been hidden for all eternity.  But when someone says to me "You're so quiet" it truly has the opposite effect.  In fact, it usually adds a degree of pressure to future interactions, and I feel as if I have to say something, anything, just to try and prove them wrong.  But does saying anything take the place of saying something substantial?  Is an obvious and lacking statement better than saying nothing at all?  I for one don't think so.  

I know I'm not the only one out there who has been given the quiet girl label.  And while I realize that some situations more or less require me to break out of my quiet shell, it doesn't mean that I have to be that way all the time.  I consider myself a thoughtful person, but not all of those internal thoughts need to be shared and spoken aloud.  I derive great pleasure from solitary activities such as my reading and writing, and both of these activities for me are at their most wonderful when they can be done in a calm, quiet environment. 

Calm.  Quiet.  Maybe in this case beauty is in the eye of the beholder.