a lot of people have been talking about stereotypes and stuff lately, on here and everywhere really.

so what kinds of stereotypes have you heard of and do you 'believe in them'? what i mean is, do you use stereotypes on yourself and/or others?


sorry if there's another thread like this, i didn't see one...


the stereotypes i know of are these:
1. Goth
2. Prep
3. Emo
4. Skater
5. Punk
6. Platinum

and thats it for the ones i know of...

but i mean, most people who say they are against stereotypes use it anyway, i know plenty of people that do. sometimes i do it too. it's like an automatic thing.

what do you think?

Hmmm...I think this topic is important enough to talk about. I mean, even in the HP books there are types of stereotypes. You are all welcome to disagree with a stereotype. You are not allowed to bash a group of people in a mean way. If you have an opinion, back it up with logical reasons. Don't just say, "I hate them (insert sterotype group here)! They are stupid!' Yeah... That'll get you into heaps of trouble. Keep it nice please. You can discuss this like adults, right?


Remember, loads of people read these boards. We do not want to offnd people for no reason, ok? Play nice.

I think that there are two kinds of stereotypes; negative ones and neutral ones. It's hard to explain because I'm thinking about racial stereotypes rather than um . . . I guess you could call the 'cultural' stereotypes.

Okay so for example a negative stereotype would be if you ignored a goth person's opinions because you think they worshipped the devil and therefore have nothing good to say.

A neutral stereotype would be if you somehow got Weezer tickets (a band I consider to be Emo) and didn't want them. So you went up to the kid in your class who wears tight jeans and has his hair in his face and offered them to him. I mean on one hand you're assuming that just because of the way he dresses he's 'emo' and he would obviously like the Weezer tickets. But on the other hand let's say he is emo and he does like Weezer and he wanted tickets but they were sold out.

Wether you think someone fits into a certain steriotype can also depend on your stereotype. I find i think an averageperson is a chav coz im a posh private school boy ad dont think of my mates as posh whereas most people would.

I've never even heard of any of the social stereotypes that RG's Babe mentioned, so I guess it's fair to say that I don't strongly believe in them, or at least in the necessity to "classify" people. I suppose everyone stereotypes subconsciously... I mean, when I meet someone for the first time, the first thing I do is sort them into a Hogwarts house (wow, that sounds even lamer when you type it up than when you say it aloud) -- but at any rate, already I'm casting judgment, deciding whether the person's smart or brave or whatever. I think humans inherently like to organize things, so it's only natural to assign a couple of adjectives to someone or to compare them to other people you know better when you first meet them. Obviously it's best if you're an open-minded enough individual to revise your first impressions and disassociate the stereotypes later on in the relationship. I'm only addressing social/behavioral stereotypes here, though -- racial and ethnic stereotypes are utterly ridiculous and more often than not patently false.

In my experience, I see a lot of cultural and racial stereotypes, like that all americans are fat and lazy, but that isnt necessairily true. America is just like anywhere else, there can be obese people, but not all are. If you think about it, America has the largest number of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, where you are super thin.

many people also tease me because I am both Mexican and Italian, and everyone assumes that I only like to eat spaghetti, lasagna, and mannecotti, or tacos and horchatas. I hate it when people make fun of my accent too. Its not like I cant tell when you have a fake accent. A lot of my friends who were caucasian when I was little always used to pretend they were speaking spanish to me, and they would be speaking gibberish, and i found it offensive at a VERY young age, it being rude and politically incorrect. Same goes with people pretending to speak Italian. I cant speak it too well, but I can tell whether it's actually Italian or not. Once, in 5th grade, this kid kept calling me Luigi, and asked me where my brother Mario was, and it was so rude.

I Think there can also be a mixture of stereotypes, especially in today's society. For example alot of the lines are being crossed. Right now it's mostly prep and emo. I went to the FAll Out Boy concert last night and most of the people there were wearing Hollster polos with popped colars. Its just a matter of taste.

I Think that there is alot of racial stereotypes. I get it all the time being asian that i should be smart, good at math, and i work well with technology (im 2 for 3, i hate computers).

I think, overall, that you shouldn't assume anything about someone. Alot of times people just act a certain way because it's what they think people want to see. I went my whole high school being a preppy chick because that what guys like. I came to college and finally started to act like myself. I still dress preppy, but i guess i conform to more of the artistic/ emo vibe. Like noone would think i like a scremo band but i LOVE that kind of music.

Or someone who dresses in tight jeans and has pink hair may be a kelly clarkson fan or something. And its better not to assume anything that risk hurting someones feelings!

Mae!

Bleckh. Stereotypes.

From my own personal experiences, and times when I have witnessed others being made fun of, I think stereotypes should be completely done away with. I have seen it all -- race, gender, age, physical characteristics, disabilities, sexual orientation, religion, and everything else.

I always try to meet a new person freshly: I do not think of past experiences I have had with other people similar to them. I just think it is unfair. They deserve an equal opportunity as everybody else, no? For this reason, I have become very open-minded. I try my hardest not to judge people, but I have very judgmental friends. Some stuff that they say offends me -- or other people -- without them knowing. For example, I am 1/4 Spanish. I never told any of my friends before this year, but they would always talk about what a waste of time Spanish class was and would bring up common stereotypes of Spanish and hispanic people. It would offend me.

I am really big on political correctness. I am always correcting my friends and family when they say something that is politically incorrect. I have witnessed an experience where "proper" political correctness turned on a teacher of mine. My English teacher was having a conversation with a Jamaican girl in my class. Somehow the conversation led to it, but my teacher referred to her as an "African American." The girl gave her a face and said "I'm from Jamaica...NOT Africa." My teacher turned bright red and began the class ...




_daviD

What is a prep. It souds a it like what i would call a sloan. Which is what i classify myself as. A rich, slightly stuck up, kid, also supperficial.

here are two stereotypes that are common where i live:
1) blondes=dumb. i completely dissagree with this. one of the smartest people i know is blonde.
2) emo=wrist cutting. this is not true either. my best friend is what you call "emo" and he never cut his wrists.

i dont like stereotypes why cant people just be classified as people

sloppyjoe, a prep is exactly what you described.


as for the whole emo deal, everyone says emo means your "misunderstood" and you "cut your wrists" and junk, but that's not what emo is.

i'm emo and i'm not misunderstood all the time (sometimes i am though) and i definitely don't cut my wrists! its about being emotional to many things.

for example:

someone that is involved with Peta (the animal cruelty organization) might be "emo" about animals.

others might be "emo" about a movie that was really sad.

preps kind of rule my high school. it's the most annoying thing ever. no offense to anyone here but i tend to disagree, you could say, with most preppy teens.


as for the fall out boy thing. i don't know what happened to them! they used to be a good rock band and now they're selling t-shirts with stupid catchy sayings on it. riddiculous things, stereotypes, but we all deal with them.

Hmm stereotypes...well I think they are just ignorant.
I mean really! A human being has so many different dimensions to their personality, how can anyone especially one who doesn't even know the other, possibly give them a label and think it is even close to being true? I am big with names, I don't have many nick names my name fjkrs is sentimental in more than one way, it defines me closely as a person but in more ways than one. In fact when people ask me to do those survey things for them and they say what is a good nick name for me...I can never think of one name, I usually just say their birth name because there are so many different things to that person that I can't just call them 'princess' and feel satisfied.

Anyways back on topic, stereotypes are really based on apperances are they not? When you see a blonde girl with a pink shirt and a gucchi hand bag you think, ditz for blonde hair, or maybe prep for the pricey hand bag and pink shirt. But for all you know that person could be into anything! They might like dark poetry but adore the color pink, or maybe they wear their sisters jeans and so therefore they are emo, but maybe JUST maybe they get rashes from their own jeans!? Haha seriously though, most stereotypes come from apperances.
That is just silly, one of my dear friend's myspace quotes is Labels are for cans not people. And she is so right, most who use stereotypes think the color black is all there is to a person's personality, they think that just because this person's nails are black they are some sort of goth that worships the devil or wants to cut their wrists, when really maybe they just like the color.

I don't think you should define a person for what they look like or what colors make them happy and especially in their teen years when kids are still growing into the person they want to be.
Oi, stereotypes are so silly!

There's a lot of people at my school who are very stereotypical. It's pathetic and ridiculous.

All of you are probably gonna get mad, but I do kinda believe in the stereotypes, like Cheerleader=popular and meanish. At least, that's true in my school. Skaters=stupid. Yep, the skaters in my class are DUMB! Blondes=kinda stupid. We have this running gag about blondes in my homeroom. It's cool.

Anyways, I don't it into any stereotype really. I'm a bit of all of em...

Hope I did't offend anyone!
Reg

Ohhh stereotypes. I'd like to say that I don't subscribe to any of them, but that's probably not true. I think it all gets very complicated sometimes. First off, even if we think we don't judge, we do. All of us. Within a second of laying eyes on a person. We size people up for height and symmetry and what they're wearing and about a zillion other things and before we've spoken to them, we've already decided what we think of them. Of course, once we do speak to them, things can change, but that first impression will always be there and influence our opinions whether we like it or not.

I go to a school where diversity is a big deal. I don't consider myself to be against any group of people, but I often feel as though I've somehow messed up by being a straight, white, middle class person. It's not diverse enough. That probably sounds ridiculous, but you pretty much have a better chance at everything here if there is something "unusual" about you. It's rather annoying because it seems to me that it makes race and such into a bigger issue than it should be - doesn't putting so much emphasis on it (even if it's not in a negative way) make it seem like people aren't all just people?

Of course, racial stereotyping isn't all that's out there. A lot of people seem to have mentioned being emo, which makes me laugh because one of my best friends spends quite a bit of her time trying to explain that she's not emo because her glasses seem to make people think that she is. The Asian stereotype makes me laugh as well because quite a few of my friends are Asian and fit the smart, computer and math loving mold perfectly. They're also hilarious, wonderful people, though, and it's sad that there are people out there that would write them off as nerds and forget about them. Fortunately, the people who matter usually can look beyond these types of judgements and get to know the person despite whatever group they may seem to fit into.
I think that individual stereotypes can actually be more hurtful than these group ones, if that makes sense. For example, in high school i was labeled as "the heathen" because I was a less traditional Catholic than the rest of my school. Then, it's as though you don't fit into the stereotype that you should. Grr.

Hmm, that was quite a rant. I don't even know what I was trying to say anymore lol. I think I talk too much.

I like to think of myself as very unbiased and I thought most of the people I hung out with (do they still use the term "hang out"??) were the same. However, some years ago, I was performing in a production of "Fiddler on the Roof" and was told by the director that I would have to dye my waist-length hair before the show because "There's no such thing as a blonde Russian Jew." I can't believe he actually said that! I reminded him that I was Jewish and all four of my grandparents came here to America to escape from czarist Russia.

Needless to say, I did NOT dye my hair.

Lore

Speaking of stereotypes, I received an email and I thought I could contribute it to the conversation.

The email read:

I'm skinny, so I must be bulemic.
I'm emo, so I must cut my wrists.
I'm black, so I must be on welfare.
I'm Hispanic, so I must be dirty.
I'm Asian, so I must love math.
I'm Jewish, so I must be greedy.
I'm a lesbian, so I must live in San Francisco.
I'm Arab, so I must be a terrorist.
I'm a single mom, so I must be a very *friendly* person.
I'm old, so I probably cant drive.
I'm quiet so i must be a pregnant dog.
I'm overweight, so I most likely have a problem with self control.
I'm religious, so I must shove my beliefs down your throat.
I'm republican, so I must not care about poor people.
I'm democrat, so I must not believe in being responsible.
I'm from the south, so I must be white trash.
I take anti-deppressants, so I must be crazy.
I'm a man, so I only want to get into your pants.
I'm a woman, so I must think irrationally.
I'm Irish, so I must have a bad drinking problem.
I cry, so I must be suicidal.
I'm Indian, so I must own a 7-11.
I'm Native American, so I must dance around a fire screaming like a savage, or be apart of a gaming casino.
I dont live with my child, so I must be a dead beat dad.
I'm athletic, so I must be stupid.
I'm a prep, so I must eat and breathe Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister.
I'm a teenager, so I must drink and do drugs.
I drink so something must be wrong.
I'm a cheerleader, so I must be a sleeper.
I'm a punk, so I must do drugs.
I'm young, so I must be naive.
I'm rich, so I must be a snob.
I wear black, so I must be gothic.
I'm blonde so anything that comes out my mouth shouldn't matter cause im just a stupid ditz.
---------
Of course, that wasn't meant to offend anyone, but it was meant to show that stereotyping can be incorrect and wrong. No matter how hard we try, we ourselves fall victim to stereotyping, even if we don't know it. Stereotyping is a horrible thing, but unfortunately, it seems to be a growing thing in society today. Especially with the media shoving biased beliefs down our throats, forcing us to think a certain way.

I think that stereotypes are everywhere and that we probably encounter them everyday. Some terrible, and others just a little detail that's in the back of your head.
For me, stereotypes are simply an insult or bad name that is given to a huge group of people. They're stupid and they're often cruel, but they are still in our lives.

I'm from Canada so people make jokes where they put Eh? at the end of each sentence (haha, how clever...), I've met people who say that people from southern America are white trash republicans.

For the most part, I try to ignore stereotypes, and not associate myself with them. (I admit if I see someone goth I do tend to be a little bit nervous, but I'm working on it). I'm from a school which is praised for academics, so I'm always getting called a nerd and such, but really if they got to know me, they would know that I don't study every night and that I'm not a workaholic like they think.

I don't want people to think that I think less of them because of something they can't control, which I think is what stereotyping is in some way.

Ahhh... stereotypes... I really dislike them because I think they are small-minded and ignorant. I think most of you have expressed (in better words than I could come up with) why they are so harmful.
For me, stereotypes (especially negative ones) give people an "easy way out" of thinking they know about a person when they first meet them. Rather than actually talking to someone, getting to know them or whatever, you can just call upon a stereotype and then think you know everything about them... sad really.
I was reading the posts and one comment kinda upset me:
GinnyWinter wrote:

I personally take offense with that comment.
I myself am a skate-punk who happens to be pretty intelligent (hey, I know I'm not the brightest bulb - I have ADD/Dyslexia, but I'm not "DUMB"). I grew up speaking four languages in my household, love astronomy and math and was a pretty good student at university. Just because I happen to skate, play and love all ice hockey (does that make me a "jock"?), like punk music and dress like I do doesn't mean that I am "DUMB".
What you said is a good example of a "bad stereotype".
About emo, there is a link that I found to be informative and that explained it pretty well (for people who might'nt understand what the term means or for whom English slang isn't their primary language).
Anyway, I think that bad stereotypes say more about the person holding them than about the person who is being judged... but that's just my belief.

In the world today, there are a lot of stereotypes, but I dislike them. Someone might be a lot different that they seem. Fore example, though my school does have some strong stereotype issues, since we are strong there is a bit less. Some popular people do science olympiad and things like that, and many other things.

ireally don't like stereotypes, they can be really hurtful, like if someone meets me, the first impression is nerd- she must be boring and annoying. Well, I sure hope not! A lot of the time you have to get to know more untill you decide!

OMG. I didn't knew that people think Asians love math. I really hate math and I am on the edge of failing it. I only thought that people think the Chinese are uncivilized people and they spit and smoke and steal ( I had read something about it in my textbook, and they say that in the library in the univeresity of Columbia, only the Chinese magazine rack had the sign 'Do not take away' in Chinese.'and stuff?

gday!

i'm an australian and i'm not a crocodile hunter, i do like vegemite , i don't think the word 'bloody' is a swear word, i do say gday mate, i don't have a ute and i don't own a kangaroo!

i'm a kinda 'half' stereotype aussie

see ya

caity

Stereotypes. Why do we even bother labeling people? i mean you can't label people at first sight. i also know a girl who's asian and she doesn't like math and doesn't like computers. and i have this ex-friend who's blond and she's kind of smart really. and i have these friends who are blonds and they are smart and one is really good at writing

People should pretty much do away with labeling others. Sure it might be fun once in a while, but label a soup can okay?

I agree with you. I'm Hispanic, and i'm not what you would call 'dirty". I don't like stating people into groups, but as you said, this is the type of society that we live in. I think that we are all different in our own ways, and that the olny category that i fit in is myself. i like being myself, and i'm not preppy, emo, ounk, "dirty', nirddy, ect.. I'm myself, and so are everyone else. we are all our own person, and that is what makes the world.

i hate people who sterotype, yes i'll admit that i've done it before but it does happen occasionally on the spur of the moment but those people that consently do it and not think about what they are saying really bug me.
Example: you haven't got to be "emo" if you silt your wrists!
oh and the whole "muslim" fing - loads of people say they are all terrorists! so not true, i mean you see it all the time on the news; other muslims saying how the killings etc is just not the way of the muslim religion
and the whole sterotyping of teenagers these days is stupid! we are not all "hoddies" "yobs", "drug users" or bloody "binge drinkers"

you i could probably go on for longer but me hand hurts because i have been typing so fast in rage . . .

commenting on the list Titania... i know you don't agree with it, i am just going to say what i think about some of those sterotypes...

"I'm emo, so I must cut my wrists." - Oh my god!! i hate this!! please someone tell me the meanig of the word emo!! i know people who have cut themselves and they say that they are not emo and there are people i know that call themsleves emo that don't cut the writsts!! everyone is different and so it should not be that we define different "groups of people" as the same!

"I'm Arab, so I must be a terrorist." - I hate this one to as you see on the news...there are "Arab" people that okay are terrorist but there are loads of terrorists out there in society that are not "Arabs" and i know that there are alot of "Arabs" that do not agree with the acts of terrorism!

"I'm a single mom, so I must be a very *friendly* person." - mmmm! so not true! alot of single women don't want to get involved with men because they may have let them down, hence the fact they are single.

"I'm old, so I probably cant drive." - hey!! old people drive!! my nan drives!!

"I take anti-deppressants, so I must be crazy." - heck i believe that everyone is crazy!! no one has the right to single someone out and call them crazy!! to most people they think that people are crazy just because they are not like them....it is either; no one is crazy or everyone is crazy on their own way... then again... who can define the word crazy for me?? i bet we all have different ideas!

"I'm Irish, so I must have a bad drinking problem." - i have never got this! i mean come on!England proably drink more then the Irish!!

"I cry, so I must be suicidal." - doesn't everyone cry? so does this mean that if you cry at a movie you are likely to top yourself afterwards? hmmm! doesn't make sense does it??

"I'm a teenager, so I must drink and do drugs." - I am a teenager and i don't drink or do drugs. Fairly self explainatary!

"I wear black, so I must be gothic." - i wear black sometimes, my mom wears black sometimes, my mates do as well.. so let me guess we are all goths! i don't think so!!

"I'm blonde so anything that comes out my mouth shouldn't matter cause im just a stupid ditz." - my mate is blonde.... she can be at bit slow but so can my other mate who is a brunette... and my friend (the blonde one) is actually very smart!!

my opinions of course!

I love math! Well, used to untill the beginning of this year, but I'm not asian. That stereotype that you just described though is usually said for black people at least from where I'm from which I, as a black girl, find very insulting. They also say that we can't afford child support, live in the "ghetto", and are aways locked up in prison. Well considering that I'm here typing to you, I'm obviously not in prison. My house is fairly nice, so I don't believe this is the "ghetto" and my parents aren't divorced so child support isn't an issue. I'm just tired of stereo-types in general. The jokes are kind of funny, but when things get heated and out of control, they should never be brought up.

I'm Jewish, I'm not greedy, I'm a middle class American kid. Where I live Christianity is 99% dominant, possibly more. In my high school there aren't many hispanics, blacks, or any other minority group; so naturally I hear it all. I abselutly hate it, but the worst thing is all of these stereotyping would happen if the majority was Jewish, hispanic, or any other ethnic or religious group. That's the way it is, as much as I'd like it to change, but it isn't going to happen. If anyone has been wondering if I am also guilty of stereotyping, I am.

the whole Emo thing blowed over two years ago here in Missouri, (RITES OF SPRING!!!)
and now I'm known as a "Scene Kid." which sucks, as I don't tink im as stuck up as the Orange County HXC Stereotype. I looed the definiton up on Urbandictionary.com. and here's what its got to say(I think it was written by a chick):

Typical Scene Chick:
-Choppy short hair.
-Usually black however blonde and lots of 'strange' colors are used to make themselves look 'unique.
- rich 'vintage' clothes.
-Bandana in hair.
-Bows are popular
-Heavy make up, usually around the eyes, sparkles are quite common.
-lip ring, gauges, septum (nose) ring
-Tries to pull of Vintage look
-Usually really hot. But, we haven't seen them with out make up so this is questionable.
-Dates only scene boys.

Typical Scene Boy:
-skinny, medium/short height
-Long hair, straightened, kinda choppy everywhere.
-Usually, black or different colors such as orange, red, blue, purple ect.
- lip rings, gauges
-white studded belt on backwards
-Make up, usually centered around the eyes. Eye shadow, black usually pink or purple.
-Tight girl jeans, extremely tight band shirt or expensive jacket. Sometimes a too tight jacket.
- big white sunglasses
-Usually D**N sexy, however they do tend to be full of themselves and unfriendly to anyone they deem unworthy or not in the scene.
-Dates scene chicks. However may branch out to preps.

Both sexes:
-Myspace.
-Over 100 friends.
-Girl pants.
-Thinks they're not conformist.
-May or may not be straight edge
-Vegan
-claim to be poor, but many come from rich families and buy expensive clothes in OC and go to high-end Hardcore Shows (i.e, Norma Jean)

Scene kids usually go to local shows or starbucks have extremly tight groups. They may be there for the music but usually they are there for the social time, or for their own bands. Scene kids are usually very picky about who they talk to and associate with. If they deem you cool they may go up to you and talk to you and act as if they've known you for years.

(At a show)
(Group of scene kids)
(Unknown girl tries to approach)
(They take one look at her say hi and walk away quickly.)



Sadly for the most part, this is true, kids are so stuck up now days about music, that unless you know and have researed everything from B.B. King onwards, and/or know the latest tracks form The Number 12 Looks like you or some other Hardcore spazzcore whatever core band, you'll be rejected.

this means that I get seen as WORSE than a prep, even though I try my best to hang with everyone!!! its so hard.


-- Thomas

i totally agree with you Auror4Life. just because a few blondes arent all that smart, doent mean they all are.

also, everybody thinks that if you are an emo you slit your wrists and try to commit suicide which is a lot of rubbish. emo is short for emotional. just because your emotional doesnt mean your always sad, emotional covers other emotions apart from sad and depressed. never forget happiness and hope =]

Ok where I live at stereotypes are as common as food, and more so top people outside of my state than to those that live in it. Ok I live in Virginia which is a neighboring state to the south of west Virginia (yes they are 2 different States) ok here are some common stereotypes that we hear alot:

All women run around barefoot and pregnant (not true, we own shoes)
Indoor plumbing and electricity has not made it to this section of the U.S (not true, we are as advanced as other States)
If you are from West Virginia then everyone from that state must be related (wrong, we are all not related)
If you are from the South (below the Mason Dixon line) then you don't have a full set of teeth (again wrong, there are people here with some major need of denistry work but that is a small percentage)
If you are from the south you must be a hillbilly (not true again that is a very small percentage)

There are many more that I could write about, stereotypes about the South, but it would take up several pages worth. I hear most of these at least once a week and I'm not even originally from the south I'm from New England!

I really think stereotypes are stupid. They are only there so someone can have a category and feel like they actually belong somewhere and are seen a certain way, which is rather pathetic. I don't understand why people can't be themselves without getting labelled or trying to hide something there into so that they do get labelled a certain way.
Let's face it, there's a mistake in all stereotypes. For example the most stated one - 'blondes are dumb' well no, some blondes are infact very intelligent, you can get some very stupid redheads and brunettes out there too.
Unfortunately not everyone thinks like that and no matter what we do stereotypes are here to stay.

i've always been a target for stereotypes and i can't say that i haven't stereotyped others but i must say that it is hard for people to judge you without knowing you just cuz of the way you look! it's wrong! i have learned over the years and through soom really hard experiances that judging others is hurtfull to them and to youself.

i was always what you would call an outsider i mean i don't know how it happened cuz i'm pretty nice to everyone but i am a bit shy so people just started to ignore me at a very young age, so i started hiding in my books and well at that moment people started to notice me and started calling me names because of the way i look, i got insulted so much that i kinda just stopped talking to people and well i was an outsider
when i got to middle school things were not easier but i was starting to get along with others then the worst thing happened...
we moved so the stereotypes came back at this new school
people who actually got to know me said that the would have never thought i was the way i was i excelled in writing i was teased and insulted again... they used everything from freak to pig even marilin manson *spelling?* the marilin manson thing was because my eyes are two different colors so things got worse! i can honestly say that 8th grade was the worst for me people mostly who i had stereotyped "jocks" were horrible i got hit and called names! my friends would spend most of their time in detention with me cuz they would start fight the jerks who would call me names! i started becoming bitter and i started fighting back with pranks and jokes i used the best weapon i had... my brain!
but it didn't make me happy. a good friend told me that in order for me to be happy was to stop judging them cuz i was just as bad as them if i stereotyped
i moved to mexico with that idea in my mind i learned that by stereotyping people i was hurting myself also
now i try to give everyone a chance, i forgive easier, i try to be nice to everyone (though i never really got rid of the prankster in me) but if i don't want to be stereotyped then i can't stereotype others
i can't say that it's easy and that i'm perfect but it is better

(sorry if i bored you)

All stereotypes ever do is get one in trouble. Yes, we all stereotype, even if someone says that don't stereotype is like saying that they don't lie. It's a part of life, yet the key is realizing that as soon as you make a stereotype to reverse the instant images in your mind and erase them so you are open minded. If one is open minded they will think the stereotype, then they will realize that they shouldn't judge someone for how they look. Emo is actually emotional, so then would all of the emotional people be Emo's?? It's ridiculous, a jock is someone who plays sports, so what if an emotional person played sports?? I play with so much passion, with so much fire, that I'm emotional about the game. I don't cry during it, but I sure do care. Also, what if a 'dumb blonde' goes to Harvard? Are there no blondes at Harvard? Define a prep. Define a foolproof definition of any stereotype. There is none.

I don't believe any one person could actually be grouped into one group. It's impossible. So to summarize, anyone really saying they don't have any stereotypes are hypocritical. And this will be my last post on this topic since I never can find a topic again, I always lose them.

Steretypes? Guilty! Yeah I stereotype all the time, but not in a serious way, just jokes. It's too common around here that no matter where you go, someone is always pulling out a race card. I guess I am sort of a hipocrite when it comes to this issue because I have no problem telling the jokes as long as it has nothing to do with me. When someone says a black joke, I have no problem with that though I am black, but when they start talking about Africa, where I am originally from, I turn into the hulk. Some people are just so ignorant when it comes to foreign countries especially americans. Okay, sorry! again I'm sereotyping, but lets clear some things up. We do not live in huts, or chase tigers with spears. Not everyone walks around naked, and yes, I can speak english. Also, Canada is your next door neighbour, they have Mcdonalds and normal american stuff. And no, we do not live in igloos. I used to live in canada, and you just don't know how many people have asked me that question.

Oh yeah, and blondes are definately not dumb. One of the smartest people in my class is blonde and a cheerleader, so she's not a complete airhead. Not all jocks are dumb, though my school does not hold some of the brightest. I have a friend who is emo and I'm proud to say that she does not cut her wrists. We are both from the south, well living here, and the people can speak proper english, have a good set of teeth, and are not "hillbillies" nor "ghetto."

Wow, well that's all I have to say....

im asian.. enough said hahah....there are so many things that people love to pick on with asian people..stuff like:
short
bad at driving
good at math
horrible english
small eyes
cheap

the list can go on and on and on...depending on which kind of asian you are...im vietnamese so in my city most kids woulda think automatically once theymeet me that.."oh do your parents grow?" (marijuana)....i hate that..its annoying...not EVER nammer family grows marijuana to support themselves. im going tosay that my friends are asian..and they're awesome driver...we all SUCK horribly at math...i have HUGE eyes...i am short though..and DEFINIELTY...NOT..NOT CHEAP...AHHAAHA...some poeple just get it all wrong sometimes.

when i look in the mirror, i see me. i can't be stereotyped at all.

i bet when you look in the mirror, you see yourself as you--unique, unlike anybody else.

now think of everyone you know... your friends are all unique right.... ?

so isn't everyone??


-AME-

yeah true..but stereotypes are what people think of you..not what you think of yourself..yeah wehni look at the mirror i don't see derrogative things..but random people that don't know you will assume stuff...thats what sucks..that people HAVE to classify you sometimes.

Okay I am 13 and I think that sterotypes are stupid... but I know that they can't be stopped...
The adults in my town say...

"Oh all the teens care about is getting high..." We have had a lot of kids get suspended for having drugs in our locker but not all of us...

"All the teen girls are pregnant..." Ok... yes there have been four girls at our highschool and middleschool who have had babies... but not all of us...

"The teens are lazy... all they do is lay on the couch and sleep." There have been studies that show that teens need as much sleep as a newborn baby... we aren't lazy.

I am a member of F.C.C.L.A. (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) and its open to all students who take a home ec. class and basicly we help out in the community and we have changed a lot of peoples minds about teens... it really fun...
I really try not to stereotype people but sometimes I believe them when I know I shouldn't... I think that stereotyping is just an aggnorance of the human race...

I hate stereotypes.
I hate movies that make out there is popular girls, nerds and 'normal' girls. In real life it's a lot less black and white than that. I hate that people think all teenagers have sex and have boyfriends or should have boyfriends/girlfriends, and that we're all taking drugs and drinking and partying. I, for one, am not. Stereotypes annoy me to the max, and I wish people would just accept that EVERYONE is different and isn't just a stereotype

Well I'm from Oxford and we have certain stereotypes that the rest of England have about us, in particular, we have an accent which gets us labelled as "posh" or "rich". You've probably heard the accent but didn't know it was Oxfordshire-esque. A lot of famous people have the accent, people like:

- Emma Watson
- Hugh Grant
- Simon Cowell
- Keira Knightley, etc.

The majority of England speak like it but not as strong as in Oxfordshire, I wouldn't change it for any other but I don't like being labelled posh when I'm faaaaar from posh lol. I guess stereotypes are just apart of life.

In general though, and I'm talking about the wider picture with everything included, stereotypes don't create themselves. They usually have some merit.

Yeah i think stereotypes are a part of life and we'll always have to live with them.
My friend pointed this out the other day:
Ok so in a book or movie, they want to do a popular pretty girl, so immediatly everyone thinks blonde, then they say actually lets be different, so then the popular girl turns out to be a brunette or red head. So now, not only stereotypes are included, but now non-stereotypes turn out to be stereotypical because every tries to be different. DO you see what i'm saying?
So now, people like emos or goths, who were trying to be different and stand out, are not stereotypes because everyone tries to be like them.
Basically saying that everything has been stereotyped becuase everyone wants to be seperate and end up acting the same *shakes head in confusion*
.X.

sterotypes are lame, like they say 'you can't judge a book by its' cover'. mmm...well, when I tell people that my favourite colour is black, they associate that with being emo and gothic (although, i know they mean well, but still). I mean, srsly, I am not emo (quite the opposite, really). And...I have this really wierd friend, she's sri lankan, and every time she does something wrong, she'll be like 'its' cause i'm black'. and she says it almost once everyday. IT"S soooo annoying. i mean, whoever heard of being racist to youself???

(sorry, I know, bit off topic, there)

I have alot of friends who do that too. Even those who are caucasian say "it's cause I'm white" when a colored person refuses to tell them something or another. It's funny sometimes but other times just plain annoying.

Sadly, stereotypes will never truly leave us, and as you say, they are a part of life. There will always be those people who judge others by the way they look even without knowing them. However, I won't condemn them for it either because I admit I do the same thing, but I am able to see past first impressions, some don't.

stereotypes...i think everybody uses them, some without thinking. i think they are bad things, but they are part of society. i think it is hard to get over them and it probably most likely takes place in schools (obviously) but mainly in high school, i think

hogwarts has stereotypes too. luna lovegood and neville are "nerdy" but i dont think they are. i think they have a lot of thought, but i dont think everybody thinks like that.

As much as I hate stereotypical people, I must admit I often succumb to stereotyping others. I label people according to their looks I suppose, but in the opposite way many people seem to. As much as everyone appreciates good looking people, I am kind of drawn to unattractive people because I have this absurd notion they will be nicer. Stupid, I know, but it's the way I am. I am initially scared of good looking people, because I feel that they're better than me and will treat me that way, but generally once I get to know them they are so much more than just a 'good looking person'. I hate that appearance matters so much, because it holds people like me back, it makes me wary and it makes me feel uncomfortable. Yet I still let it matter. Why do I do that?

Because you're a normal person. I think everyone does that. everyone has the idea that good looking people aren't very nice and unattractive people are - that's how we end up with al the popular kids in films turning out to be horrid *cough mean girls cough* as an example!
Everything these day is stereotyped so really you just gotta ignore it all and keep your mind open!
.x.

Oh ya Mean Girls was on here last Saturday They are extremely stereotyped in that movie. Luckily in my school people are much more normal and everyone has a bit of everything in them; nerd, mean girl, athlete, artsy etc. I just hope I get past my stereotypicalness (is that a word?).