Stereotypes, what is the most common misconception people have about you? Is it from the way you look, dress, sound, where you are from? The fact you have no god? Do you perhaps live up to the stereotype? What about you is so typical? Are you offended by or do you find humour in stereotyping?
There are so many. I like to keep my hair really short, so some people assume I'm a lesbian. I'm an atheist, so some people assume I'm a lesbian. I eschew girly stuff, like makeup, and dresses, so some people assume I'm a lesbian. I dress for function, not form, so some people assume I'm a lesbian. I'm not a lesbian, but I honestly don't care what most people think of me. I'm not here for anyone's approval. I usually laugh at them.
I think you're my spirit animal...
I have a young friend, very much the same, she has really short hair, is a scientist, often blows stuff up, like with explosives. She also spends a lot of time with our group of which 1/3 approx are gay. So people always assume she is gay as well.
I have short hair and tattoos so I get the lesbian thing a lot. What’s funny is that I have a friend who is a lesbian but people often don’t believe her. ????
Pretty much anyone (myself included) thinks about me is wrong. I have a horrible idea in the back of my mind that I deliberately deceive. I am 20 to 40 years older than the guys I supervise and probably 50 kilos heavier at least. Yet I am the fittest and certainly the healthiest. I readily tell people I never finished school, I rarely, almost never mention what I did in the corporate world, when asked I truthfully say that I am a gardener. I hate people, have little time for the human species, yet I like individual persons, I am harsh, cynical critical of everyone and everything but will help anyone who is willing to try for the better. I have so very little yet want for almost nothing, life was horrible for me for a very long time, but it is pretty good at the moment. My strategy in business is to under promise and over deliver, I tend to do that in day to day life as well. My kids seem to have inherited my attitude. At a wedding last year, a girl approached my son and asked him what he does. He told her he surfs, hangs with friends and is teaching himself guitar. So she says, oh so you are on the dole. He says, no I have a job, it is just not very important. An hour later she says, "You are much more intelligent than I thought", he replied, "so I am either really smart or look really stupid!" For me I always find it humorous, and I never get offended, especially when what people say are true.
Everyone knows slender, youthful-looking females are innocent, naive, vapid, chaste, approval-seeking, andoptimistic. There's no way they could be jaded and cynical, insightful, sexually liberal, pessimistic, and give zero figs what you think. And if they pretend to be, it's just because they're being difficult.
I'm used to it. Still don't like it.
Sometimes people are surprised by the fact that I'm an atheist, because I'm a "nice" guy, very polite (sometimes overly so, in my view), plus the fact that I have a few Christian or conservative friends. I think that they think that because the tend to accept the stereotype of associating Christianity with "goodness".
I used to get asked what kind of motorcycle I ride since I'm multi-tattooed. Apparently they believe females shouldn't be tattooed or pierced.
Like myself, my daughter has never been on a motor bike, yet she has heaps of tattoos.
Every time I left the house in my leather jacket, "where'd you park your bike?" I feel your pain.
I ride a Harley, and have no tattoos
they think I'm a gangster axe killer with no brain and no morals and a drug dealer and devil worshipper but I just don't know why.
With the dreads I am constantly asked if I can score people weed.
Apparently I'm intimidating as well(people tell me later that was one of their first impressions), maybe because of the broad shoulders, beard and focused look when listening.
I don't live up to either, though passive intimidation probably keeps me safe so I don't mind too much except women may also feel more un-safe around me beyond the fact that I am a man I am an intimidating man.
Humor in the weed assumption plus in high-school I rocked the 70's look too.
But now I'm one step below a corporate stooge, 7-3 job, great benefits, didn't have to cut my hair but the company is a world wide company mentioned in Forbes as #1 in it's field 31st in all corporations(I think, and that was maybe 2 years ago) but I have the ability to be a CEO of a company like this, maybe not the mental fortitude where stress is concerned(maybe).
Long story short, I half live up to the dreadlock hippie stereotype but then also probably meet the deviant Steve Jobs-esque stereotype as well...
awesome
I get mistaken for an Australian when I'm overseas
A common complaint from most of the South Africans I've met is a that people think they're from New Zealand, so you're not alone there!
That maybe intended as a compliment, but I say that with caution given how our Government acts on the international stage.
They need to start teaching accents in geography classes!
@Leutrelle I am well aware of that, there are hundreds in the tiny UK, some of them I love others I cannot understand. There are regions that have there own words also, I very much doubt you've ever knowingly seen a mallyshag or stopped for some nammet but I bet you have. I once saw Jerry Lee Lewis perform live, I could understand him sing, but had no Idea what he said when he spoke though! Same with Tom Jones to a degree
I thought it was "fish and chips eh buddy"?
@Leutrelle haha, there you go stereotyping me I'm 30 I just have a passion for music. There's a lot of beauty over here but if you want culture stay clear of London, it's been lost for decades now it's just a tourist trap. There are lots of quaint villages that are packed with history to explore and some of the stories the locals tell you won't find in the history books.
I dress "blue collar" because of the area I live in. People often think I'm a dumb red neck because of it.
I have two. First, I’m shamed for being fat which is not all my fault. I have depression and the meds to help with causes a major weight gain. My aunt told me I would never find anyone at this size. My bio dad told me as a kid that he couldn’t believe I had gained weight and what happened to me. Without the meds I have a normal slim body.
The thing is I’m intelligent, kind, and a tad bit geeky. But finding someone to look past all the weight and disability to get to the real me has been difficult.
I deserve love and a partner just like everyone else does. I just don’t measure up to today’s beauty trend and pressure to be seen as a hard worker. But both of those things are inside me. When I see a cute guy or a guy with a 6 pack I have to remind myself the face can easily become ugly if they’re unkind and have a lack of empathy. Beauty really is in the inside.
Shrugs. That’s been my experience anyway. Thanks for the great question.
I'll tell you this, there is more strength in a person with depression who gets out of bed one morning than there is in someone without depression working an entire week. What you said here took bravery. You should be celebrated for your openness it's people such as yourself breaking down the misconceptions and the stigma attached to mental health. someone worth your affection will look straight passed it, and see the brave human within. Don't ever give up, hold your head high and be proud.
when I am at work I have to be a hardass because people are always trying to get addictive drugs from me and don't realize I am offering them relief without the addiction potential. THere is always someone telling me after they meet me face to face in a nonclinical situation that I am not as bad as everyone says. I have mixed feelings about that
I get no pleasure out of stereo-typing people, At All.
It happens to me daily, being trans I have to deal with the usual bs from everyone.."oh I love Shemales, wanna fuck?" Or "I have Tranny friends" or" My friend has a Transgender son, do you know her" or "Some of my bestie are Trans"..I could go on and on..
As for seeing the humor in life, of course I see it and often laugh at myself. If you can't laugh at yourself, you might as well close the shop and roll over dead..
I have a Texas/Missouri (hillbilly) accent, plain spoken, tall and skinny, often wear 'country' style clothing (cowboy boots, western shirts). So people presume I'm some sort of right wing redneck. I get pretty annoyed at times with people that make those kind of presumptions.
Once at a fancy dinner one of the ladies at my table pointed out a fella across the room with a pony tail...she said to me...Bob, that guy has a pony tail too...do you know him? heh heh...like we pony tail sporters are all in a secret club or something. Oh, she's quite religious too...45 yrs. old and saving herself for marriage...never been kissed. I got a kick out of her comment.
I have resting bitch face so people assume I am in a bad mood or angry quite often.
What I have heard repeatedly over the years after people get to know me is that they thought I was one of those conservative judgmental prudish types. I've been told often that I intimidate people or that they are scared of me. Most of my supervisors fear me I'm told. Unapproachable is another word I've heard to describe me.
I dyed my hair lavender and bought funky glasses in hopes I would look a little less intimidating since I work with the public and realize that a customer shouldn't be apologizing for interrupting me but the company objected to the hair so I am back to where I started.
Unsure what I can do at this point since most of my appearance is dictated by my employer
In my little corner of the world I have shattered the stereotypes of what my Bible Belt co-workers thought about Atheists. I am viewed as one of the most trustworthy people around. At first they thought only Christians could be trusted.
Ha! Reminds me of this. A good friend of mine here is a baptist. After knowing me for about a year, her son, who was in high school, had to do a report and the topic he chose was how knowing an atheist (me) changed his views about atheists. I was tickled.
To tell the truth I waited for about a year after moving to Georgia to divulge my Atheism...I had heard stories. When I finally did no one believed me at first. One of my good friends looked lime I had punched him in the stomach and then avoided me for awhile.
People like to categorise us, by making us into what they consider a known quantity/entity.
I always tell me students and others that I am mean and horrible, but hey don't believe me for a while, come to think I am a nice guy then get all upset when they find out I am in fact mean and horrible.I like Gibran : I have found both freedom and safety in my madness; the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us.
Then add a little Shakespeare: That I essentially am not in madness. But mad in craft.
Contrary to what others may think, I do NOT play basketball!
Often people assume im a racist because Im a white guy with a bald head. You can't imagine how many times complete strangers have made racist comments about other people to me assuming I was as ignorant and complicit as they are. Ive been in public arguments for this reason.
My daughter says I look homeless cause I dress like a bum lol
I had a really cosy jacket I wore, I had it for years, yeah I looked homeless but I was warm. I finally threw it out when one day an old man gave me change for a cup of tea and offered me a bed for the night in his house.
Lol When my daughter was 5 she told me I looked "like you're from the home mom".
I live up to this stereotype: agnostic metalhead
Not this one: introvert..which is a common misdiagnosed asshole.