Stereotyping Shenanigans

Everyone, at one point in their lives, has been a victim of stereotyping. Everyone, at one point in their lives, has stereotyped. It happens all the time, and it's usually not accurate or fair. Here Sean and Sam talk about how others often view them.

Sean:

As a fair-skinned, redheaded Irishman and a babyface from the suburbs of Detroit, a lot of stereotypes and assumptions get thrown my way. I've grown up with my peers always being looked at by outsiders as 4-5 years younger than my group of friends. At 22, I'm always given a triple-take from my I.D. to my face when buying alcohol, whether it be at a liquor store or an Applebee's. And being from the Detroit area, I'm automatically stereotyped (in OKC, at least) to probably have been laid off in whatever I did before now. "Oh, you're from DETROIT?!" And apparently being an Irishman from Detroit also means I'm a drinker who avoids crime on a regular basis. I've actually been associated with that ... more than once.

Fraternities are easily the most judged and ripped on organization in the history of stereotypes. Although I never came off as a "frat boy," I was almost immediately labeled as one and looked down upon by people simply because I wrote Greek letters on my chest. It was as if no matter where I was, the label followed me around. When I mentioned it to a large group of people recently, eyebrows went up. I don't get it -- is it really that bad? And finally, the profession as a journalist. Many times I come across as someone who can tell a story to help a group or get the word out. But other times, I'm the paparazzi, a mosquito just buzzing around and annoying the public, avoiding swats from flyswatters. In court the other day, I approached a woman in a case wanting to help tell the whole truth so nothing was left out of the article. "No way, no comment, please leave," I was told. Stereotypes -- they're everywhere. There's no running. But if you can learn to forget about what other people think and live your own life, it'll never matter.

Sam:

Being a former environmental science major, a gal who doesn't own a hair brush, and a person who, from time to time, gets pretty deep about music-- I am constantly stereotyped as a stoner/hippy. Sure, you could call me a hippy (okay fine, you can definitely call me a hippy), but I am not part of the marijuana smoking crowd. I sometimes even find it offensive that because I love trees and don't wear 'cool' clothes, people automatically assume I smoke pot. It's funny how when people find out one thing about you, they typically make several other inferences.

Although, I believe stereotypes are true to a point. After all, they don't just appear out of thin air; there usually is some truth to them. For instance, some things you would assume about me are very correct; I shower less than most (that could just be a Mercy High School thing), and yeah, I do have at least 5 long flowy dresses and prayer flags hanging in my room. But did you know I sleep with a doll and that I am very skeptical of the whole Earth warming theory? I guess it all just proves you should never judge a book by its cover!