Stupid stereotypes that have amazed me:
Black people are dirtier; you can tell because after a bath, they leave a darker ring around the tub. - um, maybe the ring is darker because the sloughed-off skin is darker.
Catholics are trying to take over America. -not having much luck that I can see.
Nuns are lesbians. -agreed, some nuns are lesbians, but not as many as you think guy.
People with graduate degrees are smart - some are very smart, many are average joes who can write a paper IMO.
If a woman is angry or upset, she must be on her menses -um, maybe she’s angry because you are acting like a dickhead.
Gay men are not good employees because they get upset too easily -this one came from a former boss. I was appalled and argued against the notion. I know that some of what I said stuck, but I doubt all of it did.
There seems to be a notion that all black people know each other.
Hillaroius example from Cheers…
Cliff invites a coworker to cheers for a beer to resolve their differences at work. They take a table and Cliff goes to the bar to get the drinks when all of a sudden you hear his coworker say "Now how the HELL would I know Cicely Tyson!" as Norrm quickly backs away.
Bluish shades of purple are traditional mourning colors in Spain (through the Catholic Church, in fact). Guess my mother and all those other people who wore their mourning with some purple in it, and all those priests with their purple vestments, are black. Just… an extremely pale shade of black.
There is a woman in the factory where I currently work which the guys in my team refer to as “the lesbian” because she doesn’t wear any makeup or jewelry; we’re consultants and I’m the only person in the team who ever had any interest in working in factories, and the only one who’s ever worked in factories (instead of sort of visiting them and taking over a meeting room). I’m guessing they think I’m a lesbian, too, as I don’t wear makeup (I do my nails but no makeup) and only wear jewelry once in a blue moon.
Thing is, that woman is 7 months pregnant, married to a man - and the lab tech :smack: She can’t wear makeup or jewelry at work for safety reasons!
I must admit…I don’t understand straight women who don’t spruce up. Most men are attracted to very feminine women. Unless you are purposely trying to avoid male attention, what’s the point of taking oneself off the radar?
Both my doc and I are white - she’s in her early 50’s, I have 10 years on her.
I like purple and have a couple of VERY purple shirts (they are good for getting noticed in the crowd at terminal gates, btw).
I wore to an appt - she came in as usual, scanning records and does the classic double-take after glancing up breifly.
“You’re wearing purple!”
“Yes, I do that from time to time”.
So either I have a whole lot of nail polish I need to get rid of, or I owe a lot of people who asked me if I had a form of albinoism an apology? :smack:
Even my bottled red hair is blue/red based, not orange/red. Hmm, maybe I should go talk to the family.
Some people do look good in orange. There was a season on TV where a pumpkin color and hunter green were being pushed. I known Judith Light wore it on Who’s the Boss, I think Blanche wore it on The Golden Girls.
To add to the silly stereotypes: girls who hang out at skating rinks are tramps. :rolleyes:
In the hippie town where I live, it’s far less common to see a woman with makeup, fashionable clothes, footwear with raised heels, dyed hair, and so on than in other cities where I’ve lived. Styles tend to be either crunchy, outdoorsy or plain, at least among townies. In online dating profiles, the REI/EMS/MEC look is in.
I have big curly hair and wear my part in a zig-zag so I don’t have a straight white line going down my scalp. I once had a hairstylist refuse to style it that way as “Only black people wear their hair like that.” Um?
In the neighborhood where I grew up, just like there were black churches and white churches, and black funeral homes and white funeral homes, there was the black men’s clothing store and the white men’s clothing store. Both are still in business.
I’m crunchy at heart, but I work in Washington, DC and I wear makeup, heels, & dresses. My purpose is not to attract men, and I prefer they either deal with me with professionalism at work or else leave me alone. It’s just a traditional Sicilian thing: look your best when you go out anywhere. I was brought up that way. It happens to coincide with what’s normal office wear in DC.
You make it sound like menswear is impoverished for color in a segment of the market. It bothers me that retail is so segregated still. As for me, I got a plum purple suit at Burlington Coat Factory, and a vast purple & violet wardrobe acquired from places like Target, Kohl’s, and Coldwater Creek—the last of which is admittedly about as white a place as you can find. So women’s wear is not affected.
I’m inclined to think a concept like only-black-people-like-purple is nothing but a bogus stereotype. But your example shows people who behave as if it’s real and even structure their economy that way, making it still have real effects.
