What are some things that used to be stigmas, but no longer are? Off the top of my head:
Homosexuality, bisexuality
Divorce
Sex before marriage
Children out of wedlock
Poverty (being on welfare)
Interracial dating/marriage
What else?
Cohabitation (unmarried couples living together)
Women working (especially married women with children)
Men not working, but staying home to take care of their kids while their wives are the breadwinner
Caveat: Although all the things mentioned in this thread are no longer the stigmas they once were, that’s not to say that they’re universally approved of even now.
smoking pot?
tattoos
piercings
Some people still might not be “fans,” but I don’t think there’s nearly as much of a stigma as there once was.
Honestly, what’s left that is a real stigma, the way it used to be?
I’ve got child sex offenders and then… what else?
All of the things in the OP will get you odd looks or unpleasant reactions from some people, but it just seems like modern culture has lost the knack for proper ostracism.
Sex with sheep?
The sinister - left-handers.
Cancer used to be a stigma, at least among some people who thought you could catch it.
When I was a health care worker, we had a patient with syphilis. NO ONE wanted to be assigned to her.
There are new stigmas, for things that used to be taken less seriously than they are today:
Spousal and child abuse
Drunk driving
Sex with underage but post-pubescent girls
Smoking cigarettes
None of those things used to be stigmas, they used to be stigmatized, or to carry stigmas (or stigmata), or have stigmas attached to them. A stigma is a mark or sign of disgrace, it is not the disgraceful behavior or situation itself.
Also, I am far from convinced that poverty and especially being on welfare does not still carrya strong stigma for many people.
Formerly stigmatized: NOT having colonies like the big countries.
Men wearing earrings.
I keep reading the title as 'Former stigmatas. I guess they’re like piercings, which will close up if you don’t use them.
Say, did you hear about the woman who spied on the Church? Stigmata Hari!
As I’m sure you realize, spousal and child abuse, and drunk driving are more stigmatized now than in the past. They used to much more tolerated by society. And smoking made you look cool!
Back in my day, you’d check to see which ear he was wearing it in to determine whether he was gay. Nowadays, it seems everyone just wears earrings in both ears.
All of these things still carry stigma. They just don’t carry as much of it, and it’s not as open.
To answer your question:
Being physically handicapped doesn’t carry as much stigma as it used to. Nor does having a mental illness.
Being single and childless, especially for women, is not as big of a deal as it once was.
Obesity is one thing I’m not sure about. We talk a good game about body acceptance and embracing the inside more than the outside. It used to be that only a minority of people dealt with weight issues, but now most people do. But on the other hand, every other article on the internet is about the horribleness of being fat and everyone’s constantly dieting. So I don’t know.
Snowboarding, unfortunately.
Being an atheist, Muslim, or fat come to mind. Being a man, in the eyes of many women; “you are a rapist or child molester until proven otherwise” is a common attitude.
bankruptcy
Seeing a psychologist/psychiatrist.
I’m sure he realizes that too, since he said (and you even quoted!):