# What stereotypes have you found to not be true? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553 "2026-04-25T19:12:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/21 "2026-04-26T05:36:42Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not all Jews are observant or kosher I have a Jewish friend, Ma’or, who is a pretty good chef. He’s Israeli, served his time in the army, attends Shabbat, the works. But one christmas, he and another friend obtained a small pig (a suckling), took it to a remote place on the nearby mountain and shot it with what is no doubt an illegal gun. Then he brought it home, skinned and prepared it whole roasted, complete with apple in mouth. It was pretty good, but my friend did not eat a bite of it. He’s a good chef, so when I heard of this plan, I added two guineafowl, a small game bird from my region that is kosher so he could enjoy Christmas with the rest of us - mostly atheists. But friends are friends. Even where awkward cultural difficulties get in the way, there is a way to make a plan, even if the situation is a little ludicrous… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/22 "2026-04-26T05:44:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not all Jews are observant or kosher, either. I have a Jewish friend who loves bacon. His wife doesn’t eat pork Having grown up Jewish in a mostly Jewish suburb where most of the Jews attended the town’s Reform temple, I never knew a single Jew who kept kosher except on Passover. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/23 "2026-04-26T08:06:18Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That women are bad drivers. Also Asians. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/24 "2026-04-26T08:17:49Z")
That Muslims who come to North America are here to convert us or kill us for being infidels. Pretty much every Muslim I’ve known has come here to Canada to get away from a country with an overbearing religion that demands women wear headscarves, and women are subservient to men, and certain foods are not allowed. As a result, I’ve known Muslims who have basically turned their backs on religion, drinking beer after our beer league softball games, enjoying ham and cheese sandwiches, and never praying to Allah, much less five times a day. And none has ever preached to me, nor threatened me with violence. They’ve always been perfectly nice people who don’t like talking religion when there are sports scores to discuss and tasty food to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/25 "2026-04-26T12:21:30Z")
I can think of 2: _Gay Men are effeminate_ I spent a number of years working in Fort Lauderdale, which has one of the larger gay populations in the country (a local neighborhood- Wilton Manors - is predominantly gay). As a consequence, I worked with, and befriended, a number of gay people. And while it is true that some gay men have a feminine affect, it is certainly not universal. There are plenty of gay men who give off a masculine vibe - they may like sports, or are sloppy, or otherwise act just as some “dude”. The same is true for women; there are lots of lesbians who you would only know are gay because they mention their wife or girlfriend. Feminine and masculine do not correlate exactly with sexual preference. _Women are too emotional to be effective managers_ This is an odd one, but something I’ve periodically heard. Yet, in my professional career, any time a boss has lost their shit, and screamed and yelled (or threw things), it was a man. Meanwhile, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a female supervisor cry about something that happened on the job. In my experience, men tend to be more emotional on the job, since their emotional outbursts are tolerated. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/26 "2026-04-26T13:04:20Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > _Women are too emotional to be effective managers_ > > This is an odd one, but something I’ve periodically heard. > > Yet, in my professional career, any time a boss has lost their shit, and screamed and yelled (or threw things), it was a man. Meanwhile, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a female supervisor cry about something that happened on the job. > > In my experience, men tend to be more emotional on the job, since their emotional outbursts are tolerated. A friend of mine insists that woemn are more emotional and sensitive than men. I suggested he go to a football game in Texas or Alabama, kneel for the national anthemn, and get back to me. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/27 "2026-04-26T18:20:20Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/28 "2026-04-26T18:32:44Z")
I’m getting the sense that my post bothers some? It’s really just that broad brushstrokes of all X are or are _not_ Y, are usually wrong, and that even _positive_ declarations of that sort are IMHO problematic. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/29 "2026-04-26T18:38:32Z")
Wilton Manors that jigged a memory. Anyone remember Jaco Pastorius? Well known Bassist fell on hard times, addiction etc was beaten ( succumbed to njuries) by a bouncer at a club in WM. Hadn’t thought about him in a long time. WM used to be a lot sketchier in the 70’s/80’s ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/30 "2026-04-27T03:41:45Z")
Among the dopiest are generational stereotypes - Gen X are lazy and just want to live off their parents, Boomers are selfish and use up all the resources, etc. etc. Nope, no individuals out there, everybody behaves according to their group stereotype. 🤔 > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > “nugget of truth,” > > But consider this: when I was a lot younger, there was a time when my coworkers asked me to spring for some liquor, and I obliged, and this prompted someone to note that, well, you know what they say about Jews having plenty of money to spend… > > Some time later I got asked to spring for some liquor, and didn’t oblige. This prompted someone to note that, well, you know what they say about Jews being tight with money… Jews are pushy, always trying to join in where they’re not wanted. Also very clannish, always keep to themselves. 😵‍💫🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/31 "2026-04-27T04:22:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But consider this: when I was a lot younger, there was a time when my coworkers asked me to spring for some liquor, and I obliged, and this prompted someone to note that, well, you know what they say about Jews having plenty of money to spend… > **[Are Jews rich?](https://unpacked.media/are-jews-rich/)** > > Are Jews rich? First off, if you’re here for crazy stuff like lizard people and the illuminati you’ve come to the wrong place. We’re not doing the whole > First off, let’s just check the numbers. For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll focus on American Jews. According to the 2020 Pew Research Center report on Jewish Americans the answer is…drumroll, please…that Jews are at least a little richer than average. Half of all Jews surveyed reported a six figure income, in comparison with a third of Americans overall who reported a similar income. And that disparity gets wider as you move up. A quarter of American Jews report family incomes over $200,000, a level that just 4% of Americans overall reach. I dont think you guys understand what a stereotype is, that or we are being obtuse to avoid appearing as socially inferior bigots. In social species like ours, being seen as a social defective outcast is an effective way to ruin your reputation, career, mating prospects, etc. the idea that ‘all X are Y’ is not true. But the stereotypes tend to come from ‘X are more likely to be Y’ can be true. Most sexual predators are men. Does that mean all men are sexual predators? No (I think something like ~2% of men commit over half the sex crimes because they are serial sex offenders). But if someone is a sexual predator, its probably a man and not a woman. Women’s rates of autoimmune disorders are 2-4x higher than men. It doesn’t mean all women have autoimmune disorders, but if someone has lupus, its about a 90% chance its a woman. There is also the fact that stereotypes are used to justify existing social hierarchies, so we can justify the mistreatment of marginalized groups. Which is also going to make an honest discussion difficult. Also the stereotype that cops love donuts supposedly started because back in the 1950s or so, cops who worked night shift found that places that sell donuts were about the only food service that was open in the middle of the night. These places liked having the cops around since it made them feel secure, so they offered free coffee and donuts to police. Positive feedback loop. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/32 "2026-04-27T05:27:33Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I’m getting the sense that my post bothers some? Considering that you are a physician and the women you meet professionally are going to work in the medical field and have more education than the median, its probably more accurate to say 20% of the blondes you meet are less intelligent than average. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/33 "2026-04-27T06:25:50Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Considering that you are a physician and the women you meet professionally are going to work in the medical field and have more education than the median, its probably more accurate to say 20% of the blondes you meet are less intelligent than average He never said the women he met were professionals in his field (pediatrics). They could have been mothers of his patients. > [@DSeid](#): > > Roughly half the blonde women I’ve met are below average intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/34 "2026-04-27T12:39:52Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Among the dopiest are generational stereotypes - Some of which are flat-out untrue for certain sub-generations, like “Millennials don’t remember a time before the Internet.” Leaving aside when exactly “before the Internet” was, just about anyone born from c. 1980 to 1985 has some memory of the pre-1993 period before the World Wide Web entered the public domain and web browsers, search engines, etc. were widely available. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/35 "2026-04-27T12:55:11Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Leaving aside when exactly “before the Internet” was, just about anyone born from c. 1980 to 1987 has some memory of the pre-1993 period before the World Wide Web entered the public domain. Of course, some Milennials have a memory of time before the internet,and many, if not most of them existed before home internet was common - but being alive in a certain time period, and having memories of that time period and having memories about a specific thing during that time period are all different things. I really doubt my children specifically remember a time before printed phone books even though they existed until my kids were 20 or so - because we had internet service before they would have needed to look up a phone number. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/36 "2026-04-27T13:43:53Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > , I can’t think of a single Jewish friend/relative/acquaintance of mine who ever expressed any interest in being a Hollywood producer Somewhat amusingly I have a friend with a Jewish sounding last name whose family are movie producers. I was somewhat surprised when he got engaged to a Jewish girl and said he was converting to Judaism, as I always assumed he was Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/37 "2026-04-27T14:28:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Jews are pushy, always trying to join in where they’re not wanted. > > Also very clannish, always keep to themselves. 😵‍💫🤪 The problem is that there are visible examples of virtually every mutually exclusive Jewish stereotype that people can hold to “confirm” the beliefs. Jews are rich capitalists and Jews are Communists. Well yes, there are prominent examples of each … so on. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I dont think you guys understand what a stereotype is, that or we are being obtuse to avoid appearing as socially inferior bigots. In social species like ours, being seen as a social defective outcast is an effective way to ruin your reputation, career, mating prospects, etc. > > the idea that ‘all X are Y’ is not true. But the stereotypes tend to come from ‘X are more likely to be Y’ can be true. > > Most sexual predators are men. Does that mean all men are sexual predators? A stereotype is _not_ just that some characteristic is statistically more likely in a subgroup than in the general population. Stereotyping men as sexual predators, to use your example, is not valid, even though sexual predators are statistically more likely male than female. Neither are stereotypes typically based on such greater than the general population statistical analyses. They are more commonly facilitated by infrequent exposure to the identity so prominent examples, including fictional, imaginary, ones, become placeholders for the group. Yes, often used to justify discrimination and laziness: easier to prejudge based on group membership than to judge as an individual. It doesn’t matter whether or not statistically Asian students _are_ over represented in advanced math classes, interacting with an Asian student with the bias that they likely are good at math is still an unhelpful stereotype. And let’s not even get into the stereotypes that we hold even though we explicitly deny them but that still impact how we act _These_ parts ISTM that some stereotypes seem to be socially acceptable though. But that’s another can of worms. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Considering that you are a physician and the women you meet professionally are going to work in the medical field and have more education than the median, its probably more accurate to say 20% of the blondes you meet are less intelligent than average Yeah as noted by @needscoffee , the majority of people I interact with each day are not my professional colleagues, one if whom does happen to a highly intelligent blonde woman: they are a wide swath of families of various ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and hair colors. Overall I strongly suspect a pretty normal distribution of intelligence. Including among blondes! ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/38 "2026-04-27T16:17:52Z")
@DSeid very clearly describes the distinctions that I spent most of my efforts as a middle school math teacher trying to convey - if the requirements for doing the job of a firefighter are X, and a higher proportion of males qualify, that tells you _nothing_ about whether the next female to walk in the door will qualify. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/39 "2026-04-27T16:50:12Z")
The absent minded professor, or more generally the professor/scientist/genius that is only good at one thing, and a complete failure at everything else. In my experience it is rather the opposite. Highly intelligent people usually have a wide variety of interests, and often are quite good at any pursuit they set their mind to. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553/40 "2026-04-27T17:28:46Z")
One that’s completely wrong is the stereotype of people from the Caribbean being laid back and chill. My wife’s family is from the Anglophone Carribean and almost\* every single one of her Caribbean friends and family are all completely driven type-As, with multiple jobs, businesses, and post graduate degrees in progress at the same time, and not chill at all. ‘\*’ - the complication is actually the stereotype is not really a “Carribean” stereotype it’s a Jamaican stereotype, it’s just the rest of the Anglophone Carribean isn’t really distinguished in popular culture. And actually the only Jamaican in her family, her cousins husband, does completely conform to the stereotype and is a completely chill laid back Rastafarian. Much to his driven type-A wife’s chagrin on occasion 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stereotypes-have-you-found-to-not-be-true/1029553.md?page=3)