# What's the most ridiculous stereotype you've heard about your group? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286 "2006-08-18T22:53:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/41 "2006-08-19T04:25:54Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] I think it is. However, I can’t answer for **Kunilou**. 😉 [/QUOTE] Damn! :smack: Well, I can go into a long explanation of why I made such an apparently stupid mistake, but… Oh well, it was a GENUINELY stupid mistake. Kunilou, care to respond to my misdirected question? ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/42 "2006-08-19T04:39:59Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] Your post was about the misconception that single mothers “sponge” off society. Your s/n is “Spongemom”. I’m pretty sure that’s what Skald was referencing. [/QUOTE] :smack: I get it now. I need some sleep. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/43 "2006-08-19T04:43:37Z")
Got two, TWO :smack: 's in a row. 😃 Gotcha ya! ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/44 "2006-08-19T04:58:11Z")
[QUOTE=Indygrrl] CS, just being born with white skin gives you the advantage of not being discriminated against for not being white. That in and of itself is a huge, huge advantage. If you don’t understand that then go check the statistics—i.e. high school graduation, college admission, and juvenile detention and prison populations. Also look into the stats on inner city public schools and the demographics that go along with it. Your whiteness doesn’t make you smarter or better, but a lot of people still believe that it does. And whether or not that is accurate, it affects real life situations every minute of every day. [/QUOTE] Really? Then please explain why, when I was about 28 and had been laid off from a union job and tried to get on one of many fed and state “back to work” programs and not qualifying because I was not a minority. And yes, I was specifically asked that when I called, and told that when I showed up in person. Also, I live in Alaska where the people who are given the advantage merely for being born of a certain race are the native people, not whites. The federal government pays them a healthy amount each month. And that doesn’t count all the other bennies such as automatic scholarships and such. And I don’t believe that "not being discriminated against because you’re already white " gives an AUTOMATIC advantage in life. As in "well of course you’re doing well, you’re white. No, not only have I been through EXACTLY the same dirt poor existance as a child as many black folks have, I have worked my ASS off to get where I am. It has nothing to do with the color of my skin, and everything to do with 12 hour days and 2 or 3 jobs at a time if need be. PERIOD. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/45 "2006-08-19T05:08:01Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] [QUOTE=CanvasShoes] But that’s \*not \*what he was protesting. And then you went and changed the parameters to mean “springboard to wealth amd success”. Not fair. And of course white people, especially white men, certainly do have an advantage in this country. The “default” status just happens to be white. [/quote] Yes, SOME white people do. But that is the definition of a stereotype right? That is, that what is true for some, or many in a specific group is then somehow true of that whole group? Hence my examples of white men on Cops, or folks in Appalachia. Or even my own existance as a child. The stereotype is that "white = automatically ahead of the game (or advantaged, or whatever is acceptable to folks. My contention is that white does NOT always equal an automatic advantage. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/46 "2006-08-19T05:12:13Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] [QUOTE=CanvasShoes] Apparently your advantage was insufficient to springboard you up to READING COMPREHENSION. I omitted the “springboard…” stuff from my objection. Being white is an indisputable advantage in America. Since this thread doesn’t deserve to be moved to the Pit, I will refrain from expressing my opinion on the level of intelligence, or lack thereof, needed to believe otherwise. [/QUOTE] I just answered **Annaamike’s** similar question on this. The OP is asking about stereotypes. A stereotype assumes that a certain trait is true for ALL members of a given group. The assumption that white = automatic advantage is NOT in fact true for all whites. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/47 "2006-08-19T05:15:40Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] [QUOTE=CanvasShoes] Apparently your advantage was insufficient to springboard you up to READING COMPREHENSION. I omitted the “springboard…” stuff from my objection. [/quote] Oh and PS, it is YOU with a lack of Reading comprehension, since my orignal complaint was in fact : "The notion that white people have some **special magical path to wealth and success** , that we somehow start out in life with an advantage due merely to our being white. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/48 "2006-08-19T05:22:29Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] I once had a coworker repeatedly tease me about that old stereotype that Irish-Americans are controlling Hollywood … [/QUOTE] Ironically, _one_ Irish-American did exercise enormous control over Hollywood. Joe Breen, mastermind of the Production Code in the 1930s, worked hand in hand with Catholic groups who organized to boycott movie theaters. For 30 years, pretty much nothing that might offend a Catholic made it into an American movie. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/49 "2006-08-19T05:29:15Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] Jews are cheap [/QUOTE] No, Polaks are CHEAP while we Bohunks are FRUGAL (a real discussion between me and my wife) Actually, the “real” explanation for the “Jews are cheap” meme came to me when I worked for a German gent who was as cheap as hell. Since most goyim are familiar with German Jews i realized it was a general German trait, not a specific Jewish trai: Jews aren’t cheap; KRAUTS are! ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/50 "2006-08-19T05:48:16Z")
There are a lot of stereotypes about people from Mississippi or other southern states… pick a card, any card. IMHO the most ridiculous would be that we’re all Bush voting, pickup driving, twang drawling, n\*gger hating, stupid inbred hicks with four teeth. [QUOTE=supervenusfreak] The one big misconception is that because I am gay that I am an arbitor or deisgn and fashion. If I made you over, it might go something like [this](http://youtube.com/watch?v=vGuZjWiSO1k). [/QUOTE] Heh that was pretty funny… I loved the replacing of “product” with a pube coated bar of soap. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/51 "2006-08-19T06:08:04Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] No, Polaks are CHEAP while we Bohunks are FRUGAL (a real discussion between me and my wife) [/QUOTE] So what about Polak Jews? 'Cuz my dad’s one. Do they actually MAKE money when they buy things? 😛 I think this is a Jackie Mason joke that applies to the stereotypes of both of my “groups”: > [@Jackie Mason](#): > > I have a friend who is half Jewish and half Italian. If he can’t buy it wholesale, he steals it! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/52 "2006-08-19T06:22:16Z")
Lesbians hate men, want to kill me, will kick your knees in if you disagree with them, etc. Jews are greedy and only contribute to charities that help Jews. Writers are moody and likely to kill themselves. Women in the Pacific Northwest all wear Berkenstocks. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/53 "2006-08-19T06:29:29Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] Women in the Pacific Northwest all wear Berkenstocks. [/QUOTE] I hate Birkenstocks! Love high heels. I’ll even wear them in the dead of winter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/54 "2006-08-19T06:32:26Z")
[QUOTE=SnakesCatLady] That redheads have bad tempers. Why in the would would anyone say something that stupid…why I ought to… [/QUOTE] You forgot that we’re oversexed too. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/55 "2006-08-19T06:33:58Z")
It’s amazing how many foreigners still think there are kangaroos and koalas just walking around in Australia. When my English teacher went to Canada to study she told her new friends they rode pet kangaroos to school in Australia, in their pouches, and tethered them to poles outside their classrooms during class. They believed her. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/56 "2006-08-19T07:10:27Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] You forgot that we’re oversexed too. [/QUOTE] Well…um… aren’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/57 "2006-08-19T07:47:44Z")
[QUOTE=FlyingRamenMonster] It’s amazing how many foreigners still think there are kangaroos and koalas just walking around in Australia. When my English teacher went to Canada to study she told her new friends they rode pet kangaroos to school in Australia, in their pouches, and tethered them to poles outside their classrooms during class. They believed her. [/QUOTE] Actually, I’ve heard from several Australians that it IS true that kangaroos are fairly common. Not that you ride them or that they’re hopping down the streets of Sydney, but that they’re not at all uncommon to see once you get into a rural area. Not true? I’ll steer clear of the white privelege debate for now, but speaking of whiteness, the stereotype that anyone who’s white and doesn’t have a “Jewish” last name is automatically a WASP is a bit annoying. Being white only satisfies one aspect of that acronym. Not really the most ridiculous stereotype I’ve ever heard, but an irksome one nonetheless. On a slightly more ridiculous level, in my opinion white people do not, as I’ve heard alleged, smell like sour milk. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/58 "2006-08-19T07:48:10Z")
That Christian conservatives are either plotting a Talibanesque Biblical theocracy or are duped by a Televangelist-NeoCon Conspiracy that it so plotting; and that we’d actually be competent enough to pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/59 "2006-08-19T08:16:07Z")
When I lived in rural Australia I never saw a kangaroo. Granted I only lived there for three weeks. My ridiculous stereotypes: Men think about nothing but sex. Canadians hate guns. Young men are bad drivers. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/60 "2006-08-19T08:17:02Z")
**Kentuckians don’t wear shoes.** I have met people who are shocked that I wear shoes. These people are stupid. **Christians are functionally retarded.** **Computer Engineering and Computer Science students can fix your computer.** **All college kids smoke, do illegal drugs, drink heavily, and have more sex than Seattle Slew.** I’ve never done any of these things. **U2 fans are all flesh-eating leftists.** Not all that widespread, but I wanted to use the phrase “flesh-eating leftists.” [Homer]Mmmm… leftists.[/Homer] And one for my sister: **Twenty-somethings who work at GAP clothing stores are there because no one cares about their European Literature degree.** My sister has a _psychology_ degree, thankyouverymuch. And while not exactly a stereotype, people assume because of my surname (“Mayo”) that I like Mayonnaise. I hate the stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286.md?page=4)