# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/101 "2006-08-20T06:39:24Z")
[QUOTE=Vagus] I work & live on one of the suburbs of Canberra. Most mornings there are 3 or 4 kangaroos feeding on the front lawn of the office building. The damn things are a pest around here. [/QUOTE] Feel free to remind Uncle Johnny that the blasted things are a pest all over the country because of his unrealistic and negative attitude towards legitimate firearms ownership… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/102 "2006-08-20T07:12:41Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] Feel free to remind Uncle Johnny that the blasted things are a pest all over the country because of his unrealistic and negative attitude towards legitimate firearms ownership… 😉 [/QUOTE] Hey, I’m with you. SSAA member since '86 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/103 "2006-08-20T07:15:17Z")
[QUOTE=Vagus] Hey, I’m with you. SSAA member since '86 😃 [/QUOTE] You may be familiar with some of my work, then. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/104 "2006-08-20T08:32:08Z")
Okay, going for out-and-out laughable rather than merely stupid and annoying: 1. that gay people, and femme gay men in particular, are that way just to be popular. As I may have said before, if I were, you can bet I’d be reevaluating my strategy. 2. that neo-pagans are part of an organized conspiracy to overthrow western civilization. Honey, we can barely even get it together to get a rit planned. ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/105 "2006-08-20T13:08:47Z")
Said by some tourist at the winter olympic games in Lillehammer in 1994: “Do you have the same problems with the vikings as we have with the injuns?” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/106 "2006-08-20T13:42:33Z")
**That men with large penises have large feet.** I wear size 9’s, so much for that. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/107 "2006-08-20T14:05:36Z")
[QUOTE=SurrenderDorothy] Catholic school girls… well, we don’t do drugs or smoke. And we talk about Jesus a lot. and we’re suppressed virgins who turn into total whores once we’ve lost our virginity. We have overbearing daddies. And we call them “daddy.” Our fathers probably wear suits to work. If we kill our classmates, it’s either premeditated or we go to a lot of trouble to cover it up (unlike the public school kids who will fly into a rage and kill their classmates with a bunch of witnesses around.) We use big words. We either play piano or we sing in the church choir. We don’t sweat or fart. [/QUOTE] Are you describing the stereotype, or clearing it up? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/108 "2006-08-20T14:08:19Z")
Hell, I’ll add my group, courtesy of **Weirddave** in the Pit. > [@](#): > > Hope Hezbollah doesn’t have a girl scout auxiliary that’s feeling ornery, otherwise the French might wind up with sunburned armpits. Coming soon to E-bay Beirut: good deals on French rifles; never fired and only dropped once. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/109 "2006-08-20T16:34:22Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] I died of consumption when I was 20. [/QUOTE] May I steal this for my sig line? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/110 "2006-08-20T19:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Il Palazzo] W I’m actually more offended by **CanvasShoes** ’ lumping of all of Appalachia in with Springer guests and the drunks and whatnot on Cops. My family has it’s roots in Appalachia and most of us still live in the region. I’m personally very fond of the area. [/QUOTE] The Cops, Springerites and Applachia examples were separate examples of white people who don’t have an **automatic** advantage merely because of their being white. Nothing more. I apologize for not making it more clear. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/111 "2006-08-20T19:20:21Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] May I steal this for my sig line? 😃 [/QUOTE] Absolutely. May I call you Max? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/112 "2006-08-20T19:27:09Z")
[QUOTE=SurrenderDorothy] We only listen to classical music or, occasionally, some new-agey sort of stuff. But never, say, punk rock. … Also, if we can incorporate it into ballet, everyone will be amazed becuase nobody’s ever thought about making ballet cool before. [/QUOTE] All that goes for classical musicians, too, and _especially_ music teachers. Yes, of _course_, all we need is a whole load of electric violins, and everyone will want to play it. And naturally, this also alleviates the need to actually learn how to do so - because, y’know, electric instruments are things you just pick up, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/113 "2006-08-20T22:20:05Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] 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? [/QUOTE] I’ve been away from my computer for two days, so pardon my delay in posting. The stereotype is that all white people have an instant and automatic advantage in American society. All I’m saying is that the stereotype fails the test because it’s not true for **all** white people, **automatically.** Otherwise, no white person would be poor, unemployed, undereducated, without health insurance, live in substandard housing, etc. For the record, I tend to agree with **Slithy Toad** that _class_ is a huge point of definition in the U.S. and is seldom acknowledged as such. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/114 "2006-08-20T22:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] The stereotype is that all white people have an instant and automatic advantage in American society. All I’m saying is that the stereotype fails the test because it’s not true for **all** white people, **automatically.** Otherwise, no white person would be poor, unemployed, undereducated, without health insurance, live in substandard housing, etc. [/QUOTE] I don’t agree. An advantage doesn’t mean success. It means, well, an advantage. Men have an advantage over women when it comes to becoming an NFL player. That doesn’t mean all men become NFL players. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/115 "2006-08-20T22:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=Kotick] Said by some tourist at the winter olympic games in Lillehammer in 1994: “Do you have the same problems with the vikings as we have with the injuns?” :dubious: [/QUOTE] This cracks me the hell up. Where to begin with such ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/116 "2006-08-20T23:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] I’ve been away from my computer for two days, so pardon my delay in posting. The stereotype is that all white people have an instant and automatic advantage in American society. All I’m saying is that the stereotype fails the test because it’s not true for **all** white people, **automatically.** Otherwise, no white person would be poor, unemployed, undereducated, without health insurance, live in substandard housing, etc. [/QUOTE] That’s not at all what has been claimed in this thread. No one has said that being white automatically makes you succesful. “An advantage” is not the samething as an automatic win. A poor, white high school drop-out is less likely to succeed than a wealthy black college grad. The advantage of being white, in this case, is outweighed by the other disadvantages he has. However, if you compare like to like, white is almost always advantageous over being black. A poor, white highschool drop out has an advantage over a poor, black highschool dropout, and a wealthy white college grad has an advantage over a wealthy black college grad, because the nature of race relations in this country almost always favors white people over any other ethnic group. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/117 "2006-08-20T23:18:16Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] That’s not at all what has been claimed in this thread. No one has said that being white automatically makes you succesful. “An advantage” is not the samething as an automatic win. A poor, white high school drop-out is less likely to succeed than a wealthy black college grad. The advantage of being white, in this case, is outweighed by the other disadvantages he has. However, if you compare like to like, white is almost always advantageous over being black. A poor, white highschool drop out has an advantage over a poor, black highschool dropout, and a wealthy white college grad has an advantage over a wealthy black college grad, because the nature of race relations in this country almost always favors white people over any other ethnic group. [/QUOTE] Right. But the “ridiculous stereotype” that was being mentioned was the notion that being white -\> being successful. And, while it may not have been stated in this thread, I have encountered disbelief that I, as a white guy, might actually not be well-off. It’s at least as prevalent a notion as some of the other ridiculous stereotypes mentioned in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/118 "2006-08-21T00:34:55Z")
[Quote=Miller] That’s not at all what has been claimed in this thread. No one has said that being white automatically makes you succesful. [/QUOTE] Let’s go back to posts #6 and 7. [QUOTE=CanvasShoes] 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. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Boyo Jim] If you don’t understand that this is absolutley true in America, I just don’t know what to say. [/QUOTE] I can’t believe there are people on this board arguing in favor of sweeping generalizations. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/119 "2006-08-21T00:50:39Z")
[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!] **Christians are functionally retarded.** [/QUOTE] I don’t even understand what this means. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/120 "2006-08-21T00:54:50Z")
I’m in a college marching band. I must be either a) a music major (no) b) incurably geeky (I don’t think so?) c) be an alcoholic (umm, no) And if I hear someone say “This one time, at band camp…” ever again, I’ll… I dunno, want to hit them or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286.md?page=7)