# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/141 "2006-08-21T18:39:05Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] And then you went and changed the parameters to mean “springboard to wealth amd success”. [/QUOTE] Heh, that’s pretty much how I read it first time through. It’s obvious that not being discriminated against 'cos of skin color is a good thing, why would somebody point it out as a stereotype? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/142 "2006-08-21T18:44:34Z")
[QUOTE=faithfool] That if you’re mentally ill, you’re putting on an elaborate act. That if you’re mentally ill, you’re really just a huge attention whore. \*\*That if you’re mentally ill, you’re simply lazy and using that excuse to get out of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. \*\* [/QUOTE] - wild, uncontrolled applause. Hooting maniacally in your direction and flinging own feces in approval! \* I’m in this boat with my current boss right now–never mind the awards and recognition I’ve gotten and the contributions I’ve made in the last 4 years when I was someone else’s boy, he has the special and unique gift for interpreting my destructive attitude and blank stare as laziness and deceit. Sheesh…sometimes I wonder which of us is the paranoia-deluded sick-o… Oh… uh… All stocky, hairy guys are NOT “Bears.” Now quit hitting on me already! ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/143 "2006-08-21T18:49:10Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] So let me simply ask. Do you believe that being white is or is not to a person’s advantage in America? [/QUOTE] Not always, no. There are tens of millions of poor whites in America, and obviously being white didn’t open a magical goody box for them. To assume that being white in America automatically means that you are privileged is racist. ---
**Author:** ![Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebecca_DiMwitter)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/144 "2006-08-21T18:50:18Z")
**Spongemom** , I am also a single mom and the one I got a lot of the time, from school “counselors”, was, “I see a bruise on your child’s (pick one: forehead/arm/leg/back), you therefore MUST be abusing your child because single motherhood is so frustrating & isolating and it’s understandable why you’d want to beat your kids. Tell me all about it and let me help.” Only two years left of public school for one child, the other child is done, and I WISH I could home-school but also work a 50+ work week–still I will be heartily glad when public school is over! How about blondes = stupid beyond belief? Big boobs = HUGE sexual appetite? Montanans ALL ride horses everywhere (actually, I wish this were true!) Women = no common sense, react emotionally before thinking things through? –Beck ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/145 "2006-08-21T19:44:52Z")
[QUOTE=SurrenderDorothy] ballet dancers are all stuck-up rich bitches. We also have sticks up our asses. [/QUOTE] I believe the second one is true. I mean, how the hell else do you spin around like that without falling over? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/146 "2006-08-21T19:55:07Z")
You only think your kid isn’t spoiled. =) [QUOTE=Rhiannon8404] That “only children” are by default spoiled, selfish and overindulged. I know half a dozen only kids (one being my own) and none of them fit that description. I do know several families with the “proper” one boy/one girl combination where the kids are monsters. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/147 "2006-08-21T20:04:46Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] They are (or were) my fellow Southerners. We are a versatile group. Hold the banjo music when you think of us. [/QUOTE] I’ll have her banjo music. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/148 "2006-08-21T20:13:56Z")
[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!] Computer Engineering and Computer Science students can fix your computer. [/QUOTE] Thanks for that. I’ll even expand it: Anyone who knows _anything_ about computer technology must know _everything_ about computer technology. The fact that I write C# code at work doesn’t necessarily mean I can also troubleshoot any hardware problem, or create a Flash animation, or beat that level in Halo, or fix a cell phone doesn’t work, or tell you whether you paid too much for that external hard drive, or whatever else. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/149 "2006-08-21T20:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=wm–] Thanks for that. I’ll even expand it: Anyone who knows _anything_ about computer technology must know _everything_ about computer technology. The fact that I write C# code at work doesn’t necessarily mean I can also troubleshoot any hardware problem, or create a Flash animation, or beat that level in Halo, or fix a cell phone doesn’t work, or tell you whether you paid too much for that external hard drive, or whatever else. [/QUOTE] But could you help me locate the ‘any’ key? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/150 "2006-08-21T22:50:31Z")
“All of NJ is a toxic waste dump.” Not even close. There’s one small section of Secaucus (that the trains from NY run through) and that’s about it. “We all talk with the ‘Joisey Accent’.” That’s a Bayonne accent (one small city) and nowhere else in the state does anyone sound remotely like that. “Everyone from NJ is corrupt and involved with Organized Crime.” Sorry, but no one I know knows Anyone involved in organized crime. And as my friends from the ROI would say, “…I wuz only feckin’ born here…!” “I have a relative 20 times removed from County Mayo, so I’m Irish.” No, you’re a Yank. So am I. I deal with it; you should too. “You’re Irish-American so you must be a drunk and only eat ‘Lucky Charms’ for breakfast.” _not enough eyerolls in the world to respond to that one_ “You were raised Catholic; you must have 20 kids with your ‘no birth-control’. You probably picket and bomb all the Abortion Clinics.” I may have been raised Catholic, but I have never been Stupid. “You’re a good Irish Lad; you’ll give money to the IRA, won’t you?” No, I won’t. I don’t think a complex political issue that has gone on for hundreds of years can be solved by killing, beating or bombing people at random with military arms and tactics. If there’s such a thing as self-determination, then the government should be decided by the people who eat, drink, live and die there without outside arms or interference of any kind. (the above goes for my opinion on Iraq as well) ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/151 "2006-08-21T23:22:50Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] Jews secretly rule the world, through some rube-goldberg secret organization. Also, we have all the money. Catholics are pagans and ritualistic cannibals (yes, I lived in a town in Oklahoma where this seemed to be a belief held by a number of the locals). [/QUOTE] Are Jewish Catholics common around there? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/152 "2006-08-22T00:02:36Z")
I’m very active in the militia. You know, those scary guys who stockpile guns and are plotting to overthrow the government. :rolleyes: Suffice to say, there are a lot of misconceptions about us. Adjectives that are often used to describe us include: - Uneducated - Racist - Rednecks - Paranoid - Gun freaks - Wild-eyed conspiracy freaks Just to name a few. ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/153 "2006-08-22T00:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=Rebecca DiMwitter] **Spongemom** , I am also a single mom and the one I got a lot of the time, from school “counselors”, was, “I see a bruise on your child’s (pick one: forehead/arm/leg/back), you therefore MUST be abusing your child because single motherhood is so frustrating & isolating and it’s understandable why you’d want to beat your kids. Tell me all about it and let me help.” [/QUOTE] I get that too. My son is a bit clumsy, and coupled with an adventurous spirit, he ALWAYS has bruises. I went through a mess recently with reporting a bad daycare provider, and had a lady come to my house to talk with me and my son. She looked him over for bruises in “suspicious places” such as upper arms, back, belly, and thighs. He didn’t have any at the time, but later that same day, he was climbing on me while I was sitting at the table and leaned back too far and ended up with a long (light, it was gone by the next day) red streak across his back from the edge of the other chair. I’m sure that would have _really_ pleased her. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![baronsabato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@baronsabato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baronsabato)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/154 "2006-08-22T03:07:48Z")
As a gay man, I must have a very small penis, because gay men are naturally more “feminine” than straight men, and small penises correlate with femininity. As an Asian man, I must have a very small penis, because Asian men are naturally more “feminine” than straight men, and small penises correlate with femininity. As a gay Asian man, I’m pretty much a woman, even though the majority of my friends say I am anything _but_ feminine acting/looking. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/155 "2006-08-22T03:20:40Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] I’m very active in the militia. You know, those scary guys who stockpile guns and are plotting to overthrow the government. :rolleyes: Suffice to say, there are a lot of misconceptions about us. Adjectives that are often used to describe us include: - Uneducated - Racist - Rednecks - Paranoid - Gun freaks - Wild-eyed conspiracy freaks Just to name a few. [/QUOTE] That’s really interesting! I’ve never known anyone in a militia. You should start an ‘Ask a militia member’ thread. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/156 "2006-08-22T03:25:15Z")
[QUOTE=Speaker for the Dead] Are Jewish Catholics common around there? [/QUOTE] Not as much as you would think (then there’s the handy comeback: “Hey! Jesus was a Jew!” My Jew-ishness comes from my dad’s side of the family (IOW: It doesn’t count). My Catholic-ishness comes from my mom (I was raised Catholic). My friends like to refer to me as the “Catholic Mexican Jew Lizard” in reference to a Penny Arcade comic I found highly amusing. One of them even drew a picture of a lizard wearing a crucifix, a poncho, and one of those brimmed hats the Hebrew Hammer wears. Another one of my friends refers to me as “Diet Jew” (Just one calorie of Jew: Not Jewish enough.) Then there are the various stereotypes about Aggies, though as far as I know, most of those are more or less limited to colleges around Texas and Oklahoma that we have dealings with (not counting Aggie Jokes). I read one article where a guy visiting from Utah witnessed what he could only determine was some kind of pagan ritual involving strange chants, group gestures, and making out during a fortuitious power outage. Most stereotypes I’ve heard about Aggies involve us wearing overalls, cowboy hats, chewing on bits of grass, worshipping a collie, drinking beer and generally being unfriendly to everyone who isn’t a good-ol-boy. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/157 "2006-08-22T03:28:40Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] That’s really interesting! I’ve never known anyone in a militia. You should start an ‘Ask a militia member’ thread. [/QUOTE] Yeah, actually, what DO militia guys do? Are they kinda like the State Guard that we have in Texas? The Texas State Guard is a small unpaid volunteer organization, mostly MPs, medics, and communications folks, who train once a year with the National Guard, and they never deploy outside of Texas unless they happen to also be members of the National Guard or US military. I think the Governor can call them up for state service, usually if the National Guard is deployed elsewhere or overwhelmed with whatever it is doing. When I talked to them, they said they couldn’t pay me, but they would give me tuition assistance on up to 6 hours of classes a semester. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/158 "2006-08-22T03:30:14Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] That’s really interesting! I’ve never known anyone in a militia. You should start an ‘Ask a militia member’ thread. [/QUOTE] He did. It was very interesting. Search it up. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/159 "2006-08-22T03:30:20Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] Then there are the various stereotypes about Aggies [/QUOTE] What’s an Aggie? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286/160 "2006-08-22T03:33:41Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] What’s an Aggie? [/QUOTE] Student or alumnus of Texas A&M University. A&M stands for Agricultural and Mining (old name; they’ve progressed far beyond that now), hence “Aggie.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-ridiculous-stereotype-youve-heard-about-your-group/369286.md?page=9)