I love blonde jokes. It's not like they're an oppressed minority or anything. If there's one type of joke which is safe, then surely it's the blonde one?
So you don't think blondes get upset about being profiled as being stupid, sex obsessed bimbos? And you don't think that constantly telling blonde jokes doesn't reinforce this? According to wiki there have been studies showing that people do consider blondes less capable for jobs requiring intelligence. What about redheads? Is it ok to call them rangas? My 10 year old nephew used to come home in tears from getting called ranga at school. No matter how harmless you think it is, you're still singling out a portion of the population to make fun of.
Do you think that there is a difference between making jokes about blondes and making them about redheads?
No. It's still singling out a portion of the society and thinking it is OK to make fun of them. If we as a society are going to strive for equality and fairness for all, that includes hair colour. Do you think it is fair to make fun of someones physical characteristics?
Not entirely - they probably also do it because they enjoy and indulge in the goth culture. As an ex-goth myself, that's certainly why I and every other one I knew used to do so. As for cosplayers, I generally assume not that they're socially awkward. I do assume that they're geeks, and therefore they might be happy to discuss the series they're representing (in the rare case it's one that I watch) or possibly interested in other 'geeky' things like roleplaying or gaming in general. At the very least I'll usually assume that they're interested in socialising with other geeks. Stereotypes aren't always negative things, and yes, by partaking in a culture you are associating yourself with the stereotype. For example I'm a LARPer, a roleplay, and have long hair and a beard. That does tend to lead people making certain assumptions about me - assumptions which are generally accurate, as looking this way is a choice.
Language, and jokes, affects lines of thought. I thought that everyone knew that by now? No matter how much you may think it's just a harmless joke, it is actually shaping the way that you think as you say it - reinforcing certain ideas.
This started, though, with the suggestion (not from you but from others) that if someone dresses in hip-hop clothes, they're essentially asking to be prejudged as a criminal. It's partly their fault that others are suspicious of them. My feeling is that when someone chooses to dress a certain way, they may be choosing to associate with a certain "scene" in the "I like certain music and certain dance clubs" sense, but they're most definitely not asking to associate with the negative stereotypes of that scene. Someone doing cosplay may be "asking" to have you strike up a conversation about Battlestar Galactica, but they're not "asking" to be taunted about eating cheetos in their parents' basement. Someone wearing a hoodie may be "asking" for you to strike up a conversation about what they think of Kanye West's new album, but they're not "asking" to be perceived as a potential burglar. PS--I also used to be seriously into the goth scene, and I still listen to a good amount of darkwave and EBM.
I can "somewhat agree". But that said, "asking for it" is still knowing about how you are projecting. If I go walking in a area with hunters, I will not wear a yeti suit. I would wear "the required attire" to keep me out of harms way. No matter if I think the "yeti suit is cool" (Of course, speaking from a person in adult stage and not of youthful exuberance) The environment one chooses to project, has more of the outcome One chooses this projection from influences and has a reality of consequence from this projection As I said before, there are certain "levels of truth" behind stereotype, therefore the "good" seems to suffer for the "bad" We are all guilty of any slight negative thought upon what another is projecting, when it is apart what we deem for ourselves, as the norm. As humans, we have these thoughts based upon how we, ourselves, look, feel, and project. Simply, if someone is not projecting similar to ourselves, there is a degree of scrutiny
We're not talking about wearing fur where people are hunting. That's asking for trouble. We're talking about hooded sweatshirts while walking down the street. You know, those popular, comfortable garments that everyone from Mark Zuckerberg to the Queen of England wear? Nobody thinks wearing a hoodie is "asking for trouble" unless we happen to be talking about young black men.
Mostly true - however it must be said that ingrained into our brains is the idea that people are more suspicious if they're hiding their faces. Hoodies during the day I've no problem with - at night, with their hood up so I can't see their face and following me I'll admit to feeling somewhat nervous. But that's only with the hood up, when dark, and when there's not a sensible reason to be wearing a hood. I don't like hidden faces, we read so much from someone's expression that it always feels like a deliberate deception to me. That isn't exclusive to hoodies either. I have difficulty interacting with anyone who's hidden their face.
In a similiar vein a few days ago in another thread a few prople were talking about how any guy walking around with his shirt of in the heat at least looks like a yob.. Didn't matter that its just more comfortable in the sun, there's already a perception that guys who walk around topless have certain characteristics.
I'm more likely to have my hood up at night time because that's when it is colder, and that's the main reason I wear one. Rain being the other reason.
But, we do not know what kind of activity he was doing "while" he had his hood up Although, we are discussing the subject of stereotyping and profiling, we can all agree, not everything is at it seems That said, in my teens, the main drug dealer was a "Opy" looking dude, whom we called OPY, but we started calling him "Pink Floyd", because his name was Floyd, and he had freckles that sometime shined pinkish No one could stereotype or profile him as a drug dealer, which he projected himself not to appear this way Which, if you think about it, he had actually stereotyped/profile all of the us hippies to avoid detection
I was a bit shocked at some of the comments in that thread. It definitely brought out the snob in some people! We all have our personal tastes I guess, but I get a bit uncomfortable when those tastes are based on ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
The only thing I have a problem with are people who are WAY too obese to be wearing small clothing, and it gets more offensive to me the more socially deviant the clothing is. For example I saw a guy who had to be at least 6'7 in a mall once and probably weighing in at 350lbs dressed in gothic woman's attire and it was all way, way too small and revealing. I tend to not care about the "accept people for who they are" at that point. It was an abomination. And people who wear Tapout clothing . . . .
