Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Introducing: The Stereotype Busters

Okay, folks, I had an idea.  It's going to be a bit unusual for this blog, but hey, it's my blog and I can say whatever I want.  So I'm gonna.

Now you have all been in this situation.  Somebody makes a reference.  Or starts talking about something as if you didn't know about it.  Or snarkily asks you a question because they know you DO know about it.

Stereotypes.  They're all over the place.  The ones I'm most acquainted with have conservative circle connections.  "Oh, you're homeschooled!  Do you have any friends?"  "You still live at home and don't have a REAL JOB? Are you just waiting around to get MARRIED?"  "You always wear skirts!  Are you Amish?"  And, if you have at least three siblings and are similar ages, "Your family's so big, you're just like the Duggars!"

Getting annoyed yet? :P



Let's see here... ooh, religious stereotypes!  Yeahhhhh.  Okay, c'mon, we all do the denomination-stereotype thing.  We even do it about ourselves.  But somehow, to hear other people doing it about us, especially when they're wrong, it's just... annoying.

Man-woman stereotypes.  My favorite. :P (That was a joke.)

(And of course, comedians thrive on these things, and it CAN be funny, but there comes a Point...)

Introverts and extroverts!  Both groups can really be very stereotyped.

Or there could be some topic you know a lot about, and somebody who assumes they know about it talks about it and you're just like "you have no idea who you're talking to."  Or they say something that just makes you go ARGHHHH.  "Jane Austen?!  Ew.  I'd read Nicholas Sparks first.  At least those are shorter."  (...yes, I've gotten that before.  From a guy, go figure. :P)

Often, our reaction is either to resolve never to speak to the person again, or gleefully rub our hands together with an OKAY BUDDY YOU ASKED FOR IT and then they'll hear more about the topic than they ever wanted to know.

And there are times where someone unintentionally says something a little offensive.  Some difficult thing you've gone through in life, and somebody either makes a joke or they talk about it really lightly, or they're just COMPLETELY WRONG and don't know what they're talking about.

With those things, you can fall into the trap way too easily yourself.  Because we get 'sold' stereotypes all the time, and if we aren't the people who are being stereotyped, well... we don't notice.  That thing might even have some negative significance to you or a loved one later, and then you'll be like "I can't BELIEVE I went along with everybody and thought that way about it."

So, I'm suggesting a blog series. It will be both humorous and educational.  We all have our areas of Expertise, don't we?  Well, this is your chance to jump in and defend it.  Straighten everybody out.

I'll start with a post on my own blog... so watch for that soon.  But I encourage you all to do the same.  You could even do more than one if you want!  Just please put "The Stereotype Busters: ______(subject)______" as your post title, and link back to this page where I will collect the links that are submitted to me and you can find them all in this one handy place. :)  (As long as your post is no more than PG rated. By today's standards. G-rated by yesterdecade's standards, haha.)

You can write these posts however long you like, but I'm going to stop adding the links after three months.  So, I'll accept them through the end of September, 2015.

Update: And now you can enjoy some!

"Jane Austen (Part I)" - Regency Delight ~Jane Austen, etc.~
"Older Sisters" - Wonderland Creek
"Biblical Creationists" - A Portrait of Grace



Note: If you would like to write a stereotype-busting blog post but don't have a blog of your own, you can talk to me about doing a guest post. :)

15 comments:

Miss Dashwood said...

Cannot WAIT for this... and I have a bunch of ideas. :D SQUEEP SQUEEP SQUEEP.

One question though-- and I could ask this of you personally, of course, but if you answer it here in the comments other people will get Edjumacated too, so that's always good. Are we allowed to write more than one post and submit the link, or is it a one-per-customer kind of deal?

(Also, I'm not a robot. Good to know.)

Melody said...

I'm so glad thou hast so many ideas. :D I look forward muchly to thy articles of wit.

No, actually I mentioned that you could write more than one-- and I meant you could submit more than one too. If you're going to write more than five, I'll put a limit on it. :P But as long as it's under that, just keep submitting the new link every time. :)

I'm not a robot either! Swell! We should be friends.

Naomi Pitts said...

Oh, how fun! I hate stereotypes and I enjoy bashing them. I actually did a post on stereotypical questions I recieve because I'm home-schooled, once - I think you saw it. :-)

Must I 'reserve' my own topic? And when you say that about the title, should it therefore be, for example, 'Stereotype Homeschooler Busters'. (?)

This should be fun. Great idea. :-)

~ Naomi

Melody said...

Naomi,
I think I did see that!
No, you don't need to reserve a topic. You're welcome to say what you're doing in the comments, though, and if somebody else sees it who were thinking about writing about that topic, maybe they won't. But I don't think it's a big deal if two people write the same topic-- there might be different angles!
No, it would be "The Stereotype Busters: Homeschooling" (or whatever word you wanted to put there).

Naomi Pitts said...

Okay, that sounds obvious. I think I might write one about Stereotypical 'Older Sisters.' I'm an older sister and the stereotypes in a lot of books riles me a lot. :-P

Emily said...

Ooh, this is a VERY good idea. I'm so excited for this!!!

Hmm... now to choose which stereotypes I feel like busting. This should be fun ^-^

So, if I link my post back to your page, will it automatically notify you, or would I have to submit it to you in another way?

Looking forward to seeing all the posts from everyone!
-Emily

Anonymous said...

It could be fun to write a post about sterotypes since it happens to me a lot. I am going to try and find time for it

Melody said...

Emily,

I would like you to come leave a comment somewhere on my blog with a link to your post. :) Nope, it won't automatically notify me. Blogger's not that cool, haha. ;)

The Elf said...

I don't have a blog so can't post but one stereotype that I find exceptionally annoying is how "strong" women in novels - particularly historical Christian novels, are depicted as very modern in their behaviour and attitude - e.g. going on and on about their rights etc etc. It's 1) historically inaccurate and 2) not an accurate depiction of strength. (This one is fresh in my mind today from a pin someone pinned about this!) So, if anyone wants to write a post and has no ideas, there is a big one :P

Or the stereotype that every good Christian novel needs to be historical. Seriously, what is up with that? Plus, most of the time, they end up being historically inaccurate trash... :/

Sounds like a fun idea. Looking forward to reading what people write :)

- The Elf -

Evangeline said...

Ooooooh sounds lovely! =D There are so many Australian ones and violist ones!
*rubs hands together with glee*
~Evie

Miss Jane Bennet said...

THIS IS A GENIUS IDEA OH MY GOODNESS.
You have saved my blogging life. :P Still can't think of post ideas, but now I have a ready-made one--whoopeee! Looking forward to seeing all the posts on this.
Now I'm off to go think of something to un-stereotype...:)

Naomi Pitts said...

I wrote my Stereotype post! :-)

http://naomiblog15.blogspot.be/2015/07/the-stereotype-busters-oldest-sisters.html

I SO enjoyed writing it, so thanks for giving me the idea. :-D
~ Naomi

Emily said...

Okay, I finally finished mine! :)

https://aportraitofgrace.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/the-stereotype-busters-biblical-creationists/

This was VERY fun to write up; thank you so much for the idea, Melody!
-Emily

Anna said...

Is this still a thing? Because I think we need more of these posts! I'm definitely thinking about some I'd like to write now too!

Melody said...

Anna,
It is definitely still a thing! I haven't been keeping up very well with it lately and I have things languishing in my drafts, but yes, it is a thing. :)

Would you rather hear the story...

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