Nerds, Goths, Punks, The Popular Kids, etc... What do you fall in?

[[Sound_Nin]]

[QUOTE=Bloodseeker]


Jocks: People that are seriously involved in one sport or another, be it basketball, skateboarding, or something else.[/QUOTE]

Skateboarders fall into a seperate cliche, but other than that you're right.
Skateboarders usually go hand in hand with punks, but there [I]are[/I] exceptions. Like my school, which I already explained.

Throughout my school experience (now in college) I have been many things. Punk, goth, nerd, "outcast", [I]everything except popular/prep/jock.[/I] For a while I pretended to be a skater, but that didn't work out well due to my lack of balance on a skateboard.
Summary: [U]I'm just me. [/U]

[2010DigitalBoy]

I fall into the category of... nothing. I am odd, hence the name, ThatOneOddDude. Thats what people know me as, thats what people will remember me as. The jocks call me a nerd, the nerds are mean, the emo kids are cool with me, but we share NO interests. I try to classify myself as a geek, but it doesn't work. Im just odd. And I mix well. I can roll with jocks if they aren't bothered by me, and if the nerds aren't too FRIKKIN ANNOYING I can deal with them. I can't stand preps. They bother me.

[ChemAngel]

here's the funny thing about stereotyping...I really have mixed feelings about it.

If you are stereotyping yourself....and comparing yourself to what they consider themselves to be...it can be fun.

Stereotypes like your astrological sign, numerlogy, and even the intense pyschology ones (introverted vs extroverted ect) are fun.

I think finding categories that you belong in helps you analyze youself as a person. See your weaknesses and your strengthes. I don't think anyone fits into one particular category....but a lot of different ones.

And within those categories there are things you don't agree with (and don't act as such because of that).

ie: I'm a Virgo. I'm suppose to be analytical (which I am) but I'm also suppose to be cold hearted which I feel I am NOT.

The big belief I contain is that nobody has a right to categorize anyone but themselves. some of these categories can hurt people if they have a different belief as to what they are.

example: most people consider the jocks and cheerleader to be the stupidest. But in my old high school, they were in the same upper division classes that I was in. And 2/3 of them had graduated with honors.

I never belonged anywhere (big surprise there) I used to get along with all the types. I think that if I had to categorize myself to just one category...it would be "prep". I was constantly studying, and most of my conversations were based on school related materials. Even now, I still enjoy talking about things that I learned in school in interesting ways.

[MillenniumChaos]

I really hate posts like this. I mean, the problem is that you really can't classify people into neat little categories. The world just doesn't work that way. There are uber-dorks in IB like me that are football players and cheerleaders and on the dance team. Are they nerds for getting all the perverted math pick-up lines? Or are they jocks for doing sport-ish stuff?

Stereotypes often create problems. My most hated stereotypes are that fat people are inherently lazy and that all gay people are super-flamboyant and fashion-savvy.

I do enjoy things like horoscopes and personality tests (even though most of them are wrong because they miss an aspect of my character). It's stupid stereotypes that I can't stand. What's a Goth? If I dress in black all the time and like Marilyn Manson, am I one? Just because I change my style does that mean I get shunted into a new category and totally lose all of my old characteristics. I just don't buy this classification crap.

I don't think that anyone here can honestly place themselves fully into any of those categories. Hence the problem.

[Semjaza]

Regardless of stereotypes containing true or false information, the fact that people actually sit and think up what they believe each one consists of is really digusting to me. There is no difinitive stereotype; it's an impossible thing. The last time we had a thread like this I spent a lot of time adamantly defending American people as whole and how a good amount of them really didn't buy into such things. I guess I was completely wrong.

Otherwise, my post above contains the rest of my feelings on things like this. I assume it'll be deleted eventually.

[James]

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3]

Otherwise, my post above contains the rest of my feelings on things like this. I assume it'll be deleted eventually.[/QUOTE]

[color=#737373]Although that post is technically not allowed, I couldn't agree with it more.

The ironic thing is that many people who say they "don't fit into a stereotype" are the [i]same[/i] people who perpetuate stereotypes by labeling others.

I'd like to think that it's a silly teenage phase, but unfortunately a lot of adults just love stereotypes and labels as well. Oh well. If people want to waste time getting into that, it's their business. I'm sure many of us have better things to do than to worry about what "group" we fit into.[/color]

[Kamuro]

[COLOR=Olive][SIZE=1]James is quite right. I find many people, even most people, I know to be incredibly hypocritical when it comes to these kinds of things. Its easy to say that you don't fit into one of these groups, but can you really look at yourself in the mirror and say you've never endorsed and/or took part in one of these labeling parties. I think its important to look at yourself as a person, rather then just another member of some pre-existing group. In the end, all these people will be gone, and you'll be left to analyze yourself and the things you've done. Eventually you'll run out of excuses and you'll have to accept the things you've done, and the mistakes you've made. Hopefully you won't regret them all.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[kaisha]

Im not a fan of labels, so I'm just not gonna answer.

[Tasrai]

[COLOR=teal][SIZE=1][FONT=arial]Myself like many others who have replied can't really be stereotyped. Because I am really a mix of all of them.(Aren't we all?) I am on the drumline, make straight As, am on the high school soccer team, love anime, reading, and drawing. I don't wear preppy clothes but I also don't wear goth. I wear anything and everything that is generic and comfortable (baggy stuff preferred) So you see, I'm kind of un-classifiable., like unto many others here.
Classifying humans into stereotypes just can't be done. There will always be exceptions in every case. (Heh, just like the English language.)[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Latharix_sama]

I don't appreciate labels, but if you could me under anything I guess I would be a "freak". I act weird, dress how I feel,have off-the-wall craziness, am a spaz, and say what I want to say. I'm also an otaku and a pyro, but I'm not saying I'm ONLY an otaku or a pyro. I may dress in gothic lolita and listen to gothic music, but I'm not saying I'm just gothic. Gothic has been so stretched out of proportion I don't even know what it is anymore. This is depressing to me. Everyone thinks that Gothic is a cult or satanic religion. It's not. A goth may be a part of a cult or satanic religion, but that doesn't mean that all goths are. To me, gothic is the clothes, the music, and the attitude. 'nuff said.
[B]So I guess you could say I'm too special to be put into only one category. Hah! I'm special! Speeeecial! Everybody is special and probably has qualities that go under EVERY stereotype.[/B][B]But really, you should be ashamed for asking this question. People are people and are each different in their own way; you can't put them into a category and expect them all to be alike.[/B]

[Guest Kaise]

I'm very easy to distinguish.

I'm a nerd, plain and simple.

I <3 anime
I <3 manga
I <3 video games.

A nerd does all the same things, and not really much else.

I hear i don't look like one though.

[SpiritWolf]

I'm a bit of an enigma, when it comes to cliques. I listen to punk music, but I also listen to stuff like Elton John, so punk isn't right. I'm smart, but I don't carry the typical nerd persona. I'm a bit lazy and spaced out most of the time, but I don't do drugs, so stoner is out. I may sometimes seem really depressed, but I'm actually happy most of the time, so goth/emo kid is out. I couldn't be a loner, because I'm friends to some degree with pretty much everyone in the school. I guess I'm the Jack of All Trades... or, Jack of All Cliques, as the case may be.

[Guest Seijuro_Kasumi]

Well, as i am not in school anymore i can't classify. All i can say is i only wear what i like and i dispise the fact that people (not all) have become sheep....following the croud. It's quite irritating. In school i called myself a drifter, because i had friends in almost all the circles....minus preps...they were my worst enemy. I though...as i do now, only where what i like; which most of the time is either dark (gothic or punkish in appearance) however since the uprise of that quote un quote fashion trend swooped in i kinda decided to move to something else..not completly...but just not to become associated with the followers and wanna be's. My attire is mostly dark, relaxed and for the most part strange...mix n' match type style ^.^

[lost shinobi]

In my school it seems that the Popular kids and the jocks are the main groups. There are the few small groups of the nerds and gothic punk kids. I also have a very small school. I would say that I'm not in any of these groups. I wear what i want and what is comfy. Also I'm basically friends with everyone some more than others. I guess i would be classified as a drifter. :animesmil

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]It's wierd reading about these cliques and remembering High school As I said my friends and I were never in any real cliques because either 1.) We couldn't afford the cool clothes and nice cars like our peers or 2.) we just don't get classified.

I think horsey people may have their own small cliques. You have the cross country jumpers, the stadium/ show jumpers, dressage, and western people. But at least most of them realize that you need to know one to master others. So most of teh ones I know aren't that cliquey.


And besides, you know how it is with lables, after a while they just peel off and leave the sticky stuff behind.[/color]

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]Labels make things "easier." Labels group, and organize and give definitive boundaries to thinks that have murky borders most of the time. That's why they exist.

Yes, there's truth to every stereotype, which is why they exist. Do you think people fabricated stereotypes out of thin air? They're based on facts.[/SIZE]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[QUOTE=Retribution][SIZE=1]Labels make things "easier." Labels group, and organize and give definitive boundaries to thinks that have murky borders most of the time. That's why they exist.

Yes, there's truth to every stereotype, which is why they exist. Do you think people fabricated stereotypes out of thin air? They're based on facts.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[color=darkviolet]Yes, so we can all just stick ourselves into little boxes and catergories to decide who's worthy of being talked to and who's not. Of who to pick on and who to worship and suck up to. Lables are about as fun as having your wisdom teeth removed without the help of novacain. And yes I did notice you put quote around easier. I just don't care.

No, but I've run into some people I graduated from High school or went to high school with a few years after graduation and :eek: not all of them are like how they were in High school. Sure there are the few stuck up ones who can't let go. I've also run into jocks who aren't dumb and nerds who aren't all that smart. NAd maybe, just maybe some 'goth kids who aren't manicly depressed.[/color]

[Ezekiel]

[SIZE=1]I had a rather long discussion about stereotypes and labels with my mother this morning and we both decided that they're terrible things.

Retri, you say they organise people into groups. Well, why do we need to be in groups? Does that not take away our individuality as separate human beings? Aren't we all unique?

I can't see why you have to say, "She's a prep, yup, 'cause she dresses that way. He's a Goth because he likes black, therefore he does drugs."

It just doesn't make sense and I think these "groupings" are making people more distanced than we have been before and that isn't something that should be encouraged.

I do not label myself as any one thing--I wear black, I wear net tops, I have dark make-up and like heavy rock music. Does that make me a goth? No. Why? Because I also happen to like wearing bright clothes at times, I like N*Sync and on the odd occasion, Britney Spears. I don't fit into any one category and would frankly be insulted if someone tried to pin me down as one thing in particular.

We, as intelligent human beings, should not become sheep who all [I]have[/I] to be put together in a group. Who [I]have[/I] to follow a trend and be the same as everyone else just to be "cool". Be unique; don't waste millions of years of evolution just to be like everyone else.

Rant over.

(Retri, I wasn't having a go at you in particular I was just quite miffed by your comment, Please don't take it personally as I quite like you. :3)[/SIZE]

[Pumpkin]

[QUOTE=Retribution][SIZE=1]
Yes, there's truth to every stereotype, which is why they exist. Do you think people fabricated stereotypes out of thin air? They're based on facts.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2][COLOR="#990033"][b]
Don't get me wrong, people have fabricated stereotypes for a long time starting by someone stating that its true. But is it? Is that good enough to say that it is almost a [b]fact[/b]? So your saying all blondes are mentially challenged? And that most people who wear glasses are nerds? Yeah, there are few people who PUT themselves into that stereotype because that is what others tell them. Some blondes act stupid just because simply their a blonde and that is what is "expected" of them. I find this so idiotic, but is embraced by the media. Example? Paris Hilton. No way someone can be that dumb and run an empire. But she plays the role well. As long as their our people willing to make money or support the stereotypes, they will always be around. But that doesn't infact, make them ANY close to facts. It's mostly all the media stating the BS. People would be well-off without stereotypes which only makes people even more shallow and They miss out on meeting great people. [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/B]

[blou]

Ummmm....My school is random! The students make the skool....There are mainly goths, punks, skaters, and anime fanatics....(that's me!!) I go to an arts skool...so ppl are broken into what they go for...so there're labels, and sub-labels.....? For example.....I'm a dancer(thats wut i go to the skool 4), and then i'm an anime fanatic....I wouldn't call myself popular....but I do have many friends.......[B]true[/B] friends! ah.....I love my skool.... :rolleyes: :animesmil ...............another example........people could be "band".........and then......goth, or punk...... :D IT'S SOOOO COOL!!! It's like a second home....I usually hate skool....but now..with all these different individuals, whom speak their own minds......my skool is random...and there are many ppl who are nice! Except for the stinkn' 7th graders :animeangr !!! GOD! DIE SEVENTH GRADERS!!! :mad: .......(no offense to those seventh graders on this site ^^).......kk...gotta go....driftn' off topic....

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]It warms my heart that everyone misread my post. I [B]never[/B] said that I support labeling. I thought it was a dead give-away with easy in quotes (Thanks though, Chibi ^_^). I was stating the facts. That's why labels exist. I never said "They [B]should[/B] exist because..." or "I'm [B]glad[/B] they exist because..." I said "They [B]do[/B] because..."

And yes, [B]there is truth to every stereotype[/B]. I never said how much, but there is always truth to it. How else would they develop? At some point, a truth may become skewed drastically out of proportion, like "All mexicans carpool" or something ridiculous, but there is some degree of truth to it. People don't wake up one day and decide that "All black people are gangsters." They see a small degree of truth, and then apply it to the whole.[/SIZE]

[Kamuro]

[COLOR=Olive][SIZE=1]First off, in defense of Retri, he said people were divided into groups, he never said it was a good thing. He even put easier in quotes, causing me to stray away from any compliment whatsoever. And what he is saying is true, if people are divided into groups, it takes a lot of the work out of actually getting to know someone. All of their traits and personality pros and cons are predetermind due to the group they've been placed in.

As Delacroix stated, this is not a good thing. Grouping people really does lead to massive assumptions. This causes people to stray away from one another without even knowing the person they supposedly "don't like." A "jock" and "goth" could be great friends, however, they'll never know, because pre-existing stereotypes kept them apart from one another. This is why I don't support them and their advocates.

Stereotypes are not based on facts, they are based on opinions. They weren't created out of thin air, but they are merely how one person percieves another to be. I find it quite ignorant actually, that someone you've never met before feels it necessary to judge you and assume things without even talking to you first. Its impossible to know someone from the way they look, or the clothes they wear. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I think my friends would suck if I chose them based on their wardrobe.

Of course there are people who fit these stereotypes, how could there not be? Out of the hundreds of blondes in america, of course a few them are going to be stupid, as with every other hair color. However, some people and/or stereotypes are publicized more then others leading us to believe more then we actually know. Paris Hilton, for example, is one of the stupidest people you'll ever meet, however, she is plastered all over TV and movies because she looks good. This just points out the previously existing stereotype and emphasizes it.

Finally, I believe that those who subject themselves to stereotypes and the assumptions of other people are weak and lack the brain power to make their own decisions. They're afraid of whether or not people will like them, or if they'll be "cool," so they join a group and let others make the decisions for them. Well, once schools over, the stereotypes will still be there, and decisions will still need to be made. However, you will no longer have people to make them for you. And you will wish that you had the individuality and smarts it takes to make decisions for yourself. However, all the years of following rather then leading and listening to rules made by others with no real authority in your life will leave you alone, and starving for the chance to be your own person, rather then a "popular" slave.

EDIT: Retri posted while I was writing my own post, so don't mind the clash.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

I suppose to answer the question I fit into the so-called Nerds category, although I thoroughly despise such a title, there's just something about the term "[I]Nerd[/I]" that insinuates that you're a small, weak and a generally wretched creature with a large brain. In my case, and the case of most of the people I hung around with in school we were smart, but we were big, a sort of jock/nerd hybrid, all the advantages and few of the disadvantages. I saw few because when you're smart you'll inevitably be annoyed by ever sod who hasn't bothered to do their homeworld and wants to copy yours.

As for the issue of labelling group, I don't personally see any reason for it, people are people and are unique but there are groups which will share common interests. I don't really have a problem with them, so long are they are accurate but not completely negative.[/SIZE]

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1][quote name='x kakashi x']First off, in defense of Retri, he said people were divided into groups, he never said it was a good thing. He even put easier in quotes, causing me to stray away from any compliment whatsoever. And what he is saying is true, if people are divided into groups, it takes a lot of the work out of actually getting to know someone. All of their traits and personality pros and cons are predetermind due to the group they've been placed in.[/quote]Amen brother. Amen. *bows and worships kakashi forever*

[QUOTE]Stereotypes are not based on facts, they are based on opinions. They weren't created out of thin air, but they are merely how one person percieves another to be. I find it quite ignorant actually, that someone you've never met before feels it necessary to judge you and assume things without even talking to you first. Its impossible to know someone from the way they look, or the clothes they wear. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I think my friends would suck if I chose them based on their wardrobe.[/QUOTE]Well, sometimes a stereotype can be based on a fact, and then rashly applied to everyone else falling under the same catagory. True, it can be, and usually is, based on a misconception or opinion.

[QUOTE]Of course there are people who fit these stereotypes, how could there not be? Out of the hundreds of blondes in america, of course a few them are going to be stupid, as with every other hair color. However, some people and/or stereotypes are publicized more then others leading us to believe more then we actually know. Paris Hilton, for example, is one of the stupidest people you'll ever meet, however, she is plastered all over TV and movies because she looks good. This just points out the previously existing stereotype and emphasizes it.[/QUOTE]*bows and worships again* There are people fitting these stereotypes because there is that shred of truth to it. As previously stated -- a fact is taken, distorted sometimes, and widely applied to the rest.[/SIZE]

[Ezekiel]

[SIZE=1]I did notice that you put "easier" in quotes, Retri, I knew you weren't being totally serious on that part and like I said, I wasn't having a go at you personally I just picked up on the comment you made. Sorry if I seemed like it was a personal flame.

What kakashi said is really all anyone can say about the matter; he's got it spot on.

Where stereotypes are concentred, as Retri-san said, they are there because they are based off an original idea or a clique. I live in Liverpool, I'm not like a "natural" Liverpudlian as I am not originally from here but if someone brought up the typical Liverpool stereotypes then I wouldn't hesitate to agree with (the majority of) them.

I think that people get annoyed with stereotypes because a lot of the time they are only about bad things, not all the time, but it does seem to be the case that stereotypes show people in a predominantly negative light.

To bring this to a close, I must again apologise to Retribution, sorry for the misunderstanding.[/SIZE]