Why Stereotypes?
This page may be a little contradicting, but I'll try not to be. I judge people. I am not ashamed to say it. The difference between me judging them and them judging me is that my stereotypical assumptions about them are CORRECT, and their stereotypical assumptions about me are WRONG. Common incorrect stereotypes:
prep = popular, stylish, smart
nerd = glasses, quiet
etc.
I don't like these common stereotypes because they are incorrect. People (usually gothics) say they hate preps, but they're using the wrong word to describe the people they hate. Or at least I think so. A prep is not a popular person. Tis a person PREPPING themself for college. And don't we all do that? So wouldn't that make us all preps? For my explanation of the true and false nerd stereotype, click here. The following is the Social Ladder that I created. A is the most popular; F- is the least popular. E's only exist in special cases such as myself. In a nutshell:
A+ = Social Populars
A = Jocks/athletes
A- = Preps
B+ = Sluts/Thugs
B = Quiet people who have a lot of friends
B- = Druggies
C+ = Punks
C = Inbetween punk and gothic
C- = Gothics
D+ = Popular anime fans
D = Humorous anime fans who aren't very popular
D- = Quiet anime fans
E+ = Leader of friends, but not popular
E = Same as E+ but not a leader
E- = Loners/Outcasts
F+ = Gamers
F = Nerds/Geeks/Dorks
F- = Retards
The list is a little vague for most people, so I will explain in detail, even though most of you don't care. . . .
A+ = the talkative, stylish, snobby ones that I would think most people mean when they say preps BUT AREN'T.
A = I don't know about your school, but in mine, the athletes aren't the most popular people in the school, but close to it, so that's why they're A.
A- = the infamous preps -- stylish, talkative, put on an act to make everyone happy so they can score with people.
B+ = Sluts/thugs are fairly popular, but a little on the quiet side, so not so much as the others. Also, since they ARE sluts and thugs, some people don't make friends with them. . . .
B = the group that is almost prep, except B is much quieter and doesn't put on an act; B dresses in style, has a lot of friends, but still looks down upon people they don't like and aren't afraid to show it.
B- = We know how druggies are -- somewhat popular, somewhat not. The "not" part being mostly because they are so indifferent that they don't make any attempt to be friendly. Notice how B- and the C's are so close to each other. That's because punks/gothics are often druggies.
C+ = punks. Now punks and gothics are very similar in my eyes, because they dress and act the same. I separate the two to show the difference between those hardcore ones and the not-so-hardcore ones. Punks are not hardcore. They wear black and a few silver thingies, listen to their punk music, and are a bit deep, but that's it.
C = in between punk and gothic.
C- = the hardcore punks--gothics. They wear their ugly clashing clothes like black and bright pink stripes and tons of silver jewelry and stuff (sorry, but tis ugly), have their hair dyed (and often spiked in weird ways), listen to their goth/punk music, and are often "mentally ill" (like suicidal and stuff) and interested in death and "evil" (like the devil). They're more outcasted than C+ punks.
D+ = like those people in my anime club who are officers and stuff, who lead the club, are talkative, etc.
D = those almost-officer anime fans who are somewhat talkative, somewhat not -- those humorous ones who always make jokes and goof around. Often D class people are gamers.
D- = the quiet anime fans. NO, NOT ME. D- are the ones who like anime a little, but don't socialize with anyone. I know it sort of describes me, but it also doesn't, because I'm not quiet all the time. I'm a leader of my friends; I just don't talk to the people in the anime club.
Now most of you would think I'm in the D area because I'm an anime fan. Well you're wrong. I belong to an anime club. But I don't talk to anyone there. I'm in outcast even in my own kin. So I don't belong in the D, but in the E, a rare class that wouldn't have existed had there not been people like me.
E+, E, & E- = The "E" stands for "exception." The people in this category don't fit into any of the other categories. Being such a weirdo, this kind of person would not be popular; that's why they are nestled in between the D's and F's. Conveniently, tis also alphabetical. Another irony is that E's are excluded from the grading system for some reason (maybe because they want F to mean fail because fail starts with an F?). I emphasize the E's are very strange. Most people who read my stereotypes page think they're an E because they think they're so special. Talk to me for about a month, and I'll probably find out what category you really belong in. (But I would need to know you IRL to get a more accurate judgement.) The only examples of E's that I have so far are myself and one IRL friend. The + to - scale just signifies the amount of talkativeness or popularity. So an E+ would be the most talkative/popular of the group of E's, and E- would be the least talkative/popular of the group of E's.
F+ = serious gamers. Not the anime-fan gamers, unless the gamers value their games over anime. They're into Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and all that other fantasy stuff that isn't anime. They devote practically their whole lives to games.
F = true nerds/geeks/dorks. NOT people who are quiet and wear glasses. F people are show-offy people who are very smart, but very often don't get good grades because they are too darn lazy to do their homework.
F- = retards. I use that term literally. I never use it to mean "stupid." Retarded means mentally retarded, ya know? They are quite unfortunate, but they do exist, and there is a class for them too. Way at the bottom of the social ladder. They have hardly any friends, if any at all. Their personalities vary, but their situation is the same.
IN CONCLUSION! Yeah, I judge people. A lot of people would frown upon me for doing such a wretched, human thing, but I do it, and I know all of you out there do too. C area people always claim to not judge, but I know they do; they judge "preps" all the time! You don't know what's going on inside their head!! People say that stereotyping is wrong because you judge them as that one stereotype and don't give them a chance and get to know them for who they really are. Well, I give everyone a chance, believe it or not, and they always let me down. Humans are so predictable. Once I see what class they're in, I can predict almost everything about them. It never fails. Anyway . . . I judge people because stereotypes are like races. I am very selective in my friends -- not to be racist or anything -- because I don't like most of the people I'm around, and I find it interesting how each person fits into a certain group/clique whether they want to admit it or not. I try to pick friends who are unique and don't fit into any of the stereotypes, but tis so hard to find someone who isn't tainted. Tis very hard indeed. So anyway, I originally created this stereotype thing because one of my buddies Sophia wanted me to try to judge her. I automatically thought gothic, but you see, the group "gothic" is very broad. And that one term doesn't describe all of them. So I created that chart up there. And it turns out she's a C+. Now the whole thing is just for my enjoyment, and to show how easily people fit into stereotypes without even knowing it. I can judge a person so easily by just knowing them for one day, and I may learn later that I was wrong about them, but most of the time I'm right. This is also to prove that I don't fit into any of the above stereotypes (except for E's), and yet exibit some of the qualities of most of them.
We all judge people. Judgements are the same as first impressions, and I'm sure you will admit that you have a first impression of everyone. Usually the judgement is based on the person's appearance and clothes. BUT! Just because someone has a characteristic of a stereotype doesn't mean they are that stereotype. In other words, just because you wear black doesn't mean you're gothic. But if you're gothic, you are likely to wear black. Tis like that math rule where a square is a rectangle but a rectangle isn't a square. Get it?
Maybe one day I'll make a quiz, and you can take it to see which stereotype you are. I'm sure if you take a good look at yourself you would know already. Probably not though, because I find that most people try to put themselves in the class they WANT to be, not the one they really are. Once again, humans fail to see the obvious. . . .
Copyright © 2004 JANS INDIGO. All Rights Reserved.