People around the world are suspicious aboutthe information that reaches them. For example, the 32% of Americans who say they trust the mass media “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to cover the news fully and accurately ties Gallup’s lowest historical reading, previously recorded in 2016.
Image credits:stefan_reevezsky
However, many believe the situation isn’t that much better even if we take a step away from reporting. Last week, Reddit userStefan_Reevezskyasked others on the platform “What things are claimed to be ‘stigmatized’ in [the] media, but actually aren’t in society?” and folks have thought of plenty.
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Boomers, hands downThe vast majority of boomers are sweet elderly people who are nice to talk to. Not racist caricatures that spout nonsense all the time.
The Redditor elaborated on their thought process, saying, “As I was brainstorming, the word ‘stigma’ popped up frequently, leading me to realize that many things portrayed as ‘unacceptable’ in popular media are actually mundane in real society.”
Blue-collared jobs sometimes are looked down upon in media, but in reality, skilled trades are often in high demand and well-respected.
Men who are nurses. Nobody cares irl.
“Take tattoos or piercings, for example. Despite articles claiming they’re stigmatized, there’s a mainstream culture around them, and most people outside of it simply don’t care, except for certain workplace norms,” the Reddit user said.“The same goes for being gay, short, a single mother, a blue-collar worker, or dealing with depression or other mental health issues.”
“Take tattoos or piercings, for example. Despite articles claiming they’re stigmatized, there’s a mainstream culture around them, and most people outside of it simply don’t care, except for certain workplace norms,” the Reddit user said.
“The same goes for being gay, short, a single mother, a blue-collar worker, or dealing with depression or other mental health issues.”
Maybe wanting to stay single. Media portrays it as a desperate cry for love, but in reality, it’s pretty liberating!
Slightly niche perhaps, but my kids always had trouble buying Fathers Day cards for me because I didn’t spend my evenings down the pub, fish or play golf.
Stefan_Reevezsky tried to find similar threads on Reddit but they couldn’t, so they decided to just post the question themselves and see what everyone thinks.
I have to say wearing glasses and having braces. No one called me four eyes. No one called me tinsel teeth. Believe me, I was made fun of as a kid, but those weren’t the reasons.
Not wearing makeup. The media and Internet are full of all the pressure to wear makeup but I work with HUNDREDS of women and maybe a third of us sometimes wear lipstick or eyeliner? I can count on one hand the ones who wear foundation. Nobody says anything. Even the college president was barefaced giving a plenary speech and at commencement. There’s no stigma for me wearing some color when I feel like it either. It’s just not relevant to anyone’s interests.
“What better dragon than a stigma surrounding something you identify with or enjoy? It fits into our heavily labeled culture, where fighting for a label becomes a narrative akin to classic Hollywood underdog stories. People who lack substantial identity often cling to these labels, supporting media that reinforces their perceived battles,” the Redditor added.“It struck me as odd that no one had posed this question before, considering the multitude of responses I received. Perhaps it’s because admitting that some stigmas don’t exist is itself stigmatized.”
“What better dragon than a stigma surrounding something you identify with or enjoy? It fits into our heavily labeled culture, where fighting for a label becomes a narrative akin to classic Hollywood underdog stories. People who lack substantial identity often cling to these labels, supporting media that reinforces their perceived battles,” the Redditor added.
“It struck me as odd that no one had posed this question before, considering the multitude of responses I received. Perhaps it’s because admitting that some stigmas don’t exist is itself stigmatized.”
Karens. Hear me out!! It went from being a thing of recording and judging actually rude and often racist women who complain just to complain. But as more videos popped up, people are recording and sensationalizing situations where if you were in her shoes, you’d be mad too! Karen isn’t synonymous with “old lady you find annoying”.
Being Average looking, it seems like social media loves to see supermodel like people and forget that most of the public is average and or unattractive sometimes, and that’s alright. I like that there are more people on social media that are vocalizing this issue and letting us know that normal is ok, Flawed is ok. ( No shade to attractive people, they’re beautiful and everyone loves to look at them but my point is they are not the only ones that exist).
There was a study where researchers analyzed 41 movies that had been released between 1990 and 2010 for depictions of schizophrenia. Based on the findings of the analysis, they drew several conclusions, including:
Otherstudieshave also discovered that 75% of depictions of mental illness in popular video games are negative or stereotyped.
Enjoying pineapple on pizza. It’s the secret handshake of the culinary brave.
Couples with very different attractiveness. Happens all the time irl and nobody actually says stuff.
These portrayals are not only incorrect but damaging because they spread myths about mental Illness. Schizophrenia is often painted with symptoms such as visual hallucinations, bizarre delusions, and disorganized speech, and they’re presented as if they’re commonplace. In reality, however, symptoms like decreased motivation, poverty of speech, and flat affect are more common. And this is just one example of how media portrayals can threaten to (re)shape societal perceptions and contribute to harmful stereotypes.
Going to college when you’re older..theres tins of adults over 35 trying to reinvent themselves..theres even an old guy who made school a lifelong career.
Being short (as a man). Especially online, people have made such a mountain out of this particular molehill over the last few years. I’ve never met a woman who strictly dates men 6' and up, and my short mates get plenty of action.
Recent trend seems to be the “blue bubble/green bubble” debate with iPhones and Androids. People apparently HATE green bubbles and refuse to communicate with anyone if they have to send green bubble text messages.Have not met a single soul in person or even online who gives a s**t.
Inlaws, most people I know get on pretty well with their inlaws.
Everything.The media likes to blow things well out of proportion to get a good story for people to follow and talk about.Most of the time, it’s because of the media that many big problems are as “big” as they are.
Dads going to parks alone with their children.
Avocado toast.
High school stereotypes, they scared the s**t out of me until I got to high school.
There are a lot of posts here saying “Normalize eating out/getting coffee/seeing a movie alone.“Seriously, no one cares. Do those things, they are normal.
Being a nerd. Yeah nerdiness might get you bullied in school depending, but a lot of nerd culture has just become part of…well, culture. I find this most annoying with elder millennials who still act like they’re some sort of oppressed elite because the dare to like Mario.
Having freckles. When the fake freckles makeup trend was taking off, tons of people came out of the woodwork to complain about how “unfair” it was that they got teased for having freckles and now it’s a trend. I’m sorry, but unless you were physically and socially perfect in the eyes of your peers in elementary school, you probably got bullied for something arbitrary. For me, it was my big ears. I’m not going to sit here and whine about people stretching their ears and making them bigger. It’s such a fake problem.
(Celebs) being gay (in western europe)Most of us don’t give a s**t.
Not wanting to have kids. Besides direct family members(which I mean, kinda makes sense why your parents and grandparents might want you to have kids of your own), it seems like the stigma of not wanting kids is extremely overblown. I tend to see WAY more posts and media about people feeling special/rebellious for not wanting kids than I ever see for others demanding that people have children outside of fringe alt-right types, and they tend to only want “certain people” to have more kids.The “no kids forever” crowd seem to be like inverted vegans, they actually do bring it up all the time and act as if they are hated for their choice when in reality the vast majority of people don’t care or see the benefits of said choice.
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Discussing mental illness. “X illness is taboo to talk about. We need to talk more about X.” It isn’t taboo and in fact it’s now trendy to wear your particular flair of mental illness with pride.
Voting for the other party.I blame the news for the political divide.
Wearing socks with sandals—media might mock it, but let’s be real, comfort is always in style, even if it’s not runway-ready!
Media acts like the internet is just cyberbullying, predators, scams, and dangerous/illegal Tik Tok trends.They also act like a 12yo playing GTA is suddenly gonna want to actually steal cars and shoot people.
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Saying Merry Christmas.
I’m a dude. Grew up rather sheltered and had to follow all the rules.Recently I questioned my entire existence and long story short my self esteem is getting fixed and I have purple hair, piercings and painted nails, usually with a cute little pattern like lightning or something.My parents are old world Indian, they aren’t able to process that I can get high level corporate jobs looking slightly punk. I have a tattoo full sleeve but apart from classy earrings and nail polish and purple hair you don’t see anything even remotely non corporate. Except maybe backpack instead of briefcase. Because duh.
Being from Ireland, use of the word “c**t” in everyday parlance.It’s like kryptonite to Americans…
The “bad guy” in a lot of relationship movies is often the one everyone goes for in real life whereas the protagonist is often who people avoidthe villain is often the stiff, responsible, high power job guythe hero is often some free spirit, quirky type, no life plan, extremely expressive, etc.
Older women dating younger men.
Periods.
It’s a mixed bag. Everything has varying levels of stigma. For example, mental health, we are now at a place in society where we can talk about it and some people will call you a fruit loop, as I was called once, and some people will shower you in empathy and support, as I once received.So is mental illness stigmatized? Eye of the beholder.
The use of the word “f**k”.
Speaking 2 languages. Maybe it was 50 years ago but now bilingual speakers just adopt that oppression. I’ve never heard it not been praised.
“Plain” girls.
I would say it’s having tattoos, piercings, etc. If people around are split 50/50 - those who just glance and those who don’t care - it doesn’t mean that there is a stigma.
Bullying, unfortunately. Despite all the negative coverage, anti-bullying campaigns, and other efforts to tamp it down, bullying will always occur in some form with the perpetrators tending to be among the more popular persons within social groups.
Nudity.
Owning a firearmEveryone with a gun isn’t a racist militia redneck or a black inner city gangbanger.
Being conservative or voting Republican.Turn on any streaming tv show or movie and you’d think nobody in America is right of center.
Christians.
Diversity in general (sexuality, ethnicity, gender). When I see some articles and videos about this it sometimes feels like a parody. I’ve never seen discrimination in real life being that much of a problem on a scale that media shows. Of course, there are some cases when it’s a problem and I don’t try to marginalize it, but society nowadays isn’t really that racist/homophobic/sexist like the media portrays it (I’m not talking about countries where it’s a big issue still, but USA or Europe for example where this problem is really not that common).
Being a traditional nuclear family.
African American representation in media. .
I do not think promiscuous women are judged that much.At a certain age, people start thinking you are odd if you never smoked pot, been drunk, or had sex with more than one person.People talk down to you like a child if you are sexually inexperienced.American culture is not prudish at all.I do not even think people are all that judgmental of people’s sexual behavior.Then again, I live in a liberal part of the country.
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