Prejudices... You've got 'em!

[ApeShapeDeity]

Like it or not we all have prejudices. It's a very base mechanism for learning and knowlege. If we exclude our scientific knowlege, we can say

'Well, one time I saw a guy put his hand in a fire, and it hurt him. If I do that, it'll hurt me too...'

Having said this, in a modern society, where we are supposedly educated, prejudice is largely more trouble than it's worth. So, most of us will accept our individual biases, bite our lip and get over them. (Ok, not everyone)

So, be brave. In order to understand ourselves and our fellows better, admit to your prejudice. Explain it and how you deal with it.

Personally, I've had some bad run ins with some of my indigenous cousins, (there are serious socio-economic and health problems that need to be addressed) so I can be pretty wary of them. I've seen several who are red hot quick to anger... I just try to know when it's a foolish preconception and when I might actually be under threat.

Edit: I urge people to be mature and intelligent in thier responses. Kudous to those so far, but please, no hate rants...

 

[BonsaiK]

I'm prejudiced against this thread. I know I shouldn't be, I know I should give it a go, but the whole "carte-blanche to admit your prejudices and out yourself as a racist/sexist/whateverist" thing makes me feel troubled, like I'm being subtly manipulated into saying unconstructive things under the guise of "we're all human, aren't we". I guess a prime example would be this post right here. Which I guess means the score is now this thread = 1, BonsaiK = 0. Damn, it just got the best of me. I knew I should have been more wary. I'll make sure I'm more prejudiced next time a thread like this appears. See what this thread is doing to us? No wonder I felt the way I did.

Seriously, I question the wisdom of a thread inviting people to share their prejudices. This will not end well. To me the whole point of being mature about prejudices that you know are irrational is not sharing them around.

 

[MrEnigami]

I have prejudices against religious people or at least, the big three religions; Christianity, Islam and Judaism. I have a few different reasons for each, and they are probably very wrong of me to have, but they're there.

Christianity: I have had bad experiences with Christians, and them trying to force their faith onto people. Their views on homosexuality disgust me. This applies to all kinds of Christianity. I dislike the Pope a lot too.

Islam: From what I can tell, they force women to hide their faces and to willingly accept that they are lesser than men. That's wrong. Also, the potential for them to turn to terror is there. Yes, I know, a very small minority do, but still... :/

Judaism: The whole Israel thing with Palestine. That's reason enough, in my view.

Yeah... I know that those views are a bit iffy, but I openly admit that and the fact I am prejudice.

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

I have prejudices against religious people or at least, the big three religions; Christianity, Islam and Judaism. I have a few different reasons for each, and they are probably very wrong of me to have, but they're there.

Christianity: I have had bad experiences with Christians, and them trying to force their faith onto people. Their views on homosexuality disgust me. This applies to all kinds of Christianity. I dislike the Pope a lot too.

Islam: From what I can tell, they force women to hide their faces and to willingly accept that they are lesser than men. That's wrong. Also, the potential for them to turn to terror is there. Yes, I know, a very small minority do, but still... :/

Judaism: The whole Israel thing with Palestine. That's reason enough, in my view.

Yeah... I know that those views are a bit iffy, but I openly admit that and the fact I am prejudice.

I am Muslim, and I can tell you for sure that all those statements are false. Women hiding faces, saying they are lesser than men is a CULTURAL thing in the Middle East that has NOTHING to do with Islam. And I agree that those things are a problem but they aren't as prevalent as you think. Also the terror thing, I get so sick of trying to tell people that Islam and terror have nothing to do with each other. If you wish to point fingers and stereotype, then you can say that Arabs tend to turn towards terror because Arabs and middle eastern people is not synonymous with Islam and Muslims. Islam is a religion followed by people of many colors. Sorry to sound so defensive and maybe a bit rude it's just I am constantly bombarded with statements like these, I am sorry.

OT:

Which brings me to my unfortunate prejudice against white people (especially Americans), because of all the harassment I get and have gotten. Some situations just made me feel a bit upset, while some ended up with me going to the hospital with broken ribs and knife wounds. But don't worry, my whitey hating phase passed a long time ago (and quickly enough) after living here in America for a while and making friends with Americans.

 

[WarCorrespondent]

I'm prejudiced against asian drivers.

Yes, I've seen good asian drivers. And yes, I've seen old people, ladies on their phones, businessmen on their phones, P platers (I'm Australian) acting like morons and being all around sub-par drivers. But I've just seen too bloody many asian drivers screwing up in the most spectacular ways and the only accident I've ever seen involved, yes, an asian driver (pulled out to cross a main road at the absolute wrong time, got hit directly side-on by a SUV, proceded to then confuse brakes with acceleration and careered up a front lawn and into a large bush).

I'm not going to lie, I'm prejudiced pretty badly in this respect. I've seen a lot of screw up's by these guys and that MIGHT explain it, but its my prejudice, and I accept that it's unreasonable.

 

[MrEnigami]

I have prejudices against religious people or at least, the big three religions; Christianity, Islam and Judaism. I have a few different reasons for each, and they are probably very wrong of me to have, but they're there.

Christianity: I have had bad experiences with Christians, and them trying to force their faith onto people. Their views on homosexuality disgust me. This applies to all kinds of Christianity. I dislike the Pope a lot too.

Islam: From what I can tell, they force women to hide their faces and to willingly accept that they are lesser than men. That's wrong. Also, the potential for them to turn to terror is there. Yes, I know, a very small minority do, but still... :/

Judaism: The whole Israel thing with Palestine. That's reason enough, in my view.

Yeah... I know that those views are a bit iffy, but I openly admit that and the fact I am prejudice.

I am Muslim, and I can tell you for sure that all those statements are false. Women hiding faces, saying they are lesser than men is a CULTURAL thing in the Middle East that has NOTHING to do with Islam. And I agree that those things are a problem but they aren't as prevalent as you think. Also the terror thing, I get so sick of trying to tell people that Islam and terror have nothing to do with each other. If you wish to point fingers and stereotype, then you can say that Arabs tend to turn towards terror because Arabs and middle eastern people is not synonymous with Islam and Muslims. Islam is a religion followed by people of many colors. Sorry to sound so defensive and maybe a bit rude it's just I am constantly bombarded with statements like these, I am sorry.

No no, it's fine really. I already said that I am probably wrong; such is the nature of prejudice, right? Thanks for pointing that out though, knowledge makes me happy.

 

[Custard_Angel]

I don't have prejudices. Anyone one who says otherwise is a dirty Slav.

Yeah. Prejudice is ingrained into society with no way around it. Anybody who says otherwise is just lying to themselves.

There's nothing wrong with it. Straight-up, out-of-hand racism is horrendous, but mild prejudice helps us to see the differences we have and allows us to acknowledge what makes us truly unique.

But then again, I'm just a thieving Croat.

 

[tharglet]

Someone mentioned drivers... usually it's good to be wary of certain cars, due to certain car manufacturers attracting certain types of driver.
Yes, it's a prejudice, but it's not a bad one. So long as you aren't telling people they're a bad driver because they're driving xyz car.

As long as you're prepared for people to challenge your assumed opinion of them, then it's all good

 

[varulfic]

I plain don't like deaf people. It bothers me how they refuse to acknowledge that they have a disability, despite missing an entire sense. Deaf culture just pisses me off, the way they distance themselves from the rest of society by refusing to fix their problem... and it is a goddamn problem, acting like not being able to hear isn't a disability is plain arrogance.

Yeah, I don't like em.

 

[Zack McSleuthburger]

I fully expect everyone I meet to turn into a tentacle monster right in front of me.

Trust no one.

 

[GrimTuesday]

I have a prejudice against people who drive Camrys, for some reason it seems like they are always the worst driver on the road.

I'm not going to lie I have trouble getting along with very religious people (I'm not talking your run of the mill religious person I'm talking about the ones who bring religion into everything) I just can't stand to listen to them talk about all the wonderful things god has done for them and if I accept him and Jesus into my heart, I will feel the same love as they do. I just want to tell them to shove it up there ass and let me live my life as an evil heathen.

 

[Vakz]

Indeed everyone are prejudging. Myself, I don't consider it terribly badly. Like it or not, but a lot can be read by someone's appearance. If we were to go into every situation with an "empty" mind, wouldn't that mean we go into every situation totally unprepared? Sure, this might not be entirely bad on a daily basis, but what about conversations about deals, or conversations that could potentially become hostile, because you started talking about something that could be offensive to that person, because you chose not to prejudge him?

That being said, of course I find it stupid when people look at a guy who dresses and behaves less manly, and everyone just goes "he's gay, definitely". I don't hate/dislike people I don't know, and I like to think that I do give everyone a chance. If I was to interact with the described person above, I would do it from the standpoint that perhaps it's a high likeliness that the person is gay, and I would go into the conversation trying to make sure I didn't say anything that might be interpreted as offensive to him, or saying things that could hurt him (if he's not gay, it could obviously hurt him to have it pointed out that people think he looks gay).

But all in all, I find this very hard to explain.. It takes more than a quick glance to read anything useful from a persons appearance, but things CAN be read. It's not as simple as what a person is wearing, it's also about what the person is NOT wearing. If you talk to someone who REALLY likes metal, but doesn't dress as a typical metalhead, that could be thought of us either; 1) this person has no desire to identify himself with a certain type of people, or 2) the person was tought that such clothes are not "proper", which could indicate there are other things that person would considering improper, that many others would consider normal.

So in short, I really don't mind people having prejustice, but whatever their prejustice is, it should not stop them from giving everyone a chance. Just that it has the possibilites to ease a situation, if you only THINK THINGS THROUGH.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I probably have dormant ones yeah, worst example here would be old people thanks to the sort of old people I meet day-to-day. The sort that shuffles around, can't hear properly (get a hearing-aide dammit) and smells like...I don't know, just awful. Worst is when they go on about how 'young people' apparently should be invurnerable to fatigue, pains, illness or anything of the sort and that only they are allowed to be tired. Yeah I know not all old peeps are like that, but the image still lingers around.

The trick is being aware of them, that gives you the opportunity to work around them. At least that's what I strive for. Knowledge is power, helps you cope with those gut feelings.

Women hiding faces, saying they are lesser than men is a CULTURAL thing in the Middle East that has NOTHING to do with Islam.

I thought the whole veil-thing was to protect yourself and men against those easily-overcome-with-lust men, which is kinda predjudice against both men and women. At least that's the reason I heard from various Muslim women, the whole chastity/purity thing.

 

[ApeShapeDeity]

Indeed everyone are prejudging. Myself, I don't consider it terribly badly. Like it or not, but a lot can be read by someone's appearance. If we were to go into every situation with an "empty" mind, wouldn't that mean we go into every situation totally unprepared? Sure, this might not be entirely bad on a daily basis, but what about conversations about deals, or conversations that could potentially become hostile, because you started talking about something that could be offensive to that person, because you chose not to prejudge him?

That being said, of course I find it stupid when people look at a guy who dresses and behaves less manly, and everyone just goes "he's gay, definitely". I don't hate/dislike people I don't know, and I like to think that I do give everyone a chance. If I was to interact with the described person above, I would do it from the standpoint that perhaps it's a high likeliness that the person is gay, and I would go into the conversation trying to make sure I didn't say anything that might be interpreted as offensive to him, or saying things that could hurt him (if he's not gay, it could obviously hurt him to have it pointed out that people think he looks gay).

But all in all, I find this very hard to explain.. It takes more than a quick glance to read anything useful from a persons appearance, but things CAN be read. It's not as simple as what a person is wearing, it's also about what the person is NOT wearing. If you talk to someone who REALLY likes metal, but doesn't dress as a typical metalhead, that could be thought of us either; 1) this person has no desire to identify himself with a certain type of people, or 2) the person was tought that such clothes are not "proper", which could indicate there are other things that person would considering improper, that many others would consider normal.

So in short, I really don't mind people having prejustice, but whatever their prejustice is, it should not stop them from giving everyone a chance. Just that it has the possibilites to ease a situation, if you only THINK THINGS THROUGH.

Sweet. Five star response! You get a scratch'n'sniff sticker, strawbrerry, I think.

This is what i'm trying to lead people toward with this post. You've validated the purpouse, thank-you.

 

[Zaik]

I've only met one black man that hasn't flawlessly fit a racist's description of black people. No black woman has managed to not be a stereotype so far.

To top it off, the one black man I speak of was actually from Africa, and was only in the US to get a business degree. We actually got along pretty well. We did all the work for the other two in our group because they were too busy getting dressed by flailing about in their closet until they were wearing 30 pounds of extremely loose clothing, hitting on fat white women, and practicing speaking gibberish.

 

[XzarTheMad]

I am involuntary racist towards middle eastern immigrants of my country. Mainly because I lived for a year around a ghetto, where I was harassed, experienced an attempted robbery and had my laptop plus wallet stolen from my bedroom while I was asleep in there.

I know several of these immigrants who are nice people, but when I meet them on the street (well, only the males aged 12-17) I involuntarily tense up and expect the worst.

 

[FalloutJack]

Let's not get all Avenue Q on me about this, alright? The only REAL prejudice I can be seen as having is towards people who exhibit dumb behavior. I don't care where you come from. THAT is the method by which I judge someone. Suffice to say, that's not a prejudice towards any kind of people, unless there's a race of the perpetually stupid out there. Unfortunately, since such behavior is fairly universal and - probably - just part of life, there isn't a specific crowd you can focus all the rage towards anyway.

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

I think against religious people and conservatives.
I just sit there thinking, "How can you believe this stuff? Its just so painfully obvious that your wrong!"

 

[Dog Wednesday]

Yep, I have plenty of prejudices. Usually against hardcore religious zealots and militant atheists (honestly they are so much alike they should date).