So one of the first things people notice about me, unfortunately, is that I play football. I noticed this in high school after I started to really put on size and actually look the part. With the appearance and the hobby, I've taken on the typical impressions and assumptions that come with it.
This means that when I shake hands with people, they assume I major in criminal justice, and that my whole life is just going to involve violence or some form of physical labor.
They look me dead in the face and assume they're quicker and more logical than I am, before I even say hello. Not only that, but when I walk places or go anywhere, everyone assumes that I'm constantly angry at everything.
When I try to engage people in conversation, it seems they are either intimidated or they think I'm trying to intimidate them.
Either way, it makes some conversations really awkward to continue, especially when you have social anxiety. I've had people duck away from me, turn away from my "hellos," or "good mornings," and even avoid eye contact totally. Sometimes it makes me feel even more insecure about going to public places.
There are techniques I use to try to make myself more politically approachable as well. For example, I've learned that keeping my eyebrows slightly raised, my back slightly hunched, and my eyes forward or away from other people's eyes, can lead to less intimidation or possible conflict.
All in all I don't think it's right to stereotype any group for any reason, and any kind of stereotype can make life hard for anyone. In addition, stereotyping groups is incredibly illogical and makes no rational sense to do, even though it's a natural function of our brains.
Not only that, but every group is different. You can never classify individuals within a group by any means. For example, football is a sport that draws people from hundreds of different walks of life, just like any other hobby or game.
There are people, specifically at Briar Cliff, who come here to play American football from different parts of the world: Britain, Germany, and Canada to name a few. There are football players with above a 3.5 GPA, and below a 1.0 GPA.
There are players from conservative and liberal families, players who like metal and those who like rap. Statistically distributed, the members of any group will have a normal distribution based on any classification, as they approach a certain number.
Basically, when I sat down and really thought about how much I do to try to escape my own stereotypes, it fascinated me that I do so much just for a simple stereotype like playing a sport.
In reality, billions across the globe are stereotyped every day for a hundred different reasons, just to justify some form of stratification, oppression, or just how someone feels about a specific group, i.e. football players. It should be one of our goals, as a civilization, to remove this mechanic from society, for though it is natural for the brain, it is clearly dysfunctional for the world at large.
