At some point, all of us are stereotyped. Or we stereotype other unsuspecting souls. It's innate for us homo sapiens. A guy holding a pink cellphone, is gay. Maybe the poor chap just likes the colour pink! A girl that doesn't talk to barbie dolls and deck their heads with crowns, sit and gossip and do her nails is called a tom-boy. Which by the way, I've always wondered, why Tom?
It's so very simple to make assumptions and judgments without thinking twice just based on appearances, music taste, or even colour. I've always wondered why we do it so instantaneously without giving it a thought or two. Then again there are people who do do it consciously. Sometimes it's fine. But most of the time it's plain rude and personally, I think very unfair. It's like I always tell people, judging is easier than being judged. And we're always on the alert when it comes to giving our oh-so-expert opinion on other people but we frown the life out of our eyebrows and get all defensive if someone so much as comments on us. For instance I always thought only the alpha male could become ninjas and pirates. And then my little 8 year old face lit up like the fireworks in Sydney on New Years when I found out otherwise. Yes I confess. When I was 8 I wanted to be a pirate. Or a garbage collector. I still do. Anyone know where I can get hook arms and legs from?
The reason I decided to write on something that even though cannot be condensed into just one article, is because we see it happen every single day and because of all the stereotypes I've faced. The four most common ones being a goth, a metalhead, a geek and a tomboy. It took me a long, long, LONG time to understand that there were so many different groups that people were categorized into without their knowledge. And it took me even longer to understand why I was included in these random, man made stereotypes.
I wear a lot of black. I wear my eyeliner pretty dark. I own way too many over sized band tee shirts. They make me feel like a supermodel. And also the sleeves always give me the urge to get to the top of my house, jump off and start flying. If that fails, I use my mad ninja skills to get back. I have a lot of ear piercings. But I am NOT goth or emo. I just like black! and I love doing up my eyes. And I love big tee shirts of all my favourite bands. Plain and simple. If there was an over-sized-clothing-listen-to-music-that-makes-you-want-to-take-six-painkillers-appreciator-of-the-colour-black-because-it's-just-fancy-and-goes-with-everything group I'd wholeheartedly name myself a member. But since there isn't, atleast not one that I am aware of, I'm just a normal person with an interest in the above.
Metal head. Spot on. Defines pretty much my very existence. And for obvious reasons. I've been listening to metal and the like since I was about 8 or 9. I still remember listening to my first Maiden song, and for a very, very long time much to the annoyance of people who had to call me, my caller tune was Crazy Train by Sabbath. I even got threatening messages telling me that if I didn't pick up the phone immediately and not subject the person to the sheer awesomeness of Ozzy Osbourne yelling "ALL ABOOOOARD", I would be toast. Not like I particularly cared. It was my caller tune for about a two years. I love my long, semi black hair.I'm getting it back to black gradually. I went and coloured it like a jackass in one of my many rebellious moments. I love headbanging.Which to the common man is just a vision of someone being possessed. To me it's a sign of feeling the music. I love my guitar. I love the insane rush you get listening to blast beats, maddening guitar solos and death growls. And I get peace from it like from nothing else. But more on this later. Or I won't stop talking about it.
Nerd, Geek. Apparently people who study all the time, their faces giving the impression of a minefield explosion, Star Wars, lactose-intolerant. La di da it goes on and on. There's a very fine line between the two if you ask me. Oh also, not to mention hardcore World Of Warcraft and DOTA gamers. See what I just did there? Stereotyped. Easy. As of now I have no choice but to study because I have exams in about two months. In summer. In the heat of Chennai. And it's a degree from the London School Of Economics. Feel the pressure people. I don't like studying. I despise writing exams. The very concept doesn't settle with me. But I absolutely love learning new things, whether it's about music, languages, food, cultures. It's exciting! I am what you call one of the followers of Jedi-ism. So no need to explain my love for Star Wars there.
http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/ - Check that out.
If I was lactose intolerant, I would probably spend most of my time in my dunny, sprouting creative ideas on how to improve porcelain quality and maybe even conduct a survey on what people like to read when on the magical throne of poop. In other words, screw lactose intolerance, because I CANNOT give up my chocolate. Or cheesecake. Or anything sweet for that matter. At the moment, I'm semi-vegan. I avoid milk here solely because it sucks. Also it's said that they add rennet, which to those of you don't know, is a certain enzyme from the stomach of a cow. My apologies if you're eating while you're reading this. Better out than in I always say. I do love gaming. It's an art in itself. And I do game at times. But it is very very distracting, addictive and frankly speaking, a waste of productive time if you actually do have better things to do. World of Warcraft is a lot of fun though, for those of you who are into the whole fantasy genre.
I love football with every cell in my 5'4 body. I used to play a lot but circumstances don't allow me to at the moment. I'll get back to it eventually. When I went for training at one point, I was the only girl on a field of about 40 guys. I went for Kalari Payattu which is a form of martial arts hailing from the state of Kerala in India. Again, only feminine soul in class. I love skateboarding and I'm still trying to master an Ollie. I do not like the colour pink, exceptions being this one Kurti I bought recently and my toenails right now. I get a kick from watching wrestling. I don't spend too much time getting dressed up unless I have my sister or my mother breathing down my neck to look like a girl. I have improved though have I not ladies? I wear tee shirts shorts and denims most of the time. And I am the proud conqueror of many trees.
So yeah. I may fit into a bunch of stereotypes. Agreed. But I'm whole lot more than that. I'm Australian. I'm of Indian origin. I'm a vegetarian. I'm a Hindu yet open minded about religions and other beliefs. I read shampoo bottles on the loo. I make fart sounds with my mouth. I'm a hardcore animal lover. You can't stereotype a person. Unless they want to be. Which trust me you'll know if they do.
Because of my skin colour, which is a mixture of light brown, yellow and navy blue. Jokes. I've been thought of as Persian, Malaysian, Punjabi etc etc. I walked into this store once and the owner just started babbling off in a language I had no clue about. To me it was just gurgles and spit. And I just talked back in my decent Tamil. And his face looked like he had just seen a naked ghost. Oh how I laughed.
The way I speak is very very different. I don't have a particular accent. It's not Indian ( I still don't know what an Indian accent is but the way Russell Peters does it is SO not Indian. it's just retarded. I love you Russell) Which surprises a large number of people because I've been here over 11 years. It's not Australian. I tend to vary the way I talk when I talk because it's fun. I can switch from Irish to Italian to Arab to British in a flash! And this further confuses the minds of many. Hee so it's hard to stereotype me over there. I just speak with very complete pronunciations which gives people the impression that I possess an accent. When I first joined school in Coimbatore, girls in my class thought I was an outright showoff because of the way I spoke. Or as they say in this city, "peter". Which basically means you're an uppity, English speaking prick. But in a tone less polite.
I don't like blonde jokes. I don't like Sardar jokes. I don't like random racial comments. I don't like judgments made on people just because they're fat or skinny or crooked or wearing pink tutus. Sounds like I'm the most boring person alive? Think about the last time you were stereotyped, you'll know what I'm talking about. And when you do, think again the next time you do it.
May The Force Be With You.
P.S : This is from a Limp Bizkit track.
Am I a freak in the darkness
Who am I a misfit
You speak with opinions
To seek in so deep
But it's alright
Well your just an allusion
Confused by your narrow mind
Reality is up ahead in the distance
But that lack of persistence has left you behind
Now you're reaching for your sanity
Cause you're afraid of me, so don't f*** with me
You wanna ask me a question, well I got a question
How much longer can I tolerate this shit
Ego's trip when you're livin' on the flip side
Drop down of an uterus and god damn
I see ya pointin' your finga
You stereotype me, cause you don't like me
Well you don't even know me, punk
You don't know me
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