Prejudice

[Genersis]

I don't know if it's a prejudice to think that people are misguided if they profess a belief in something that is blatantly untrue. If I said that Elvis is alive and living on the moon which is made out of green cheese, you'd brand me an idiot, and you'd be right.

That one belief would be idiotic, but the person on a whole, not necessarily.

[Pix]

A couple of months ago our school conducted a research regarding prejudice where approximately 50 examples of common ones were listed. Students were to mark each one they personally shared and I thought the whole idea seemed rather pointless and stupid. The results, however, showed that most people claimed to have no prejudice at all which made me interested. There was also an option to add prejudices that couldn't be found amongst the examples, yet barely anyone claimed to be prejudiced in any regard at all.

That doesn't surprise me. Prejudiced people tend to think they are perfectly reasonable in their beliefs and that everyone else are spineless, mindless individuals brainwashed by PC (or other propaganda) forces. They also tend to be very blind to prejudices that don't affect them while hypersensitive to the ones that do (so if even one person so much as sniffs at them in disdain they think they're a martyr and society is out to crucify them...ironically, this can even be if the disdain comes from the bigotry the hypersensitive one displayed, but it's not seen as bigotry by the person who expressed it and believes he himself is the one targeted by bigots).

And then there are those who think that as they aren't extreme then they're not prejudiced. For example, I have at least one relative (and I believe many) who is fine with black janitors, attendants, and the like, but would never see a black doctor, and she blamed Obama winning for her heart attack (and thinking "the blacks are going to kill us all" or some such, I only heard about it), but if you asked her if she was prejudiced she'd say no, she's just honest and able to admit the truth. And I'm pretty sure she holds the KKK, cross burning, and the like in contempt (she certainly says she does).

I've actually wanted to do an experiment with my family (most of whom only suspect I'm gay) and bring home a black man and a white woman and say I'm in love with both but don't know who to settle with and see how they react (and if any have any strong opinions on whom I should marry). Though the fact that it might be physically dangerous as well as my family never recovering keeps me from acting on that impulse. 'Course they'd refuse to even think of themselves bigoted no matter how upset they were about me marrying one and/or the other, and say bigotry is a bad thing.

[Spellbound]

That one belief would be idiotic, but the person on a whole, not necessarily.

You're a forgiving person then.

[Hijinx]

None at all? Like you, I find that hard to believe. People aren't open about those kinds of things.

I remember I started the "You can't say that project" and with the help of a teacher and classmate I wrote on giant pieces of paper various slurs and derogatory terms and hung them up around the school and asked people to see write what they thought when they saw the word. The results were humorous, to say the least.

[kidchameleon]

I think the problem is that because many of our prejudices are developed gradually as we grow up, or taught to us by our parents, they may not seem like prejudices to us - because they're so innate. We may act on them, but to some of us I think they're almost like habits - going unnoticed until they're pointed out to us, at which point it may be too late to change, or the "habit" to embedded to be removed.

And besides that, nobody likes to admit they have prejudices, because we all like to think we're absolutely lovely :3

Personally, I genuinely do think I have very few prejudices because of the way I was raised, and the people I was around. My stepdad was very homophobic, racist, etc - and considering how much I hated him, I knew from a very young age that anything he did/thought wasn't something that a decent human being would (that would be one of my prejudices right there ). So in a way, that helped me to be really tolerant and acceptance.

However, I'm somewhat intolerant of people who aren't tolerant... which is a flaw I'm working on xD When people express their dislike of particular groups, differences, thought processes, etc - and don't have a good reason - it really gets on my nerves, and I feel the need to "educate them"

So that's probably be my big prejudice. I have a pretty intense dislike for anybody who's close-minded, bigoted, discriminatory, chauvinist, etc.

I also have a bit of a thing against "stupid people", but as I've grown up I've learned to redefine my idea of true intelligence, which has helped that slightly. I used to think that basically if you weren't smart in the way I was, you were an idiot, but I've since learned there are lots of different kinds of intellect. So, that's a prejudice I've almost gotten over...

[KawaiiKitty]

Ive talked about this before but I do have some racial prejudices unfortunately due to the place and environment I grew up in. That said I hate having them and I fight against them every time they crop up in my mind. Usually its a spur of the moment thing that it happens almost instinctively or like a reflex and I dont have time to react to myself reacting if that makes any sense. Like if a person of color does something I perceive as a slight then in my mind I might think something bad about them along racial lines but right in behind that I will admonish myself for thinking that way. I try not to act upon them and I cant remember the last time I did act upon these prejudices because that would go against almost everything I stand for in my life. It still bothers me that I have these thoughts in my mind. I guess in the end it means more of your actions than what you think since you can control your actions more easily than your thoughts.

[MisterTinkles]

It would probably be easier for me to tell you what Im NOT prejudiced against.

LOL

[gilhooly]

Life is not possible without prejudice or prejudgment. If we tried, every day we would be confused by the white liquid called milk. What is this white liquid? Oh, I know. It must be watery semen. I should throw it out. How do I know semen is white? I must be prejudiced. I must masturbate and find out for sure. What if my semen is blue? I will have to take it to the blue sea to wash it away. What if it is green? I must plant it in my garden. What is the grass is red? I will go nuts.

Hopefully, we keep our nasty prejudices to ourselves and make use of prejudices we all recognize and are not offended by. That's possible. My thinking is often very prejudicial against certain people. I hope I continue to bite my tongue. I am old and can get very cranky when my feet ache. On a good day, an 18 year old gay guy is appealing. On a bad day, I hope you fall on a pointed stick and scream like hell. Good news. I usually only feel like that when I have doctors' appointments.. I avoid doctors by eating apples. A foolish prejudice, I daresay, but I like apples a lot better than doctors. At 18, I bet you share that prejudice.

Enjoyed your thread.
John

[Tulloni]

I admit I am prejudiced too. I don't like it when I am out and about and some people are talking loudly in a foreign language - for some reason I find it extremely alienating and annoying. I don't know why I feel that way I just do.

In particular I admit I am prejudiced against Eastern Europeans. Interestingly enough though the last guy I dated and fell foolishly in love with was a Lithuanian guy living in the UK and I still have some feelings for him even if they aren't as strong as before.

So I admit I have slightly racist ideology and I must apologise for thinking this way. I think controls on immigration should be much tighter, that the UK should withdraw fully from the EU, and that the amount of east Europeans coming to the UK should be severely restricted. I have nothing against anyone and I try to love all people which is hard because I am a misanthrope! I try anyway though.

I like some groups though. I am fond of French people and culture and I like some of those charming Aussies. I especially like the Japanese and their culture and way of life. When it comes to east Europeans though.... I know these are double standards but I can't help feeling that way. Also there has not been too much of an influx of Japanese and French people coming over here, although there are some, but with east Europeans there have been huge, record numbers coming here over the past decade and there are reports of sham marriages between east Europeans and people from outside the EU altogether which make me even more cynical.

I went to Krakow in 2009 and I loved the place and the locals there. It is the case that I like say the Polish living in Poland and the Slovakians living in Slovakia, its just that I don't like it when they come here in such huge numbers. If the numbers were a lot smaller I wouldn't care so much but when you find everyone on the bus, train or whatever speaking Polish and you see all these Polish shops spring up everywhere I can't help but feel that something is wrong here.

Sorry if this offends anyone. I think the point here is that everyone has some kind of prejudice even if they don't realise or acknowledge it.