stereotyping

The correct term in "band geek" not "band nerd",LOL. My DD has corrected me MANY times.:rolleyes:

My boyfriend (who actually IS a rocket scientist, haha) is 6'7" so he gets asked ALL THE TIME if he plays basketball. Nope. When he was younger he was always tall and lean and there were always basketball comments. But no one EVER predicted rocket scientist - and too bad! They would have won the prediction jackpot! ;) I definitely think it's a size/gender thing.

You never can tell with people. It is a comment heard ALL the time, across races, but there are those people that really do make the connection. You can usually tell. I really hate those generalizations in general. I get that it's kind of a universal way to "compliment" a child, but when one hears it enough, does it become self-fulfilling? My hubby caught me telling Cam how smart she was the other day, and said he had just read an article that says telling kids they are smart all the time may make them think they don't need to try at something new. Kinda made sense (much longer, more involved article than I am giving credit for). It's also true we tend to praise girls on beauty and fashion, which irks me to no end...AND I CATCH MYSELF DOING IT! lol Maybe it's why I purchase some boy clothes for my girl...can I please buy a set of pajamas that DON'T have some pink, fluffy animal, or glitter, or other "traditional" girl things? SO I bought Cam a nice soft fleecy set of boy jammies that have rockets on them. Why can't my GIRL like rockets? Or sports teams? Or dinosaurs? Oh man, I better get off my soapbox. :eyebrows: But think about it, when you see a cute kid in line, what is the first thing you think of? Appearance...cute, pretty, handsome, beautiful, etc. It's like a default we all fall back on. One I am TRYING to work on...especially for my own kid.:rolleyes:

And yet to be fair, your daughter is very pretty and has some of the best facial features I know! She is pretty whether you like it or not :woohoo: I have a ton of Jammies for L that are not from the "girl" aisle. But I do girlify her when we leave the house...I think that's mostly on me though, I was always raised that you must look your best everytime you leave the house (I fail miserably much to my mother's chagrin in this area, but I try to make up for it with L LOL :rolleyes: )

Thanks Dannie! She is a pretty little bugger, and we get comments ALL the time. I fear one day she will have quite the swollen ego. :rolleyes: I have to admit though, Cam is always dressed well...in fact, she frequently looks better than her parents do...lol. On a dress up day in our house, that means one or both of us might be wearing khakis, more often than not, jeans and a nice shirt. Cam is almost never in jeans, and looks put together. :clap:

My son says he is a nerd. LOL, They had nerd day at the high school and my oldest insisted he didn't need to dress up. He said, "I am drum major, on the science team, and an honor student, I am a nerd." He and his friend last year, made me drive them to an event with the song white and nerdy blasting. They made me go around the block an extra time to be sure everyone saw them hanging out of my windows (of my minivan) waving at people.

Well I don't really mind at all when people say my boy is going to be a football player because truly I think people are trying to be complimentary or at least trying to take an interest in him. (I mind in that I'm going to do my best to keep him out of football though!!) I just brought it up so I try to tie it into this article about Venus and Serena Williams. I hate how some of the sportscasters tried to make Hingis out to be some kind of genius when the Williams sisters are obviously very smart as well as extremely talented and they totally didn't give credit to them. I hate that this kind of bias was so apparent. Similarly in the past black atheletes weren't ever quarterbacks in the nfl for the longest time because that is known to be a position which takes a lot of brainpower. The past and current sports situation is not so illustrious in this country for black atheletes and it really gets my goat. eta: momraine, lol!! funny rocknrollmama! And loveajax, you are so right... this place is nuts! The extents people will go to for football is astounding.

What is clogging?

Millie Clogging is mainly a southern thing in this country. It's kind a folk dance that uses tap shoes. I live in Georgia so I see it on a regular basis. Where my mom grew up they called it buck dancing. The sports thing... it depends on the person whether it's just a compliment or a stereotype.

Haha, I think you are stereotyping football players. My brother in law played with the NFL for many years and has a BS degree. As a matter of fact most NFL players have 4-year degrees. My little cousin went to college on an academic scholarship but also plays linebacker. His little brother (running back) managed a football scholarship to the same school. Being a good athlete and academically successful are not exclusive, you can be both. If he can play football, I would let him (when he gets older, 21 months is too young, lol). It is a good activity for kids, it teaches them discipline and hard work. Both these skills are also important for academic success.

thanks, Sleeplvr!!

Sorry, sometimes it is just in the genes. True, not all AA kids are athletic, but many are. Not all asian kids are smart...but many are and so on. I think we get so over sensitive by stero types. Heck, I am black and I LOVE chicken and watermellon. It is what it is. I am not easily offended and feel we need to OWN who we are. Yes, I am athletic and got a scholorship to run track, but guess what..the other part of the scholorship was academic. So there you go. I say if you got it, flaunt it. Just know that you natural ability is only 1/2 of who you are. The other 1/2 you decide. I would have said something like "he very well might be, he definately has the body for it.. but is so smart, I would not rule rocket scientist out just yet"

I'm AA and I love fried chicken. But I couldn't throw a ball if my life depended on it and I can't stand black-eyed peas or lima beans. I think some AA boys are conditioned to think they HAVE to play sports.

I LOVE watermelon & so does my black daughter! Whenever she sees it, she reaches her hands out & begs for it. I like to think it's something we have in common as a family instead of that she's a stereotype.

I hear you Millie, to say an athlete is a natural because they are Black (aka Howard Cosell back when etc; etc; ) is a stereotype. To emphasize that as the main thing Blacks are good at is a stereotype. To target our kids as only good athletes while not emphasizing that they can be a rocket scientist is a stereotype. I cannot dance well either. :D As if rhythm is also a Black thing. So ITA Millie, that's what stereotypes are all about, the deeper meaning to this discussion.