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39 Stereotypes Busted Like a Very Strange Episode of ‘MythBusters’

‘The stereotype comes from somewhere’ isn’t always true

39 Stereotypes Busted Like a Very Strange Episode of ‘MythBusters’

October 25, 2023

“The stereotype comes from somewhere” is what your racist uncle probably said at some point during Thanksgiving dinner, forcing everyone to sit in an awkward silence or launch into an even more awkward and combative back-and-forth with someone who thinks YouTube comments are the same as books.

We’ve collected some common stereotypes below that many people still believe for some reason, and found which of them are verifiably (and extraordinarily) false. Sorry to burst your uncle’s broad generalizations about different groups of people, but most of them are total garbage.

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39

Women are prudes, men are players

THE STEREOTYPE... MEN ARE PLAYERS, WOMEN ARE PRUDES. BUT in REALITY... SOME PEOPLE JUST LIE. Research says women underreport their sexual activity. Hook them up to a lie detector, and they suddenly claim to have had more sexual partners than even men do. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

38

Genders get particular colors

THE STEREOTYPE... BLUE IS FOR BOYS! PINK IS FOR GIRLS! BUT in REALITY... THOSE USED TO RUN THE OPPOSITE WAY. A 1918 editorial from Earnshaw's Infants' Department said pink was a more decided and stronger color ... more suitable for the boy; while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

37

Fear of Commitment

THe STEREOTYPE... MEN HATE COMMITMENT. but in REALITY... NOT AS MUCH AS WOMEN DO. Polled men are quicker than women to fall in love and want children across the board. 77 percent of women crave independence in a relationship, as opposed to 58 percent of men. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

36

Blondes are dumb

THe STEREOTYPE... BLONDES ARE DUMB. BUT in REALITY... THAT'S A MYTH... INVENTED BY SUFFRAGETTES. A specific troupe of blonde burlesque performers mocked the suffrage movement. Suffragettes dismissed them as British blondes. The phrase evolved into dizzy blondes, spread, and soon mocked blondes in general. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

35

Native Americans are all heavy drinkers

CRACKED.COM Turns out, Native Americans aren't heavy drinkers. 16.7% of whites binge-drink a few times a month, as do 17.3% of Native Americans. And 7.5% of whites binge-drink many times a month, as do 8.3% of Native Americans. — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

34

Poor people got Trump elected

The prevailing media narrative is that Donald Trump won the I White House by tricking the desperate poor. The median Trump voter makes $72,000/year, more than $10,000 above the national median. CRACKED COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

33

Flu tip: Just man up and get over it

Manliness won't help you fight the flu. Quite the opposite. Testosterone suppresses the immune system, which is why it takes men longer to recover from the flu. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

32

People become more conservative as they age

THE IDEA THAT SENIOR CITIZENS VOTE CONSERVATIVE BECAUSE THEY ABANDONED THEIR YOUTHFUL IDEALISM AS THEY AGED IS A RESULT OF SURVIVORSHIP BIAS. THOSE WITH MORE MONEY ALWAYS LEAN TO THE RIGHT REGARDLESS OF AGE, AND THOSE WITHOUT MONEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIE OF .... POVERTY-RELATED CAUSES BEFORE THEY REACH SENIORITY. CRACKED COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

31

Jewish people are cheap

Stereotypes about Jewish people being reluctant to spend money are malarkey. In 2016, Jewish Americans gave more than twice what Catholics gave to charity, and more than 33% more than Protestant Christians. C $ CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

30

Food stamps users are lazy

Critics of food stamps portray recipients as unemployed loafers Sand with no motivation to find work CRACKED.COM : or leave the program. / 10 g ABREA In fact, a 2012 USDA study showed 74% of non-disabled adult recipients were either currently working or had a job within a year of the survey. Plus, a majority of recipients get food stamps for only one year or less. — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

29

All Muslims are Arabs

ALL MUSLIMS ARE ARABS WOLL WBEZ FIREZ STUDIO6 WILL WBEZLS WBEZ 115 WBEZ ILS II STADO E - - Actually, only 20% of Muslims are of Arab ethnicity. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

28

Australians are constantly dodging snakes and spiders

Contrary to the stereotype of Australians being constantly at risk of death by venomous snake or spider, the leading culprit in animal-related deaths is... the horse. CRACKED.COM In fact, there hasn't been a single recorded spider-related death in Australia since 1980. — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

27

The French are weak

THe STEREOTYPE... THE FRENCH ARE SURRENDER MONKEYS. BUT in REALITY... THEY'VE WON SO MANY WARS. Since 387 ВСЕ, France has fought 168 major wars. They've won 109, lost 49, and drawn 10 times. Today, France has the third-highest military spending on the planet and 300 nuclear warheads at its disposal. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

26

Coal miners are all over the place

THE STEREOTYPE... THE WORKING CLASS IS FULL OF COAL MINERS. BUT in REALITY... THERE ARE JUST 16,000 OF THEM NATIONWIDE. There are more ophthalmic laboratory technicians than coal miners. And yet you'll rarely hear national policy being written and entire states swinging to protect their jobs. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

25

The Polish are a bunch of dummies

THE STEREOTYPE... THE POLISH ARE DUMB. BUT in REALITY... THAT'S A MYTH... INVENTED TO SMEAR POLISH IMMIGRANTS. As far as IQ goes, Poles score almost the best across all of Europe, and well above Americans. And if it's individual genius you're looking for, Nicolaus Copernicus, Frederic Chopin, and Marie Curie were all Polish. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Men don't have body disorders

THE STEREOTYPE... BODY DISORDERS? THAT'S A WOMAN THING. BUT in REALITY... THEY'RE JUST AS COMMON IN MEN. The difference is that in men, it usually means scarfing protein rather than bingeing and purging. But even if we're just talking about bulimia and anorexia, a quarter of sufferers are men. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

23

Women love to gossip

THE STEREOTYPE... GOSSIP IS A WOMAN'S GAME. Mail BUT in REALITY... MEN CAN'T RESIST IT AT US ALL. When men and women hear a juicy secret, many men will share it with someone almost immediately after learning about it. Polled women, on the other hand, keep it to themselves for at least three and a half hours. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

22

Women are terrible drivers

THe STEREOTYPE... WOMEN SUCK AT DRIVING. BUT in REALITY... NOT AS MUCH AS MEN DO. Men die twice as often in car crashes. In fact, auto insurers historically offered women lower rates because they drive better-a discount that's only now going away because of laws banning gender discrimination. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

21

Gay men are more promiscuous

Gay men actually don't sleep with a lot of people. Of 3.2 million OKCupid users, 45 percent of gay ones (and 44 percent of straight ones) had 5 sexual partners or fewer. And 2 percent of gay ones (and 1 percent of straight ones) had over 20 partners. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

20

In Jamaica, Rastafarians are everywhere

TOUR ОИГ Only a very small minority of Jamaicans are Rastafarian. According to a 2005 report, they make up less than 10% of the population. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

19

Kids these days hate monogamy

THESE YOUNGER FOLK NO LONGER RESPECT THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE Figure 1: Divergent Trends in Extramarital Sex by Age 20% 19% 18% 17% 16% 15% 14% 13% 12% 11% 10% % reporting extramarital sex 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 18-55 years old 55+years old Actually, younger Americans are less likely to cheat on their spouses than their older counterparts. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

18

Latinos are mostly brown

All Latinos are brown 17 15 - 10 q 17 15 9 10 Mestizos are rarely a majority in any given Latin American country. Certain places, like Argentina, are 85% white. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

17

Amsterdam is a drug paradise

YOU CAN FREELY CONSUME ANY DRUGS IN AMSTERDAM Actually, all drugs are forbidden in the Netherlands. The government only tolerates very small amounts of weed under specific conditions. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

16

Asian people drive worse

Asians are bad drivers. For an ethnic group that supposedly has bad driving written into their genetic code, they sure get into very few road accidents. According to 2006 statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Native Americans had the highest fatality rate on the road: 31.17 per 100,000 people, followed by Native Hawaiians, which was 13.90. The fatality rate of Asian people? 4 out of 100,000. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Women suck at math

THe STeReOTYPE... WOMEN ARE BAD AT MATH. MEMORY د - P A = L Pal=2 toy = ax 2. sinx + A=A a 3+63 T-1 mc2 6g d BUT in REALITY... 4 EVEN THOUGH GIRLS AREN'T? You don't see that many women in math departments. But there's no difference between girls' and boys' math test scores. Later differences in representation have to come down to social pressures. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

14

Serial killers are smart

THE STEREOTYPE... SERIAL KILLERS ARE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT. but in REALITY... NOPE. THEY'RE BELOW AVERAGE. A study of over 2,600 serial killers found their average IQ to be 94.7. Though, to be fair, it's always possible that some are geniuses and we don't know it because the smart ones never get caught ... CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

13

Russians can't stop with the vodka

THE STEREOTYPE... RUSSIANS ARE THE WORLD'S DRINKERS. Славянская ЗААССИЧЕСКАЯ 11 Русский ПУТИНИ НАСТО СТАНДАРТ КЕДРОВАЯ Boyka PUTINK For FREE NORTH SALE TO was YODKA the AARA BNA водука ITTA OCOGAN NOTU BUT in REALITY... THEY DRINK THE SAME AS AMERICANS. The average Russian drinks 2.77 gallons a year, not much more than the average American's 2.42. In fact, it puts Russia at number 23 on the list of countries ranked by alcohol consumption. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

12

Latin Women

THE STEREOTYPE... LATIN WOMEN ARE ALWAYS PARTYING! BUT in REALITY... HOLLYWOOD INVENTED THIS, ON PURPOSE. During WWII, Hollywood wanted to enter the Latin market but realized movies usually cast Latino characters as villains. They invented a replacement stereotype, based on Carmen Miranda. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

11

Vikings wore ineffective helmets

THe STEREOTYPE... VIKINGS PLUNDERED IN HORNED HELMETS. BUT in REALITY... NOPE. JUST REGULAR HATS. If you want a career in hand-to-hand combat, don't wear anything that's easy for people to grab. You don't want something on your hat that is essentially a giant set of handlebars. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

10

Germans love them some meat

THE STEREOTYPE... GERMANS ARE THE WORLD'S CARNIVORES. BUT in REALITY... EXCEPT FOR ALL THE ONES WHO AREN'T. A whopping 10 percent of Germans are vegan (for comparison, just 3 percent are vegan in neighboring France). In 2016, Germany Taunched more new vegan products than any other country. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

9

The poor are mostly addicts

Poor people are mostly drunks and/or drug addicts. Not true. A 2012 study has revealed that while young adults in poor families were more likely to smoke than those who were born in wealthier families, rich kids were more prone to alcohol and marijuana use. CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

8

The nerds will make more money when they grow up

41728862 C 0 g 12 y - : The story of the 01927 E dorks growing 0582 up to rub their wealth in all the 7175 EVENO the popular kids' OFA faces is a fairy tale. Students who have good social skills and lots of close friends have been shown to I have higher lifetime earnings than their socially disinclined peers. عسا K90349862 SALVIS 12 II OPAM CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

7

Mostly men like video games

Most gamers are men ...but in reality, men are the minority in gaming! SONY SONY According to studies, 52% of gamers are women. Even in 2011 about 49% of gamers were ladies, and the amount has been rising ever since! CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

6

"The Model Minority"

CRACKED.COM 12 299 UAV ONE КУНА OEA 359 VS The image of Asian-Americans as a super-successful model minority is an illusion. While the average Asian-American household's income is slightly higher than the average OF AMI white household, adjusting for the cost of C 3935 living effectively negates the difference. White Americans are six times more likely to د/ live outside of metropolitan areas, where day-to-day expenses are lower. - 12 Taking this into account, there is nearly no difference in the standard of living. L — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

5

There's a correlation between race and penis size

CRACKED.COM Black men are particularly well endowed. ALSE Recent research shows there's no correlation between race and penis size. — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

4

Prisoners commit the most sexual violence in prison

Prisoners aren't the ones committing most of the sexual violence in prison. Institutional staff are responsible for sixty percent of reported sexual assault committed against prisoners. 98P284 92S110 CRACKED.COM — Source: Stereotypes That Are Proven Baloney (That People Still Believe)

3

Gay men are girly, gay women are manly

THE STEREOTYPE... GAY MEN ARE GIRLY, GAY WOMEN AREN'T. BUT in REALITY... SURE, THAT'S THE STEREOTYPE... NOW. But in the past, bisexuality was seen as super manly in men. And tomboyish women were considered super straight (i.e., straight and slutty). CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

2

Mood swings are not tied to PMS

THe STEREOTYPE... MOODY? MUST BE THAT TIME OF THE MONTH! BUT in REALITY... PMS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MOOD SWINGS. We're not saying that hormones don't change behavior-they do, in both women and men. But there's little evidence that women become emotionally compromised or irrational during the supposed PMS phase. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

1

Brits Don’t Have Terrible Teeth

THE STEREOTYPE... BRITISH TEETH ARE TERRIBLE. but in REALITY... BRITS HAVE THE BEST TEETH IN THE WORLD. The British aren't that into braces, so you might see more crooked smiles there than in America. But with 0.6 cavities per person, they have healthier teeth than people in America-or any other country. CRACKED.COM — Source: Widely Believed Stereotypes That Are Completely False

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