I really let myself down on this one.

When it comes to stereotyping, people can discuss it in many lights. Lets just say that I could take this paper into many venues, just by changing the specific things that I am talking about. On one hand I could elaborate on how stereotyping is a type of prejudice and how judging someone just on their appearance or they talk, is prejudice. But I think that I would like to go the other route. I think that I would like to elaborate on how I specifically have been stereotyped. After the in-class assignment that we had a week ago, I did a lot of thinking about this specific subject and came to some quick realizations about how I am stereotyped upon. I know that strictly writing about oneself would make me quite self-deluded and conceited but it is something that I would like to get off of my chest.

When it comes to stereotyping someone, I am usually the first to step in line. But when it comes to me being stereotyped, I am first to take offense for the assumptions that people make. If you have not taken a glance at the class picture, I’m the fat, red-headed guy. At first glance, what do you think? Of course I’m not as handsome as Brad Pitt nor does my smile melt the hearts of the coldest shouldered women. But I am me, and I have come to accept that. The only thing that I truly hate, is when someone thinks differently about me and has no real justification for this.

When you think of think of a fat person, most people think “wow, that guy must just eat all the time and just lay on the couch”. Well I know for me at least, that that is quite the contrary. I go to the gym 4 times a week and on average work out about 2 hours. I have been training for power lifting for the past three years. I don’t look that strong, because I’m fat. I don’t look like I work out 4 times a week, because I have an extremely slow burning metabolism. I know that three of you probably just went bull-shit, or laughed because fat people don’t work out do they? Fat people eat a lot, they don’t have problems. Well skinny girl or guy, you’re wrong. There are a lot of fat people who honestly do eat too much, and not exercise at all. On TV you see the fat guy sitting on the couch with a bag of a potato chips and a soda. I drink water, and I just ate an apple. Funny how that works isn’t it? You see advertisements for these workout machines that you pay two thousand dollars for, and use them three times. You see this extremely fit guy wearing nothing but his underwear telling me that if I work out 20 minutes a week on his Bo‘s Flex machine, that I will look just like him. That’s a lie. What they don’t tell you, and what I can tell you (since I have been working as a personal trainer for the past 3 years, and an assistant personal trainer for 5) is that just working out on his little machine, WILL NOT CHANGE YOUR COMPLETE BODY STRUCTURE. If you change your diet, your sleep routine, your cardio-vascular exercise routines, and do the minimal 20 minutes worth of exercise on Bo’s Flex machine you will lose weight. But I digress because that doesn’t really matter. The fact of the matter is that even though I may be fat, I’m not some lazy bastard who sits around on the couch all day playing video games and eating potato chips.

While we are on the subject of eating, I will tell everyone that not all fat people eat extremely large meals 5 to 6 times a day. We don’t all go to McDonalds and eat Big Macs for every meal. I myself try to eat healthy. Sure I indulge in a Pot Tart for breakfast every now and then, but all in all, I don’t try to be a glutton. I don’t have fried chicken every other night and go to big country buffets and eat three to four plate full’s of food. Now does that mean that there are other people who do that? Well sure. I’m sure that there are people that fit into whatever mental stereotype that people have for fat people but how can they justify them for every single person that they think that about.

Most people think that fat people are dumb and inconsiderate people. Just like when I saw someone that I hadn’t seen in years the other day they just couldn’t believe how I had turned out. They didn’t really know me that well in high school, and when they asked me what I was doing now, I told them that I was a teacher. Their eyes went extremely wide and they started laughing. Of course I initially knew what they were laughing at because the thought of me being a teacher on the basis of what they would know from high school, is really funny. But the fact that he asked if I had went to college, kind of offended me. I was never the brightest student, nor did I put the most effort into my work but I had the capacity to do so. I was just extremely lazy. Now does his misconception of me being dumb come from my laziness (which is a supposed characteristic of fat people) or is it the other wrong characteristic which leads people to think that fat people are just dumb. I experienced other aspects of this stupidity of fat people when I started in the English Department at UNCW.

Of course I’m sure that such stereotypes have departed from the minds and hearts of the students that inhabit the university so I won’t let anyone think that they have done such things in their duration at the school. I was there a couple of years ago and don’t expect such aspects of people to still be there. But that would be a misconception in itself wouldn’t it? And I know that we all have beliefs and stereotypes about people, but they can’t all possibly be true. I plead with everyone and myself to looker closer into the true reality of what people are and not into the ignorant misconceptions that we make about people.