“Doing Stuff By Yourself”: 25 Things Stigmatised As Abnormal By The Media But Real People Disagree

Last week, Reddit0r Stefan_Reevezsky sparked a thought-provoking discussion by asking fellow users about things that are portrayed as stigmatized in the media, yet don’t necessarily carry the same stigma in society. The responses poured in, showcasing a diverse array of perspectives and challenging commonly held beliefs. 

Image credits: stefan_reevezsky

#1 Maybe wanting to stay single. Media portrays it as a desperate cry for love, but in reality, it’s pretty liberating!

Image source: Marvin2212, Darina Belonogova / pexels (not the actual photo)

#2 Karens. Hear me out!! It went from being a thing of recording and judging actually rude and often racist women who complain just to complain. But as more videos popped up, people are recording and sensationalizing situations where if you were in her shoes, you’d be mad too! Karen isn’t synonymous with “old lady you find annoying”.

Image source: theaterwahintofgay, Tirachard Kumtanom / pexels (not the actual photo)

#3 Recent trend seems to be the “blue bubble/green bubble” debate with iPhones and Androids. People apparently HATE green bubbles and refuse to communicate with anyone if they have to send green bubble text messages. Have not met a single soul in person or even online who gives a s**t.

Image source: swanny246, Cup of Couple / pexels (not the actual photo)

#4 High school stereotypes, they scared the s**t out of me until I got to high school.

Image source: Free_Ad3119

#5 Doing stuff by yourself. Some people here get almost hysterical when they describe eating at a restaurant or seeing a movie by yourself. I guarantee you that if you’re behaving normally, no one else gives the tiniest of s**ts if you went out by yourself.

Image source: doublethink_21, Oleksandr P / pexels (not the actual photo)

#6 I have to say wearing glasses and having braces. No one called me four eyes. No one called me tinsel teeth. Believe me, I was made fun of as a kid, but those weren’t the reasons.

Image source: tiny_book_worm, Samuel Figueroa / pexels (not the actual photo)

#7 Couples with very different attractiveness. Happens all the time irl and nobody actually says stuff.

Image source: Redqueenhypo, Tan Danh / pexels (not the actual photo)

#8 Inlaws, most people I know get on pretty well with their inlaws.

Image source: anon, Ivan Samkov / pexels (not the actual photo)

#9 Being a nerd. Yeah nerdiness might get you bullied in school depending, but a lot of nerd culture has just become part of…well, culture. I find this most annoying with elder millennials who still act like they’re some sort of oppressed elite because the dare to like Mario.

Image source: phillillillip, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)

#10 Nuclear power has been stigmatized by the environmentalists and now guess what… it appears to be reliable, very cost effective and to date the safest form of energy.

Image source: Phoroptor22, Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)

#11 Boomers, hands down. The vast majority of boomers are sweet elderly people who are nice to talk to. Not racist caricatures that spout nonsense all the time.

Image source: Turnbob73, T Leish / pexels (not the actual photo)

#12 Being Average looking, it seems like social media loves to see *supermodel like people* and forget that most of the public is average and or unattractive sometimes, and that’s alright. I like that there are more people on social media that are vocalizing this issue and letting us know that normal is ok, Flawed is ok. ( No shade to attractive people, they’re beautiful and everyone loves to look at them but my point is they are not the only ones that exist).

Image source: Wanttodate1995, Adrienn / pexels (not the actual photo)

#13 Being short (as a man). Especially online, people have made such a mountain out of this particular molehill over the last few years. I’ve never met a woman who strictly dates men 6′ and up, and my short mates get plenty of action.

Image source: DifficultMath7391, Filip Rankovic Grobgaard / pexels (not the actual photo)

#14 Avocado toast.

Image source: motivatedsinger, Lisa Fotios / pexels (not the actual photo)

#15 Not wanting to have kids. Besides direct family members(which I mean, kinda makes sense why your parents and grandparents might want you to have kids of your own), it seems like the stigma of not wanting kids is extremely overblown. I tend to see WAY more posts and media about people feeling special/rebellious for not wanting kids than I ever see for others demanding that people have children outside of fringe alt-right types, and they tend to only want “certain people” to have more kids.

Image source: GiggaGMikeE, Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo)

The “no kids forever” crowd seem to be like inverted vegans, they actually do bring it up all the time and act as if they are hated for their choice when in reality the vast majority of people don’t care or see the benefits of said choice.

#16 Slightly niche perhaps, but my kids always had trouble buying Fathers Day cards for me because I didn’t spend my evenings down the pub, fish or play golf.

Image source: hazps, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)

#17 Blue-collared jobs sometimes are looked down upon in media, but in reality, skilled trades are often in high demand and well-respected.

Image source: Minute_Chemist7325, Life Of Pix / pexels (not the actual photo)

#18 Men who are nurses. Nobody cares irl.

Image source: legoclover, Jonathan Borba / pexels (not the actual photo)

#19 Not wearing makeup. The media and Internet are full of all the pressure to wear makeup but I work with HUNDREDS of women and maybe a third of us sometimes wear lipstick or eyeliner? I can count on one hand the ones who wear foundation. Nobody says anything. Even the college president was barefaced giving a plenary speech and at commencement. There’s no stigma for me wearing some color when I feel like it either. It’s just not relevant to anyone’s interests.

Image source: manycoloredshiny, tomateoignons / pexels (not the actual photo)

#20 Going to college when you’re older..theres tins of adults over 35 trying to reinvent themselves..theres even an old guy who made school a lifelong career.

Image source: Professional-Truth39, Mikhail Nilov / pexels (not the actual photo)

#21 Dads going to parks alone with their children.

Image source: Lefaid, Anete Lusina / pexels (not the actual photo)

#22 Having freckles. When the fake freckles makeup trend was taking off, tons of people came out of the woodwork to complain about how “unfair” it was that they got teased for having freckles and now it’s a trend. I’m sorry, but unless you were physically and socially perfect in the eyes of your peers in elementary school, you probably got bullied for something arbitrary. For me, it was my big ears. I’m not going to sit here and whine about people stretching their ears and making them bigger. It’s such a fake problem

Image source: IrwinLinker1942, Mehmet Altıntaş / pexels (not the actual photo)

#23 Enjoying pineapple on pizza. It’s the secret handshake of the culinary brave.

Image source: NotThatTypeFruit, Augustinus Martinus Noppé / pexels (not the actual photo)

#24 Everything.

Image source: closetmangafan, Mizuno K / pexels (not the actual photo)

The media likes to blow things well out of proportion to get a good story for people to follow and talk about.

Most of the time, it’s because of the media that many big problems are as “big” as they are.

#25 There are a lot of posts here saying “Normalize eating out/getting coffee/seeing a movie alone.” Seriously, no one cares. Do those things, they are normal.

Image source: rsm2000, Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)