People around the world are suspicious about the information that reaches them . For example, the 32% of Americans who say they trust the mass media “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to cover the news fully and accurately ties Gallup’s lowest historical reading, previously recorded in 2016.
Another 29% of American adults have “not very much” trust, while a record-high 39% register “none at all.” The latest figure is the highest in Gallup’s five-decade history of tracking these metrics by one percentage point and 12 points higher than the 2016 number, which came amid sharp criticism of the media from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, making the current assessment the grimmest we’ve seen.
However, many believe the situation isn’t that much better even if we take a step away from reporting. Last week, Reddit user Stefan_Reevezsky asked others on the platform " What things are claimed to be ‘stigmatized’ in [the] media, but actually aren’t in society? " and folks have thought of plenty.
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.
Turnbob73 , T Leish / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
doublethink_21 , Oleksandr P / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Blue-collared jobs sometimes are looked down upon in media, but in reality, skilled trades are often in high demand and well-respected.
Minute_Chemist7325 , Life Of Pix / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Men who are nurses. Nobody cares irl.
legoclover , Jonathan Borba / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Maybe wanting to stay single. Media portrays it as a desperate cry for love, but in reality, it’s pretty liberating!
Marvin2212 , Darina Belonogova / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
hazps , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
tiny_book_worm , Samuel Figueroa / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
manycoloredshiny , tomateoignons / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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”.
theaterwahintofgay , Tirachard Kumtanom / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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).
Wanttodate1995 , Adrienn / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Enjoying pineapple on pizza. It’s the secret handshake of the culinary brave.
NotThatTypeFruit , Augustinus Martinus Noppé / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Couples with very different attractiveness. Happens all the time irl and nobody actually says stuff.
Redqueenhypo , Tan Danh / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
Professional-Truth39 , Mikhail Nilov / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
DifficultMath7391 , Filip Rankovic Grobgaard / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
swanny246 , Cup of Couple / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Inlaws, most people I know get on pretty well with their inlaws.
anon , Ivan Samkov / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Everything. 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.
closetmangafan , Mizuno K / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Dads going to parks alone with their children.
Lefaid , Anete Lusina / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Avocado toast.
motivatedsinger , Lisa Fotios / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
High school stereotypes, they scared the s**t out of me until I got to high school.
Free_Ad3119 Report
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.
rsm2000 , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
phillillillip , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
IrwinLinker1942 , Mehmet Altıntaş / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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.
Phoroptor22 , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
(Celebs) being gay (in western europe) Most of us don’t give a s**t.
SpidermanBread , Alexander Grey / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
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. 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.
GiggaGMikeE , Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Discussing mental illness. “X illness is taboo to talk about. We need to talk more about X.” It isn’t taboo and in fact it’s now trendy to wear your particular flair of mental illness with pride.
DukeAsriel , Becca Correia / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Voting for the other party. I blame the news for the political divide.
Animegx43 , Edmond Dantès / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Wearing socks with sandals—media might mock it, but let’s be real, comfort is always in style, even if it’s not runway-ready!
Exciting-Border-9920 , John Tekeridis / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Media acts like the internet is just cyberbullying, predators, scams, and dangerous/illegal Tik Tok trends. They also act like a 12yo playing GTA is suddenly gonna want to actually steal cars and shoot people.
Avicii_DrWho , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Saying Merry Christmas.
Brickwater , RDNE Stock project / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
I’m a dude. Grew up rather sheltered and had to follow all the rules. Recently I questioned my entire existence and long story short my self esteem is getting fixed and I have purple hair, piercings and painted nails, usually with a cute little pattern like lightning or something. My parents are old world Indian, they aren’t able to process that I can get high level corporate jobs looking slightly punk. I have a tattoo full sleeve but apart from classy earrings and nail polish and purple hair you don’t see anything even remotely non corporate. Except maybe backpack instead of briefcase. Because duh.
ss0889 , RDNE Stock project / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Being from Ireland, use of the word “c**t” in everyday parlance. It’s like kryptonite to Americans…
DeathJester24 Report
The “bad guy” in a lot of relationship movies is often the one everyone goes for in real life whereas the protagonist is often who people avoid the villain is often the stiff, responsible, high power job guy the hero is often some free spirit, quirky type, no life plan, extremely expressive, etc.
f_ranz1224 , KoolShooters / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Older women dating younger men.
figgleswag Report
Periods.
Arervia Report
It’s a mixed bag. Everything has varying levels of stigma. For example, mental health, we are now at a place in society where we can talk about it and some people will call you a fruit loop, as I was called once, and some people will shower you in empathy and support, as I once received. So is mental illness stigmatized? Eye of the beholder.
XChrisUnknownX Report
The use of the word “f**k”.
Karash770 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Speaking 2 languages. Maybe it was 50 years ago but now bilingual speakers just adopt that oppression. I’ve never heard it not been praised.
back_to_the_homeland Report
“Plain” girls.
debtopramenschultz Report
I would say it’s having tattoos, piercings, etc. If people around are split 50/50 - those who just glance and those who don’t care - it doesn’t mean that there is a stigma.
stefan_reevezsky , Anna Shvets / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
Bullying, unfortunately. Despite all the negative coverage, anti-bullying campaigns, and other efforts to tamp it down, bullying will always occur in some form with the perpetrators tending to be among the more popular persons within social groups.
Specialist_Heron_986 Report
Nudity.
nathan__1409 Report
Owning a firearm Everyone with a gun isn’t a racist militia redneck or a black inner city gangbanger.
sardoodledom_autism Report
Being conservative or voting Republican. Turn on any streaming tv show or movie and you’d think nobody in America is right of center.
Lurko1antern Report
Christians.
sadferrarifan Report
Diversity in general (sexuality, ethnicity, gender). When I see some articles and videos about this it sometimes feels like a parody. I’ve never seen discrimination in real life being that much of a problem on a scale that media shows. Of course, there are some cases when it’s a problem and I don’t try to marginalize it, but society nowadays isn’t really that racist/homophobic/sexist like the media portrays it (I’m not talking about countries where it’s a big issue still, but USA or Europe for example where this problem is really not that common).
LuxelleG Report
Being a traditional nuclear family.
skywalker777 , Анастасия Триббиани / pexels (not the actual photo) Report
African American representation in media. .
Remarkable_Tank6615 Report
I do not think promiscuous women are judged that much. At a certain age, people start thinking you are odd if you never smoked pot, been drunk, or had sex with more than one person. People talk down to you like a child if you are sexually inexperienced. American culture is not prudish at all. I do not even think people are all that judgmental of people’s sexual behavior. Then again, I live in a liberal part of the country.
IglesiaCatholica Report
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