| abstract
| - A member of a social/racial/sexual/political/recreational group criticizes other members of their group for perpetuating behavior that mainstream society deems negative. The reproach may be anything from gentle needling to a knockout punch to a high-profile rant against the transgressors. Whatever the form, the Stop Being Stereotypical message is usually one against those actions that are embarrassing the group and hinder their efforts for wider acceptance. Typically, this may reflect divisions of class (such as quieter black people complaining about the "ghetto" behavior of unruly blacks), gender expression (such as gender-conforming gays complaining about "flaming" gays), ideology (such as religious people railing against "fundamentalists"), or conformity to mainstream social rules (such as fanboys complaining about peers who won't even bother with personal hygiene). Whatever the group involved, the criticism is generally not of the behavior in itself, but of the way it "makes us look bad." If the criticism is leveled by a character in a work, it may be a Very Special Episode or an Anvilicious Author Tract. Might also be done by a Real Life creator as an attempt at reforming the group. Telling others to Stop Being Stereotypical is not always presented in a positive light. The person making the criticism might be presented as being overly submissive to the norms of mainstream culture. A common response to "Stop Being Stereotypical" is "I don't care what they think." Both sides may end up calling each other Category Traitors. The recipient of the criticism will be accused of hurting the group by making them look bad while the one who gives the criticism might be accused of being a Boomerang Bigot or an Uncle Tom. Note that there is nothing limiting a Stop Being Stereotypical message to any particular type of assembly. Mathematically speaking, any sufficiently large crowd will have outliers who act against the group's interests and serve as the target of such a message. For example, most sports fans are simply enthusiastic supporters of their team, but all fans get a black eye when a few Fan Dumb members go overboard and start riots if their team loses (or wins). Also see Broken Base, a common place for enthusiasts to sling such accusations against each other; and Vocal Minority which emphasizes that the stereotypes are the tiniest but loudest part of a given group; Don't Shoot the Message is the ideological variant of this, when the person complaining supports what's being said, just not how it comes across. Compare My Species Doth Protest Too Much when non-humans come on to the scene, and Self-Deprecation for the comedic cousin. Compare Cultural Cringe. Contrast with Boomerang Bigot and Klingon Scientists Get No Respect, who aren't stereotypical and get flack for it. Examples of Stop Being Stereotypical include:
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