my waking thought

2:30 this morning i woke up to
"why is it that when someone hears the words 'reptile owner' they automatically picture someone who lives alone, is covered in tattoos and piercings, may possibly be satanic & may also have some form of mental illness?"
these are NOT my beliefs!
i mean i'm a christian who was raised catholic, i go to church, i have 2 kids (3 if you count my bf), 1 on the way and i like to think i'm a fairly decent person.
does anyone else feel stereotyped or is this just the ramblings of an overtired mind who wants to be up for the day?
then my dad's words rang out in my head and i just had to roll my eyes, shake my head and sigh. my dad told me recently that "snakes are ugly, creepy looking things..." he said this when we were having a conversation about me wanting to get a pet snake.
anyways, i'm hoping i dont start a vicious debate or something but i'm annoyed by the idea that reptile owners are stereotyped in such a negative light.

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

2:30 this morning i woke up to
"why is it that when someone hears the words 'reptile owner' they automatically picture someone who lives alone, is covered in tattoos and piercings, may possibly be satanic & may also have some form of mental illness?"
these are NOT my beliefs!
i mean i'm a christian who was raised catholic, i go to church, i have 2 kids (3 if you count my bf), 1 on the way and i like to think i'm a fairly decent person.
does anyone else feel stereotyped or is this just the ramblings of an overtired mind who wants to be up for the day?
then my dad's words rang out in my head and i just had to roll my eyes, shake my head and sigh. my dad told me recently that "snakes are ugly, creepy looking things..." he said this when we were having a conversation about me wanting to get a pet snake.
anyways, i'm hoping i dont start a vicious debate or something but i'm annoyed by the idea that reptile owners are stereotyped in such a negative light.

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Words never bother me. Let people think what they want, after all, you're probably never going to change their opinion. I too am a Christian, an ordained minister and most of my family doesn't understand my hobby. However, I don't get why someone would spend an entire Saturday afternoon hitting, then chasing a little white ball, only to try to get it into a little round hole in the ground. I don't understand why someone would pay thousands of dollars for a USED stamp that was used to mail a letter in 1942. So, as you can see, there are hobbies for everyone. Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff. As long as your hobby doesn't hurt you or anyone else, then it's a good thing.

Jim Smith

People are always going to stereotype. I really don't let others thoughts bother me. They are going to think whatever they are going to think... I really think that most people that stereotype about our hobby just do not understand. They have always been taught that snakes are bad, evil, mean, or gross. If they want to know about the hobby, I would be more than happy to tell them. If not, then that's fine too.

I get it all the time...."You are not what I expected." I am not tatted up, wear shorts and T-shirt year round, no peircings, Sports is my 2nd passion behind ball pythons. I would be mistaken for a football coach a lot faster than a snake breeder! But people say I'm crazy for messing with snakes...The ones who stomp through the woods looking for a cute little deer to shoot are crazy in my book, but not as crazy as the ones who walk into a pond, waist deep, in 20* weather, 5:00am, to try and shoot a duck!!!! NOW THAT'S CRAZY!! :rolleye2:

ya'll bring up some good points.
i know i shouldnt let stuff bother me but when i get thoughts like that at 2:30 am i cant help but let my mind mull it over for a minute...or vent it here, lol.

I get the whole "I can't believe you keep snakes as pets" line all the time. My mother thinks I am crazy and that are snakes are just disgusting. Then again, I have a tongue piercing and she thinks that is gross too! You should see the reaction that I get when I tell these people that I have dead rats in my freezer, their reactions are just priceless! I don't really care what anyone thinks about my snake keeping hobby! I enjoy it and find it to be very relaxing and rewarding.

Reptile ownership has gone mainstream, pretty much. Just like tattoos (doctors have them..) mental illness (everyone is on some sort of antidepressant or anti-anxiety drug..) living alone (many people choose not to marry, or are divorcee's, although the economy nowadays does not really support living alone, as roommates make it cheaper..) and satanism.. we won't go there.

Judging anyone by one, sole factor in their life (reptile ownership.. religion.. political party) is juvenile and ridiculous.

I try not to let it bother me. Actually, I kind of like it when people look at me funny when they find out I like reptiles. It gives them something to think about, makes them see that not all reptile enthusiasts are weird and covered in tattoos/piercings etc. It's a learning experience for them because they come with their set ideas and here's a young woman who loves snakes and the only thing that's anywhere near their idea is the fact that she has part of her hair dyed blue.

I think that people are starting to get over the stereotypes as the hobby increases in popularity, but I see what you mean.

Do I look like I own 14 snakes? :rofl: (My little sis, Granny from Italy, and Me)
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...er/013-1-1.jpg

There are quite a few people that don't fit the normal stereotype, but let me tell ya. I sure didn't fit in at the Tinley show!!! It was a little awkward, lol. People can't ever believe that I own snakes because I'm so sweet and innocent :rofl: In that pic you can see one of my tatts, so I can't say I'm not tatted up and pierced! I catch a lot of grief from people, but nothing major. I'll get the "omg you're psycho" and the norm, but no one treats me different. People are going to judge no matter what. It's all in how you present yourself.

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Do I look like I own 14 snakes? :rofl:d innocent :rofl: In that pic you can see one of my tatts, so I can't say I'm not tatted up and pierced!

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Yes, Yes you do with all that ink on your left foot:rofl:

I fit "the crazy neighbor" stereotype:devil:
Ink from almost head to toe, though I can hide all but the one on my neck
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...eprowl/Rob.jpg
Wife's foot:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...rowl/Tiana.jpg
Memorial to a puppy we tried to save from coccidia, she came from a really bad place and was not strong enough or big enough to fight it off herself but was always happy:tears:
this gives you an idea of how small she was:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...yBigBrudda.jpg
My right arm, all "self inflicted" LOL
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...l/P1020271.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...l/P1020270.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...l/P1020280.jpg

Our matching leg piece:
Minehttp://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...l/P1010556.jpg
Hershttp://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...l/P1010552.jpg

Her back(I still need to finish:rage:)http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...l/P1020439.jpg

My thighs are done, pretty much any place I can reach on my own body has something in the works for me to do (Thanks honey for getting me a couple machines 2 years ago for christmas............but you forgot the guinea pigs for me to practice on!!!!) LOL

Our 15yo has a Celtic cross on his back with his initials down the middle.

Piercings me: labret and 2 on left ear, son:both ears, labret, helix, wife: we just wont go there:O:D

But none of this makes me the crazy guy. I clean all my guns on the front porch after we get back from the shooting range, this makes me the crazy guy:gj:

I am happy with that, no one come to my house for anything unless they REALLY need me.
On the flip-side we are the "COOL" parents because of all of this;)

Wait, I think my a.d.d. kicked in a gain, what were we talking about?

Oh yeah, I fit everything including the mental illness part (Seems if you have common sense thereis something wrong with you these days:cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

anyways, i'm hoping i dont start a vicious debate or something but i'm annoyed by the idea that reptile owners are stereotyped in such a negative light.

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I find it to be a few things, more recently the media doesn't help at all, and also I notice it seems to be a generational thing, older folks are less accepting of reptiles because that what they were taught as kids and its you against their beliefs they've known forever.

Im lucky at get to work with people who are 20 years old - 60 years old all the time, so I get alot of perspective from alot of different people, btw im 22 years old myself. So when lunch time talk comes up and someone asks what do I do to keep busy, I tell em computers, cars, and I raise snakes. younger people normally go "hey cool, I had a friend that has a *insert said reptile here* or they might own 1 themselves.

older folks tho look at you and repeat things they see on tv, is it a python? they get big and it killed a girl in Florida, are the poisonous? why do you keep them? ect..... of course its not true for everyone, but its a trend. then I have to play educational man and answer all the standard questions and my normal speech I give. after all that it seems to change peoples mind about it.

heck one guy even had to drop of something over my house and brought his little 6 year old daughter with him so she could come see the snakes. and he was one of those "you raise snakes...whats wrong with you?" guys at first lol.

so I think the stereotype can be broken, but also If you've gone to a reptile show, half the people I would say are "normal" looking people, the other half.... you know where the stereotype comes from. im not judging, just how it is.

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

but also If you've gone to a reptile show, half the people I would say are "normal" looking people, the other half.... you know where the stereotype comes from. im not judging, just how it is.

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What you trying to say??:twisted::twisted::twisted::picknose:LOL

I am an almost-thirty professional office worker, who has tattoos, and wears black often. I pay taxes, am not addicted to any substances, and am happily married (same man since 2001; which is a whole lot longer than most marriages/relationships that I have seen!) I have strong family bonds, and I have many tattooed friends who some people would obviously consider "not normal" based on their duds. Their loss; my friends would give me the shirts off of their backs (and vice-versa; we help each other in everything from starting a busines, to traveling cross-country.)

I guess that, in seeing "tattooed" "not normal" buddies together.. non-tattooed people get jealous and call them out for not being normal? That's the way that it looks from inside.. My tattooed friends and I do not sit around disrespecting conservative dressers.. especially considering, so many "everyday" people ARE tattooed minimally (and this is great; they should rock on with their bad selves!)

I have never attended college, but I would battle wits with anyone who has a purchased degree, any day of the week. I am also against the murder of the English language. ;)

I would like to know how someone else sees it fit, to judge me, based on the fact that i am tattooed. Granted, I am a little irked when people just go over the top and dress in a fashion which is obviously not "them."

Hugs are sent out to anyone who's been discriminated against, for the mere crime of being themselves, and being comfortable in their own skins.

yeah i guess i was thinking of the stuff i see on tv all the time which is why i dont watch the news anymore. i get tired of people being put into "categories".
i had to "educate" one of my daughters girlfriends the 1st time she saw my snake (i showed it to them with their permission of course).
the friend started telling me about that one snake that got out of its cage and strangled the little girl (was that the florida incident?).
so i had to tell her
"ok #1 this snake is never gonna get THAT big.
#2 there was more to that situation then what people said about it, & #3 you can very clearly see that i'm keeping this snake under strict lock & key, its not getting OUT unless i unlock this cage & take it out myself & no one is getting IN unless they have MY keys which i keep with me or high up at all times."
needless to say, the friend had nothing else to comment on after that.
my daughter is kind of attracting a few of the curious neighborhood kids now that theres a real live snake at our house, lol.
i DID have to tell my daughter that she will not "parade" all the kids through the house to "show off" MY snake since taking my snake out for all those show & tells would only stress her out. :colbert:
anyways, back on topic here,
thx everyone for piping in with your input. it helps.

Ya know, the thing is, all this stereotyping, it has .... a solid foundation based on survival.

Things that look certain ways generally behave in certain ways. This is simply a fact. Another fact is the exception to every rule fact, but exceptions, by definition, are not common and for the purposes of this post, not included in general.

So. let's talk about cheese loving heavily tatted and pierced people, some of whom are found in pits. That very general description fits, generically, a lot of people who keep reptiles. Factor in that many who are so marked in order to stand out, do in fact compound the decor by .....strutting, cockofthewalking, uncovering, strategically covering,being their everyday selves, being their lookatmeI'malldecorated selves, what ever the method, they are seen and they encourage this seeing.

There is NOTHING wrong with this. However, since there are so many who so much want to be seen, they are seen by those who simply assume that it must be a common condition amounst those of us who keep our slithery pals. To the uninitiated, this is not unreasonable.

We stereotype or profile for really good reasons and they work. We go certain places because they 'look' safe. We allow certain people liberties that are denied to others, all of whom are strangers to us, based on looks and feelings and absolutely nothing concrete.

It's also reasonable to think that those who don't know you don't have to set off a metal detector or rival a modern day comic book to be allowed to keep snakes, since so many detectors are detecting and so many comics through up their hands in disgust, er jealousy.

Your feelings, OP, are reasonable. What you do with them, or allow them to do with you, your feelings, is another matter entirely.

wilomn - as with the others, you bring up good points. my negative feelings about stereotyping are more aimed at the unfairness of some of us being mixed in with the ones actually causing the problems.
not all of us reptile owners really care about "standing out" like some people do. and i think it's unfair that we're all "classified" a certain way when we're not all the same...i know some are unphased by this as a few have said so here and hey if thats the case then i'm glad for them cuz they dont worry about what other people think, thats good.
i should try that, lol. less stress, im sure.

I find it funny....if you never met me or you never knew of me.....you would have no clue I own snakes. Very conservative military family. Now that the cat is outta the bag (article in paper regarding a show I did) and ppl know its hilarious. Parents at the school are shocked...the kids however..think its the coolest thing ever. I think my doorbell rings on a constant basis with kids asking if they can help clean cages and play with the reptiles. :D I just take advantage of teaching ppl in regards to reptiles....or better yet...teaching their kids who in return teach them a thing or two. LOVE IT!!!

By the way...my 84 yr old mother lives with us. She LOVES LOVES LOVES the lizards...talks to them all the time and is convinced that they watch the price is right with her. She is always saying things to them like "grandma loves the lil baby"....lol. The snakes she will talk to and pet occasionally but will not hold them though. But give her a lizard even a big one and she will hold it all day long.

I need to make a poster of her with some of the big guys and send it to USARK...lol.

I love it. My husband is long-haired, tattooed. He has also given people the shirt off of his back (literally and figuratively.)

Years ago, we moved to a small New York farming down, because we were tired of getting our car stereos stolen in the city. People thought that we were bad news. I suppose that people would have thought the same, if some non-white people had moved into the all-white town.

Fast-forward a few years. We were best friends with the most prominent farming family in the area; to the point where we literally pet-sat for each other when the other was out of town. Our conservative neighbor (right-wing to the core; ex-military, God-fearing) became our best friend, as well. Why? Because we both looked past the stupid, myopic, hateful stereotypes which so many people wear over their eyes like rose-tinted glasses. Let's stay in our neighborhood, with people similar to us, and no one gets hurt.

I now live in the city. Most suburbanites will consider my neighborhood "the ghetto" and write us off with a dismissive wave of the hand when I say where I live. You know what? My husband lives a minute away from his own business; I live a minute away from my employer. They commute 45 minutes through congested streets, back and forth. I commuted for a few years, and will never sentence myself with that garbage again. And my neighbors are tight, and do not have congestive heart failure when you forget to pick up a leaf on your lawn. Touche.

I grew up in the city. All types of people crossed my paths. My dad's friends were all rocker types. Well.. when I was about ten, I was outside alone. A red Crown Victoria pulled up to me.. a superbly-dressed man with impeccably groomed hair, and cologne, asked me this.. "hey, pretty girl.. you should come and take a ride with me." I promptly had a heart-stopping moment of sheer terror, gasped, and hauled ass away into a neighbor's yard. (why lead him to my home by running to my own yard, was my logic.)

My lesson from this? As a twelve-year-old, I learned young.. be wary of everyone at first. That snazzy politician? He makes more than an average family makes in ten years, in one year. He will retire on a sailboat, while most people are lucky if their pension pans out. Go ahead.. judge people for their skin color, hair style, or tattoos.. you just keep at it, and I will keep at my philosophy; to each their own.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I love it. My husband is long-haired, tattooed. He has also given people the shirt off of his back (literally and figuratively.)

Years ago, we moved to a small New York farming down, because we were tired of getting our car stereos stolen in the city. People thought that we were bad news. I suppose that people would have thought the same, if some non-white people had moved into the all-white town.

Fast-forward a few years. We were best friends with the most prominent farming family in the area; to the point where we literally pet-sat for each other when the other was out of town. Our conservative neighbor (right-wing to the core; ex-military, God-fearing) became our best friend, as well. Why? Because we both looked past the stupid, myopic, hateful stereotypes which so many people wear over their eyes like rose-tinted glasses. Let's stay in our neighborhood, with people similar to us, and no one gets hurt.

I now live in the city. Most suburbanites will consider my neighborhood "the ghetto" and write us off with a dismissive wave of the hand when I say where I live. You know what? My husband lives a minute away from his own business; I live a minute away from my employer. They commute 45 minutes through congested streets, back and forth. I commuted for a few years, and will never sentence myself with that garbage again. And my neighbors are tight, and do not have congestive heart failure when you forget to pick up a leaf on your lawn. Touche.

I grew up in the city. All types of people crossed my paths. My dad's friends were all rocker types. Well.. when I was about ten, I was outside alone. A red Crown Victoria pulled up to me.. a superbly-dressed man with impeccably groomed hair, and cologne, asked me this.. "hey, pretty girl.. you should come and take a ride with me." I promptly had a heart-stopping moment of sheer terror, gasped, and hauled ass away into a neighbor's yard. (why lead him to my home by running to my own yard, was my logic.)

My lesson from this? As a twelve-year-old, I learned young.. be wary of everyone at first. That snazzy politician? He makes more than an average family makes in ten years, in one year. He will retire on a sailboat, while most people are lucky if their pension pans out. Go ahead.. judge people for their skin color, hair style, or tattoos.. you just keep at it, and I will keep at my philosophy; to each their own.

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There is something that I want to add. I do not have tattoos to get attention. Actually, mine are covered most of the time. I have them because I love art, and they mean something to me that is indescribably vital to who I am. I respect others' religious and spiritual beliefs, and I try not to judge them based on those.. all I wish for, is the same courtesy extended to me.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

There is something that I want to add. I do not have tattoos to get attention. Actually, mine are covered most of the time. I have them because I love art, and they mean something to me that is indescribably vital to who I am. I respect others' religious and spiritual beliefs, and I try not to judge them based on those.. all I wish for, is the same courtesy extended to me.

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Same here, I only have one tattoo, And its a meaningful one for me. I mostly keep it covered all the time, and its on my arm. I see no reason in getting a tattoo for attention. My brother wants a tattoo (For attention).