Yes, stereotypes tend to be more than a little irritating. They are limited and limiting and, far more often than not, are a statement on the party expressing the sentiment, then the object of what they are stereotyping, be it a class of people based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, or whatever else we may classify people into, or in cases such as this, about states.
Here in the United States, the state that far more often than not gets a bad rap is New Jersey. Everyone has New Jersey jokes, including many of those inside of the state's borders.
I understand, and sometimes, the point is even well taken. George Carlin had an absolutely hilarious bit about New Jersey, and he was dead on about some things, such as needing new brakes by the time he travels through the state.
Some of these stereotypes, however, are more absurd, the domain of the ridiculous. One stereotype, listed here in this link, is that everyone from "Joizey" is associated with the mob. Another is that the show "Jersey Shore" accurately represents typical New Jerseyans.
Truth is that New Jersey has a lot more to offer than that. It can take criticism, and many can have a sense of humor about it all - and they kind of have to, because fair or not, New Jersey long has, and likely long will continue to have a bad rap. Might as well grow comfortable with it, right?
In any case, I thought that this was a pretty funny link, and figured it was worth sharing here, whether or not you are from America's most densely populated state.
Here we go:
21 Questions New Jerseyans Are Tired Of Hearing by Erin Chack of BuzzFeed Staff, December 11, 2013:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/questions-new-jerseyans-are-tired-of-hearing?bffb
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