Comments on: Do we like to be stereotyped?

By: ltbugaf

ltbugaf — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 02:54:11 +0000

Well said!

I can’t look at Covey, Young, Osmond and Skousen and come up with a list of common traits sufficient to create a stereotype.

By: rick

rick — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 20:20:10 +0000

…or like most mormons for that matter, either.

By: ltbugaf

ltbugaf — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 19:20:33 +0000

Have you noticed that Stephen Covey, Steve Young, Donny Osmond and Cleon Skousen aren’t very much like each other?

By: Onlooker

Onlooker — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 21:09:43 +0000

I’m not Holly.

By: George

George — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:58:22 +0000

Is that you Holly

By: Onlooker

Onlooker — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:40:19 +0000

I read these posts with interest because I have a personal pet-peeve against stereotypes. I have a brother who is inactive because when he was a teenager, he had long hair, which didn’t ‘conform’ to the Utah approved look.

I am a single adult and have been battling the looks of pity, the ‘what’s wrong with you’ comments, and the ‘old maid’ stereotype my entire life. These are many reasons why I moved out of Utah a long time ago.

Interestingly, I am thinking about moving back there. Yikes!

By: mtnnomad

mtnnomad — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 17:45:48 +0000

Judging by appearances alone, many people look just like Latter-Day Saints, IMO and would include many people who do not follow the Savior. You can not and should not judge a book by its cover. For so long mainstream culture has told us we can and should, and that’s why, IMO, the richness of our culture is lacking with image being king and quality and real honest human expression(art) is swept under the rug. Turn on most media and I think you’ll see/hear/experience what happens when image is king and queen. Moses and Nephi would be looking at the actions of people more so than appearance to find the followers of Christ. Although, Moses might compliment me on my beard. If I met the prophet, he would look into the soul to discern me just as Christ would. I could care less what he thought of my appearance as long as I was neat and comely…this is quite vague and open to cultural intrepretation, but from reading the scriptures I think I have an idea of the meaning of those words.

By: Keb

Keb — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 06:23:45 +0000

The PR of the church needs to be very conservative with how members of the church look and are dressed. That is not to say that we all dress differently. If we remember how the saints were in the Book of Mormon, it says they were “neat and comely.”

For me, I always think of Moses or Nephi having their vision and seeing all the inhabitants of the earth. If they say me, would they recognize me as a Saint? I think the rule to follow would be if you happened to run into the prophet, would you be embarrassed or comfortable.

By: mtnnomad

mtnnomad — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:55:00 +0000

Facial hair, sans mustaches was declared as a sign of the counterculture, oh about 40 years ago. I believe it was around that time that church schools “canonized” the prohibition of beards on campuses. There are also varies degrees of facial hair prohibitions for leadership callings in various stakes through out the church inacted by individual stake presidents. One just has to look at portraits of the presidents of the church to see how fashion and the allowance of individuality have changed through the last 175 years, but it seems to be, the extreme reaction to the sixities and the adoptation of business class standards has halted the evolution of style and fashion to some degree, especially among the leadership of the church. Beards may never be allowed at BYU or gain broad acceptance throughout the leadership of the church until the Second Coming.

By: Copedi

Copedi — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:55:00 +0000

“Maybe even a priesthood holder in a coloured shirt.”

Or even with a beard. I don’t know what it’s like in Utah, but where I live probably about a third of the priesthood holders have beards (usually goatees). But you’d never know it from looking at church publications.