Are teens stereotyped for their musical tastes?

LAURA GOULD/Charleston Catholic

By Alisha Bentley
Sherman High School

Teenagers face a lot of stereotypes. They get stereotyped based on how they talk, who they hang out with, what activities they’re involved in, and even what clothes they wear. But do teens get stereotyped based on what music they listen to?

Sherman freshman Dustin Stone doesn’t think so - at least for the most part.

“No, I really don’t think people are stereotyped by what music they listen to,” he said. “But if you dress and act the part of the music you listen to, then yes, you may be stereotyped.”

“I don’t get stereotyped, but I see other people who do,” Sherman senior Sabrina Newman said. “I see it a lot at school and whenever I hang out with my friends.”

Brandon Calatan, a freshman at Sherman, listens to everything from country to punk and emo to heavy metal, death metal and Christian metal. He feels that he is stereotyped for his musical taste, but he also says, “I do dress the part.”

So what exactly does it mean to “dress the part”? Does that mean that rednecks wear camouflage, cowboy hats and cowboy boots? That goth kids wear weird makeup and dress all in black? How does an emo kid dress?

“I have what most people would consider emo hair, I wear girl jeans and I listen to my music too loud,” Calatan said by way of explanation for his being stereotyped.

Unfortunately, being stereotyped for the music you listen to can cause unfair assumptions. Some people think that emo kids are all gay or bisexual. Others think that rednecks drink a lot.

Stereotyping people is wrong, but stereotyping people by the type of music they listen to is especially ridiculous? What if you listen to all kinds of music? What does that say about you then?

So the next time that you see someone who you would put under a certain stereotype, take a second before you judge them to think about how you would feel if someone made that same assumption abut you. After all, just like we’re more than the clothes we wear, we’re also more than the music that we listen to.