Does your career determine how people see you?

[liveco]

This is an interesting question which popped into my head while I was reading an article about professional stereotypes written in the humanbreeds blog. Do people judge you by your profession? I believe the answer is definitely yes

Comments

[peristaltor]

Definitely, and quite definitely in the US. There are far too many stereotypes about professions that are opposite the realities.

Your example about medical professionals comes to mind. Who are the most likely spouses to cheat? Those with incomes large enough to support more than one household. That's not something some parents or potential spouses consider, is it?

[liveco]

You have a very valid point, I didn't approach the "cheating probability" from the point of view of (more powerful and richer people are more capable of getting what they want). I only thought of it this way; someone you commits to 5 to 10 years of college is more likely to commit to marriage and family life.

Either way, this brings us to our first point, Stereotypes, yeah, people stereotype based on professions, there is some truth in these stereotypes, but there are always big exceptions.

[peristaltor]

I have family members who both committed to a college education and fail to commit to monogamy, all by choice. To them, monogamy is not a binary. If you go into a relationship knowing that your partner will not only not be "faithful," but rather will be faithful to the idea of "fooling around," the whole paradigm shifts radically.

And historically, there have been lots of folks who take such an idea and the subsequent lifestyle seriously. Their view gets shut down by those with some stake in the argument, usually clergy who have some investment in the idea of monogamy (despite, sadly, the enormous evidence that it was an exception in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, with its multiple wives and concubines).