Questions you get asked? Stereotypes

[puzzled]

What questions do you get asked often and are they often steretypes?  Do you face stereotypes 

I often get asked how long my hair is, mostly by girls, and their response is normally "omg wow really" or "no way"

Which I don't mind lol 

A few times iv been asked if I carry a sword.

One stereotype that annoys me the most is alcohol. Just today two women that I work with were shocked to find out I don't drink alcohol. One was Pakistani and other surprisingly a sikh. When she found out i dont drink the Pakistani lady in Urdu said "how is that possible, your people drink a lot"  that really annoyed me.    Later on the topic of alcohol came back again and when I said I don't drink this sikh lady  was shocked and kept on saying why not ? why not ? why not? Not even sometimes? Not even bear? But why not?   Are you amritdhari? No,  so why don't you drink?  But at the end she was like  no that's really good 

This isn't the first time that I nearly gave someone a heart attack by saying I don't drink.

So yeah I often get asked how long my hair is and often people persume I drink alcohol because I'm sikh 

What about your experiences of questions, stereotypes, any misconceptions? 

[BhForce]

11 minutes ago, puzzled said:

What questions do you get asked often and are they often steretypes?  Do you face stereotypes 

Well, I don't think the question about hair is bad in any way.

Regarding wearing a sword, well, that's what Sikhs are supposed to wear, so I don't think people are wrong in asking that.

About alcohol, our people, stupid as they are, are responsible for that stereotype. It's amazing that people are amazed that there are Sikhs who don't drink.

I think one big stereotype that a lot of people will agree with is many people think we are Muslims.

But that's our fault, too, because the major Sikh organizations don't have the guts to simply state "We are not Muslims". After the Wisconsin gurdwara shooting, national TV media were interviewing young (English-fluent) Sikh advocacy organization members, and the guy, instead of saying "We're not Muslims" just said "We don't support the Taliban."

Which makes it seem like we're Muslims, but just moderate ones that don't support the Taliban.

[TinnkerBell]

That’s true its almost 2019 now and still so many people consider us as muslims. But i guess they are mostly the natives who often have less education/  limited access electronic web and newspaper. I have travelled to almost all states in Canada, US from Washington to Florida and New Mexico to NewYork by roadand, taking stops in big cities as well as small villages and I have personally experienced more than dozens of experiences of ‘are you a muslim’,?

Puzzled ji, same questions i have experienced many times- do you have a knife, how long my hairs, do u have a lighter ,  you don’t smoke but why

and sometimes good stereotype  questions and complements as well like—  you don’t eat meat right?, you don’t drink right ? You people are always happy , you people are very hardworking etc

[mahandulai]

17 hours ago, puzzled said:

What questions do you get asked often and are they often steretypes?  Do you face stereotypes 

I often get asked how long my hair is, mostly by girls, and their response is normally "omg wow really" or "no way"

Which I don't mind lol 

A few times iv been asked if I carry a sword.

One stereotype that annoys me the most is alcohol. Just today two women that I work with were shocked to find out I don't drink alcohol. One was Pakistani and other surprisingly a sikh. When she found out i dont drink the Pakistani lady in Urdu said "how is that possible, your people drink a lot"  that really annoyed me.    Later on the topic of alcohol came back again and when I said I don't drink this sikh lady  was shocked and kept on saying why not ? why not ? why not? Not even sometimes? Not even bear? But why not?   Are you amritdhari? No,  so why don't you drink?  But at the end she was like  no that's really good 

This isn't the first time that I nearly gave someone a heart attack by saying I don't drink.

So yeah I often get asked how long my hair is and often people persume I drink alcohol because I'm sikh 

What about your experiences of questions, stereotypes, any misconceptions? 

now this is a good thread.

[puzzled]

Iv never really been mistaken for a muslim since i stopped cutting my hair, i live in a region with lots of sikhs so most people know im sikh. But yeah when i was mona everyone used to think i was a paki. 

[puzzled]

On 12/3/2018 at 10:27 PM, BhForce said:

Well, I don't think the question about hair is bad in any way.

Regarding wearing a sword, well, that's what Sikhs are supposed to wear, so I don't think people are wrong in asking that.

no these questions don't bother me at all, if they ask then i just tell them how long my hair is, and if they ask about sikhs wearing swords then i just tell them that only baptized sikhs carry them. People are curious so they ask these things, it good that they ask ... 

But yeah the sharab stereotypes really annoy me. Its sad that apne drink so much that people are actually surprised when you tell them that you don't drink.   worst thing is that people presume that our faith allows us to drink, thats an insult to our gurus and sikhi, people who openly drink and call themselves sikhs have no care for sikhi at all 

how can you call yourself a sikh and then shamelessly drink at pubs and post pics on social media, do these people not think of our gurus when they do this 

[BhForce]

4 minutes ago, puzzled said:

But yeah the sharab stereotypes really annoy me. Its sad that apne drink so much that people are actually surprised when you tell them that you don't drink. 

Yeah, it would be one thing for someone to drink occasionally (not that I'm saying that's OK). But our people just take it to a ridiculous level.

[GuestKaur2]

On 12/3/2018 at 10:12 PM, puzzled said:

What questions do you get asked often and are they often steretypes?  Do you face stereotypes 

I often get asked how long my hair is, mostly by girls, and their response is normally "omg wow really" or "no way"

Which I don't mind lol 

A few times iv been asked if I carry a sword.

One stereotype that annoys me the most is alcohol. Just today two women that I work with were shocked to find out I don't drink alcohol. One was Pakistani and other surprisingly a sikh. When she found out i dont drink the Pakistani lady in Urdu said "how is that possible, your people drink a lot"  that really annoyed me.    Later on the topic of alcohol came back again and when I said I don't drink this sikh lady  was shocked and kept on saying why not ? why not ? why not? Not even sometimes? Not even bear? But why not?   Are you amritdhari? No,  so why don't you drink?  But at the end she was like  no that's really good 

This isn't the first time that I nearly gave someone a heart attack by saying I don't drink.

So yeah I often get asked how long my hair is and often people persume I drink alcohol because I'm sikh 

What about your experiences of questions, stereotypes, any misconceptions? 

Probably the most I've been asked is How long is your hair and also Why is your Kara so big lol

[GuestKaur2]

Just now, GuestKaur2 said:

Probably the most I've been asked is How long is your hair and also Why is your Kara so big lol

I also explain why we wear a Kara and Shastar etc.

[RajKaregaKhalsa1]

On 12/3/2018 at 10:12 PM, puzzled said:

I often get asked how long my hair is, mostly by girls, and their response is normally "omg wow really" or "no way"

Yeah innit lol

I think I'm fine with it now because I learnt that every faith also kept their Kesh too