Do you fit a Stereotype?

While reading an interesting and insightful post at Mike Brotherton's blog that is entitled Geek Life, I began to recall my years as a mathematics teacher and realized whether consciously or not, I began to actually look the part of a math teacher. I not only had adopted a manner of dressing consistent with what you may expect from a teacher but acted as such which was brought to my attention one day by a well meaning high school student who looked at me with curiosity and said, "You REALLY love this stuff don't you?!" Stuff being Algebra and math in general. Thinking back to when I was in high school, sure enough, I could pick out the wild haired physics teacher who had so much energy you would have thought he was an electron, to the eccentric art teacher with the "colorful" outfits. My mother once told me she knew a group of teachers who used to go out every Friday night and drink and have dinner so years later when I was going out Friday nights with fellow teachers to drink and have dinner, I had to chuckle, but now I can see that I had completely become the role of the "teacher." It has been many years since I have taught, but it has taken as long to develop my own personal sense of style in terms of clothing and hair, for example no more white socks with black pants and black shoes, and while I still wear sensible shoes they are more stylish yet still comfortable because I still value comfort over high fashion. Some things I will not change.
In the past I have discussed how I feel actors get typecast, but upon further reflection, it just seems easier for people to place one another in certain roles and if it is unconscious or not, people tend to fall in those types and tend to dress,look, and behave accordingly. There are the athletic types, the models, the business men, teachers (as I have mentioned), lawyers( try to picture a busty blond in mini skirts as a serious trial lawyer! I am sure there may be some but then she would be out of the unspoken uniform for lawyers), physicists or any scientist for that matter( just look at the Big Bang Theory television series, while the characters are total nerds they are brilliant yet socially unable to function), and I am sure you could add to the list. Once we see someone, we try to categorize them and put them in a box so that we feel we can understand them better when what we are really doing is judging a book solely by its cover.
Science fiction fans are also many times labeled as nutty or weird or those crazy fans who dress up for Comic-Con or Trek conventions each year, when really there are all types of people who enjoy a good science fiction story.
To wrap up this post and bring it all to a point, it is much better to try to get to know who someone is on the inside instead of making a judgment based on what you see on the outside. Also you should ask yourself if you have put yourself into a specific type that is easily recognized by others?