stereotype.

the following is a paper i wrote for english on stereotypes. i chose to do it about my dad//funeral directors.... enjoy (:

When people hear the job title “mortician” or “funeral director”, most think of a creepy old man who wears moth-ridden suits, has no social skills, and may or may not kill people when business is slow.  I mean, honestly, you have to be some kind of sick person to want to make money off the death of others.  It’s just not normal.

In all reality, morticians/funeral directors are a greatly misunderstood group of people.  As a society, we are conditioned to have a fear of death, and therefore a fear of the men and women that deal with it on a daily basis.  In mass media, morticians are depicted as shady, creepy, or demented, which makes it very easy for us to be afraid of them.  Many people haven’t had too much association with death or morticians, so the image that the media has portrayed is the image they assume is the norm for all funeral directors. 

I, on the other hand, grew up in a funeral home because my dad and my brother are both morticians.  In looking at my dad or our family, you would probably just see us as your average slightly-strange sometimes-crazy group of people.  It wouldn’t be until you see the house we live in or heard us talk about funerals that you would realize my dad’s profession and start to judge us because of the stereotypes you have been raised with.  Because of this “scary” label that all things related with death have been given, people have always been afraid of my dad and my house.  Friends wouldn’t stay over when I was younger, and boys were afraid to take me on dates for fear that my dad would embalm them if the date didn’t go so well.  Anyone that really knows my family would know that these fears are irrational.  My dad is probably one of the craziest, most hilarious, loving men in the world.  He knows how to cheer just about anyone up when they’re having a rough time, but he also knows when you need someone to cry with.  He is extremely social and comfortable in any situation, from a funeral to church to a theme park or a party.  I have also observed him at work in many situations, and I have come to realize that his type of personality is a must-have in his line of work.  Besides preparing the body for burial, the largest part of what my dad does is meeting with the families of those who have passed away and helping them through their hard time.  He knows just what to say or do in order to make sure the family is comfortable in their time of grief, and this seems to be the same with every other funeral director I’ve ever met (and believe me, I’ve met a lot).  If you actually think about the stereotypes directed towards morticians, they don’t really make sense.  I don’t think a person could survive such a career without a good personality and an impeccable sense of humor.  Sure, it’s an interesting career to get involved in, and I’m not sure how one decides to join that line of work, but they are excellent at what they do.  It takes a special kind of person to be able to do what they do on a daily basis.  It’s emotionally and physically challenging work, and they deserve a little more credit than the world gives them.

Another stereotype that people have burned in their mind is that funeral directors are always male, which is completely false.  I have attended many funeral directors’ conventions with my parents, and I would say that about half of the people that choose this line of work are women.  Even I myself have considered attending mortuary school and following in my dad’s footsteps.  If you think about it, it would only make sense that there would be many female funeral directors.  The motherly traits such as kind, loving, and comforting are all something that people need in their time of mourning, and women seem to possess these traits naturally.  Therefore, a woman would most likely be naturally good at this profession.  It would be safe to say that the number of female funeral directors will increase as time goes on, and I just might be one of them.

So, the next time you hear the word “mortician” or see a hearse drive by, hopefully you don’t think of a creepy old man in an old suit, lurking in corners, scaring children and eating raw meat.  I hope you have a positive image enter your mind.  Some are women, some are young, and some are a little bit weirder than others, but they all have that same lovable nature about them that my dad has.  Each one of them has a sense of humor to top the best comedian and there is absolutely nothing creepy about them.  In fact, if I had to pick a group of people to spend my day with, morticians are at the top of my list.