How old are you? Are you more open minded than your parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely more open-minded than my parents. My mother thinks all gay people who are around children (of any gender) are child predators and have HIV. She saw a black guy walking down the street carrying a golf umbrella and told us (immediate family) she often saw black men walking down the street carrying rifles. She never went anywhere without our dad so my brother asked him if he too often saw this and my dad said no, never.

My son just told me the girl he's taking to prom goes by they/them pronouns after talking about "her" for a month - it was an "Oh, I've been making a mistake - Claudia goes by they/them." I will obviously try to use the right ones because it's no skin off my back, but I don't understand it. Of course I don't need to understand to accept, but it'd be nice if I did. He said "gender is just a social construct." I am not sure I agree with that.

Well, you have a gay son so you must be pretty open-minded.

[Anonymous]

Most people’s parents are not very woke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 31. I'm about as open-minded to my dad, which is to say pretty open-minded. My dad is chill and has a live and let live attitude about most things, even if he finds them weird or doesn't agree with them.

I'm not really sure how to compare myself to my mom. She is like the liberal version of a MAGA idiot, so I don't know if she's truly open-minded so much as she just wants to signal that she's better than people.

Wow, same. I’m 49.

My mom is truly open minded about certain things but rabidly close minded about others. She’s a liberal version of a MAGA idiot.

My dad is very open and chill.

[Anonymous]

I'm 44 and yes, I am more open minded than my parents. They are late 70s.

They were raised in abusive Catholic families AND communities (it matters that it was both). Neither became a conservative Catholics as adults but I think the constant reminders as children that many thoughts, behaviors, ideas, etc., are deeply, morally wrong has never left them. And they did become abusive parents. Though they are not conservative, they are very judgmental of other people and tend to stake out strict positions on everything, from big issues like how to parent to extremely minor stuff like how to care for your yard or what food to serve guests. I think they really want to be told what is right and what is wrong and then just follow the rules, and it's scary to them to think that on a lot of issues, there really isn't a right or wrong, just different.

I think my mom has come to realize how limiting this viewpoint is and does try a bit to be more open minded. As a result, I think she is happier than my dad. He is angry all the time because nothing every meets his expectations, because they are so narrow. I think they are both pretty insecure.

I think I'm open minded out of necessity. They were very immature parents, strict to the point of cruelty but incredibly inconsistent, often parenting out of a sense of their own insecurity and not really grounded in raising us to have a place in the world. As a result, from a young age I have looked to other families and inspiration for how to live. That could have gone very wrong but I'm fortunate it didn't -- I chose good inspiration and have found some anchors. But I never lost my ability to be open to how other people live, even if it's different from me. I learned very young that it's worth it to hear people out and see where they are coming from. You might discover they have something to teach you, and even if they don't, odds are good that their way of thinking is harmless to you and might work for them. Heck, even conservative Catholicism might make sense for some people, even if it did not work out well for my family.

[Anonymous]

My parents are not racist or homophobic but have limited conventions on style of hair, dress and manners. They dislike tattoos, punk styles and fringe fashions. They don't mind variety in fashion (loud, expensive, cheap, frilly, minimal...) but would frown on giant pants from hot topic, long beards and lip piercings.
I am more open minded and "live and let live" but still way more uptight than my kids. They will point out how I shouldn't be critical of something that makes someone else happy.

We all have some specific reservations that others don't share like a rock, paper, scissors of closed mindedness. I look down on some things they find appropriate and vice versa.

[Anonymous]

41 and only slightly. My teen is similar to me. But as a rule my family has always subscribed to the philosophy of “keep an open mind - but not so open that your brain falls out”.

So none of us are really onboard with some of the more “open minded” shenanigans going on right now.

[Anonymous]

I'm 52, my parents are in their early 80s. They're both hippies in a lot of ways. Very liberal, have always helped others less fortunate than themselves. They've given lots of their time, attention & money to other people just because that's who they are. They were pretty shocked when my sibling came out as gay. Not because they judged her or worried about what others would think, but because they simply didn't know a lot of gay people living in the small town where they raised us. Are they open-minded about Trump and the current Republican Party? Nope.

I would say I'm a little more open-minded than my parents in that I try and understand WHY people are certain ways/hold certain views. I'm pretty curious. Abortion is where things break down for me because I believe so strongly in body autonomy.

One of my kids is really strident with his very liberal opinions and I'm encouraging him to be more open-minded and curious. My other child is the most accepting and open-minded person I know. She's very liberal and operates from a live and let live mindset. She has extreme learning disabilities and doesn't want anyone to judge her and she never judges anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents are not racist or homophobic but have limited conventions on style of hair, dress and manners. They dislike tattoos, punk styles and fringe fashions. They don't mind variety in fashion (loud, expensive, cheap, frilly, minimal...) but would frown on giant pants from hot topic, long beards and lip piercings.
I am more open minded and "live and let live" but still way more uptight than my kids. They will point out how I shouldn't be critical of something that makes someone else happy.

We all have some specific reservations that others don't share like a rock, paper, scissors of closed mindedness. I look down on some things they find appropriate and vice versa.

I'm adding to my post that while I say I'm more open minded than my parents, we're all fairly uptight liberals. Conservative types are much more accepting of certain lifestyles than we would be (3+ marriages, kids with several partners, fighting/yelling in public, constant cursing, disrespect towards people around you...) People like Boebert and Palin gross us out and I do admit we are really judgy in that regard.

[Anonymous]

I am 62. My parents are very open minded. The were in a Jewish/Christian marriage in a time when that was very unusual, my brother was gay, and we lived overseas (in a 3rd world country) for quite a while when I was a kid. Not surprisingly I am also very open minded. I'd say the one difference between my generation and my millenial kids is the general acceptance of sexual fluidity. Seems like being bisexual is almost the norm, and in my day it was more a gay or straight thing.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know. I think my parents have seen more opinions than I have (being older and having necessarily met more people over the course of their lives) and are very accepting and tolerant of that wider varieties of opinions they’ve seen over the course of their lives. My Dad is an ex-hippie with socialist tendencies who attends a hyper conservative Bible study group and likes arguing socialized healthcare as a Christian movement there. My mom’s best friend from college is a lesbian but she has existed peacefully in small town rural ‘Merica for decades. I have been exposed to the opinions they met in the 30+ years they were alive before I was born so it’s hard for me to say I’m more open minded. I disagree with them sometimes (we have argued about certain topics and how tolerance can be implemented and whether certain requirements or attitudes are restrictive and whether certain concepts even exist) but on the whole I would say they’re very open minded and I try to be the same.

[Anonymous]

My grandparents on one side were members of the KKK. So yes I am.

[Anonymous]

My parents were old school Republicans. They had zero problems that my best friend in HS was gay nor that I married an immigrant. They also raised me to believe racial slur are completely verboten. I am a Democrat but still carry on most their beliefs. I am only more open minded because I am an atheist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents were old school Republicans. They had zero problems that my best friend in HS was gay nor that I married an immigrant. They also raised me to believe racial slur are completely verboten. I am a Democrat but still carry on most their beliefs. I am only more open minded because I am an atheist.

Forgot to add I’m 52

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely more open-minded than my parents. My mother thinks all gay people who are around children (of any gender) are child predators and have HIV. She saw a black guy walking down the street carrying a golf umbrella and told us (immediate family) she often saw black men walking down the street carrying rifles. She never went anywhere without our dad so my brother asked him if he too often saw this and my dad said no, never.

My son just told me the girl he's taking to prom goes by they/them pronouns after talking about "her" for a month - it was an "Oh, I've been making a mistake - Claudia goes by they/them." I will obviously try to use the right ones because it's no skin off my back, but I don't understand it. Of course I don't need to understand to accept, but it'd be nice if I did. He said "gender is just a social construct." I am not sure I agree with that.

Well, you have a gay son so you must be pretty open-minded.

DP. You’re a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know. I think my parents have seen more opinions than I have (being older and having necessarily met more people over the course of their lives) and are very accepting and tolerant of that wider varieties of opinions they’ve seen over the course of their lives. My Dad is an ex-hippie with socialist tendencies who attends a hyper conservative Bible study group and likes arguing socialized healthcare as a Christian movement there. My mom’s best friend from college is a lesbian but she has existed peacefully in small town rural ‘Merica for decades. I have been exposed to the opinions they met in the 30+ years they were alive before I was born so it’s hard for me to say I’m more open minded. I disagree with them sometimes (we have argued about certain topics and how tolerance can be implemented and whether certain requirements or attitudes are restrictive and whether certain concepts even exist) but on the whole I would say they’re very open minded and I try to be the same.

Some people’s minds are so open that their brain falls out.