Although genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the United States, there are still plenty of people who are not at all interested in pursing a study of their ancestral heritage, and some of them want to know why I do genealogy. There are so very many reasons why some people are genealogy aficionados , and there are stereotypes attached.
Stereotypes include:
That genealogy is done by retired people or old people, assuming they finally have the time off to do so.
That genealogy is about out who you are or 'finding yourself.' I know a popular series and magazine is entitle Who Do You Think You Are? I love that genealogy series. However, who you are as a human being in the here and now may have little to nothing to do with your family of origin, the way you were brought up, and everything to do with what you make of yourself. It's interesting to discover through historical and documentary evidence how your ancestors, or people in general, lived fifty or a hundred, or five hundred years ago, but the world has changed dramatically and rapidly so...
That genealogy is about snobbishness. Aristocratic, arrogant, elitist... snotty. (I.e. my people are better than your people.) While there are those who brag of their ancestry, it seems to me that what databases and do-it-yourself genealogy has done is open knowledge in a democratic way. In America, discovering how ancestors lived, how they endured or survived or escaped carries with it pride and inspiration.
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