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Meh- it simply means a person who’s behaviour or values do not align with the rest of the family. Anything else is speculation.
I think there are other ways. In the process of finding what aligns with you internally, you have explore outside the family.
Hmmm, is that why I’m ostracized? Have not talked to my brother and his many kids since 2016.
I hate my 2 sisters, so, don’t give a shit about them anyway.
Sometimes. Other times you’ve got a sociopath, psychopath or - worst of all - a flaming narcissist on your hands.
The black sheep is the victim of the narcissist’s family.
No. I’m the black sheep because I am creative and a juggalo in a family that is largely uncreative with a live laugh love kinda vibe. We all love each other just the same.
Not always. My dad was the black sheep of the family because he was fucking crazy. It was a self imposed moniker. “Everyone was out to get him,” despite constant love and support from his family, especially his mom who is a goddamn angel.
Bipolar drug addicts are not fun. Not fun at all.
No. The persecution complex…
I knew a family who’s “black sheep” situation happened because of unreported pedophilia. They should’ve reported it, sure, but the victim is an adult now and just wants to move on, and the sheep in question fled the state.
So no.
Being traumatized and ostracized exists but sometimes people get the black sheep treatment because that’s the least they deserve. I wouldn’t assume anything about a situation like that.
Yup. Had a great-uncle who was the ‘black sheep’ for this same reason.
Of course, back in those days you didn’t report it, you just made sure to not let the kids around them and ostracized them from most social events, because reporting it was ‘airing the dirty laundry in public’.
I don’t really think of that phrase that way. I think of it as “the person that did not follow the family dynamic”. This could either be positive or negative by societal standards.
If the “black sheep” person comes from a crazy racist family, and the person rejects that racist garbage, they might be outcasts from the family for not following the dynamic, but they’d certainly be the better person in my opinion. Conversely, if the “black sheep” person is career criminal, and the rest of the family is law abiding, then the person with the “black sheep” title would the more traditional agrarian reference to black sheep in the herd and be an outcast from the family for their criminal behavior.
This.
Someone who’s just too different from the rest of the family.
I know people who got cast out for stupid reasons but also people who kind of did it to themselves. There’s never a systematic way to decide this.
My father (a boomer) was the black sheep of his family. It started when he switched religions, which seems fucking stupid, because it is. But it seems it just went from there and never got better. He was fairly belligerent about it, which I can understand. I know literally no one from his side of the family.
Disagree. Some people are just different from those around them. I never heard the term black sheep to be inherently negative. Black sheep make wool too, you just have to sell it separately.
In some cases it can just be that one person who chose to become an asshole or whatever
I’m the one that’s not an asshole.
Don’t really agree with this, at least in my case. I consider myself to be the black sheep of the family, but that’s mostly because my life’s a complete mess, and I’m fine with it.
Partly. I became the black sheep of my family of my own volition. They tried their “best” to assimilate and subjugate me to their vision for me, for what I was supposed and expected to be and do for the family. I pulled the Eject lever as soon as I found it.
I’m definitely the black sheep of the family, but not an outcast per se. I decided to reject the traditions I grew up with, but everyone remains mostly civil.
