Chapter 5 discusses stereostypes and how they can affect individuals. Everyone at some point in their life has either applied a stero type to someome or has been viewed as stereotypical for their race, gender, or ethnicity.
I know that for myself growing up in a primarly white upper middleclass town, most people that viewed us believed that everyone was exactly the same, stuckup and rich. How ever this is not true, the majority of the families were normal people who went to work everyday and worked hard to provide for their family.
Although i foudn it very annoying to be grouped in witht he typic opper class white male, i am also guilty of applying stereotypes. The best example i can give is the stereotype of of an African american who enjoys eating fried chicken, watermelon, drinking coolaid, and is extremely loud when at the movies. My first year of college was spent at SUNY Canton, where a large portion of the student population is made up of african americans, and sure enough a good chunk of the population fit that stereotype, almost exactly. It was very interesting (and a little annoying at times), but i was also aware of the fact that they were not all like that, and that some were very quite and reserved.
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I think Kevin makes a good point in identifying that some aspects of stereotypes are indeed true. I think that although stereotypes are not representative of a whole group or population, people are still inclined to use them because no matter how minuscule the amount, stereotypes do contain some element of truth.
I am not saying that the use of stereotypes is either good or bad, I just find it humorous that people believe stereotypes are complete fallacies, because they would not exist if they were completely inaccurate descriptors. The whole reason the human mind uses stereotypes is to facilitate understanding about a large group or body.
Whenever heated discussion comes up about stereotypical thinking and or stereotypes I think of a comic I once saw perform on TV. His skit was about stereotypes and at the end of it he said something along the lines of "why do you think we still use stereotypes?" and his answer to the question was "because they're true" but what made this statement both powerful and humorous was that he was a black guy. Im not encouraging the use of sterotypes I am simply pointing out the fact that stereotypes do include some aspect of truth.
I agree with you that there is some truth to all stereotypes; that is where the stereotypes come from. I hated being stereotyped as a "typical teenager" when i went shopping and would have someone follow me around whatever store i was in to make sure i didnt steal anything. Personally, i could never bring myself to steal anything becuase i would feel to guilty, but i would be followed anyway. it drove me nuts. Another stereotype people think i fit is the stereotype of blonde bimbo, becuase i have blonde hair and big boobs, so people think im an idiot. although there could be truths to either of these stereotypes (some teens do steal, some blondes are dumb) many, if not most people do not fit into the category they are pegged.
I agree that stereotypes hold some aspects of truth. I also agree that at times we will be suprised to see how very true they can be. Although I think it can be very unfair to the few who do not fit the stereotype. An example (a completely made up stereotype) of this would be if I were a Social Worker for Family Services. Some people at the office feel that Latino single mothers are unfit mothers. Nine out of ten times I work with a Latino mother she is an unfit mother. It would be extremely unfair for me to assume the next time I work with a single Latino mother that she is unfit to be a mother. Although I have met a lot of women that fit this stereotype, It would be unfair for me to assume something about my client.I agree sometimes stereotypes are harmless and often times true, but in situations like the one I described they can be very harmful
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