Let's talk Stereotyping.An infamous bad word for my hyper-aware-civil-rights-activist generation. I don't think I need to define how we see Stereotyping, but I want to bring the connotation of the word "Stereotyping" in to question. I was listening to an NPR TED Radio Hour podcast titled "Playing with Perceptions" that focuses on the discussion of Stereotypes, and the final speaker, Paul Bloom, brought up a very important point. Although we believe that Stereotypes are bad, and that they are negative judgements towards those who are different then ourselves, there are things we unintentionally do that consist of Stereotyping. Like Bloom states, we Stereotype babies by looking at them and saying, "Oh they can't do this or that", and we Stereotype the elderly by saying the same. In fact, taken in a broader context, a lot of our polite and courteous gestures are acts that potentially emanate from Stereotyping. Special treatments due to stereotyping are not always bad. Helping the elderly with heavy lifting because we don't want them to get hurt, caring for someone who has a disability in a different manner than we would a non-disabled person, all help in the betterment of our society. But I bet a lot of us have even experienced negative reactions from people towards acts that we believed to be polite and courteous, and their reaction coincides with reactions that one may have if we were "Stereotyping" against them. Are they wrong to react that way? I was just trying to help. But maybe I demeaned them in the process? And that is what gets me. I have a friend who works with a girl we will refer to as Jane, who suffers from cerebral palsy. I almost always forget that Jane suffers from cerebral palsy when I'm listening to my friends work stories about Jane. After all, Jane is just like any other 10 year old girl. But I am reminded that Jane has cerebral palsy whenever my friend says something along the lines of "Jane was just being so difficult and she wouldn't listen and it was really pissing me off...but then I can't help but feel bad for being mad because _____". Because she's just a kid. Because she's disabled. Because she can't help it. You fill in the blank. Is it that Stereotyping coming in to play? I mean, why do we feel bad for getting internally frustrated with a kid? Or someone that has a disability? Or better yet, why don't we treat them like they're any other person? Can we? Don't they have a right to feel just as normal as everyone else, or by treating them "like normal", are we robbing them of proper equal treatment? The point I'm making is this: We are quick to grip the connotation of words without questioning what falls under the definition of those words. We want to believe that we don't Stereotype, and hold ourselves at this high standard by stating "I Don't Stereotype" because we don't negatively judge those around us. But how far have we questioned what Stereotyping means? And by saying, "Oh no that's not stereotyping", are we just justifying our self proclaimed righteousness? This is an easy transition: RACISMRacism is the evil demon baby of Stereotyping. I personally don't believe that there are any gray areas when it comes to acts of Racism. So there isn't much of a discussion or insight needed in this topic. But I do want to address this issue now because it is relevant. As a minority, I am a victim of Racism, both indirectly and directly. The color of my skin, my religion, my roots, all are attacked on a daily basis. And these attacks come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. Racism, unlike stereotyping, is always bad, but its level of badness on the Racism scale weighs a lot on the connotation of the Racist act in context. What the Racist act was, when it happened, how it happened, where it happened, and in what time period the Racist act is being discussed, are all crucial elements to just how Racistly bad that Racist act was. Enslavement of African Americans, though seen as horrid in many Americans eyes in the 1800s, was not AS abhorrent as it is now. Therefore, a Racist act is weighed on the Racist scale before being outwardly porclaimed as Racist. Denial and Acceptance of the S word and the R word.So when confronted with the question "Would you stand against Stereotyping? Would you fight against Racism? What say you?" we yell "Down with Stereotypes! Down with Racism!" We are so avidly against both these things its almost completely subconscious. So subconscious, in fact, that we deny ever being okay with Stereotypes or Racist acts towards us. But when Stereotypes and, more importantly, Racism works in our favor, are we just as avidly against it? Are we still weighing it on the Racist scale? Or does it not count?
When Saudi women got the right to vote, it was a political maneuver to manipulate the perception of women in Saudi Arabia to better the image of the Country and it's leaders. So as a woman there, would you embrace this act of discrimination as a means to gain power, or would you boycott it to show your strength? If you get a full ride to a school because of your background or your skin color, do you take it as an advantage that you will use to benefit from, or will you decline it to make take a stance against discrimination? Is it racist for a boy to get a scholarship to one of the top universities because he was discriminated against? When we are faced with these decisions, ones that may inadvertently stem from Racist or Stereotypical mentalities, do we embrace it or do we fight it? In the end, one is not more right than the other. It is easy to polarize issues when you haven't faced controversy. I can say all I want that I would never embrace Racism and that I would never do anything to make Stereotypes about me true. But if someone came to me and offered me something to my benefit because of my race over my merit, would I stand and say, "No thanks, come to me when you believe I am actually qualified" or would I take advantage of that opportunity? Would I accept the Racism and Stereotypes against me in order to be, in what I believe, a better position to fight against those two things? Or would I take that moment as a chance to stand against what I believe to be wrong? It's easy to say what is right and what is wrong from the sidelines, that that is Stereotyping but that thing there isn't. We've oversimplified these topics so that we don't feel like hypocrites, so we don't feel like bad people. Asking these questions, thinking these thoughts, doesn't mean I changed how I act, but I am more aware of my actions, knowing that I am doing things because I believe it is right, not that it necessarily is.
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AUTHORA financial analyst by day...dreaming of being a college student again ARCHIVES
December 2017
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