As if the existence of stereotypes (make that negative) around us in our societies isn't unfortunate enough, the fact that some communities, groups actually live up to that image is far more worrisome. I remember this was exactly a part of conversation between Lakshmi and I just the other day. It is almost as if the target groups have reconciled to the fact nothing can be done, or rather generations of conditioned thinking cannot be undone, and armed with this worldly knowledge they feel it is their right to behave the way they do, almost. In their not being able to do anything about it, the actions and lifestyles are justified in retrospect. I have not travelled far across this planet, at least not as yet, but I can safely say no society is free from this.
Why does a particular community act super frugal to the point of being stingy? Why does one race listen to only a particular type of music, or endorse a certain clothing fashion? Why does one group have to always act and sound intellectual, almost warranting pseudo-intellectual masturbations? Why is one group always loud mouths while the other is fool infested? When behaviors, attitudes become social tags or ID cards without a word being spoken, you know there is a room for worry. If you take any group/community/entity/strata and I hate to say this, its behavior will not be far from the image it has created, or that has been attributed. 99 out of 100 times. My heart goes out to all those who inspite of being a mole minority are consciously or unconsciously a part of a silent movement to break these stereotypes.
John Cloud in the latest issue of the Time (June 1, 2009) addresses a slightly related topic with more insight and well, cushions it with some research findings.
The following piece of work is credited to John Cloud and Time magazine, and I have only scanned the article for the sake of more readership. The copyright is duly acknowledged.
(click on the image for a bigger view)
As for me, I belong to all those demographics to which not-so-friendly qualities are ascribed, and on my part I try to be away from them. As Cloud would have liked it, I have not internalized them! :)
But I am also increasingly forced to believe in the adage that not without a reason do stereotypes exist, and that indeed is a scary thought.
Why does a particular community act super frugal to the point of being stingy? Why does one race listen to only a particular type of music, or endorse a certain clothing fashion? Why does one group have to always act and sound intellectual, almost warranting pseudo-intellectual masturbations? Why is one group always loud mouths while the other is fool infested? When behaviors, attitudes become social tags or ID cards without a word being spoken, you know there is a room for worry. If you take any group/community/entity/strata and I hate to say this, its behavior will not be far from the image it has created, or that has been attributed. 99 out of 100 times. My heart goes out to all those who inspite of being a mole minority are consciously or unconsciously a part of a silent movement to break these stereotypes.
John Cloud in the latest issue of the Time (June 1, 2009) addresses a slightly related topic with more insight and well, cushions it with some research findings.
The following piece of work is credited to John Cloud and Time magazine, and I have only scanned the article for the sake of more readership. The copyright is duly acknowledged.
(click on the image for a bigger view)
As for me, I belong to all those demographics to which not-so-friendly qualities are ascribed, and on my part I try to be away from them. As Cloud would have liked it, I have not internalized them! :)
But I am also increasingly forced to believe in the adage that not without a reason do stereotypes exist, and that indeed is a scary thought.
2 comments:
I agree !!!!!! I see a lot of stereotypes being true of the various regions of the Indian populations and the american junta too !!!
and yes, it may be true at some level that stereotypes have made their way into existence just coz they were/are true at some level :
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