Saturday, January 17, 2009
please do not judge me
Being honest I am a type that could be easily stereotyped. I am a 21 year old, blonde, from San Diego. People may have an impression based on those few words. I could be viewed as a young girl, who may be looked in the world as less smart because of my hair color. I am from a fun party town which may be assumed that would make me a partier. Now if I mentioned a few more words to talk about me. I am a married, Mormon college student. Those words bring out more mature, responsible feelings. If I had mentioned those three words the first time a completely different image may come to mind. We use stereotyping for several different reasons. Understanding who someone is can be complex reasoning. This is why we use stereotyping. Many people view stereotyping as negative. When it is used incorrectly it can be found offensive and inappropriate. Lets be honest not all African-Americans listen to rap, wear bling, and are criminals. Our society portrays different categories of humans in various lights. Media plays a major role in stereotyping. The media has the ability to reach millions of people. In result people are informed about society with specific knowledge and biased beliefs. The best way to avoid stereotypes and biased views is to do research. Having the ability to choose what to believe in can be powerful. Not assuming all that you hear is factual will help break some of the stereotypes. Research what the media has to offer to give yourself a better understanding of the subject and the other side of the story.
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3 comments:
It's way cool that you can acknowledge the stereotypes that you encounter. Once you accept that you can be placed into one as a "blond" or a "partier" or a "cali girl" it is easier to show yourself as something else. Stereotypes aren't always a bad thing. Over time it has earned itself such a bad connotation. Really without them we wouldn't have a basis of who people are in general. Everyone picks something up from where they live and who they are, it is just when people exaggerate and expand them that they become unreal and occasionally hurtful.
Break out of those stereotypes and create your own. Create a Brooke stereotype that defines who you are! I have to admit my sister-in-laws name it brooke so When I first heard your name I assumed you would be an artist just like her (you do seem very sweet just like her though!).
Being blond has to be a hard one. After a lifetime of mormon jokes I can only imagine the difficulties of blond jokes. Although my brother's have always given me the, "are you sure you weren't born blond?" one that usually erupts in a wrestling match of sorts. Way to stick up and stand out away from your streotype.
I think that it's a very good place to be, intellectually, to realize how we might be stereotyped. Hopefully it keeps us from making similar quick judgments about others, making our view of society more dynamic and accurate.
As I was reading your post I had to laugh because you're right, a young blond from California was a completely different picture in my mind than a married, Mormon college student. Unfortunately, it's hard to never stereotype anyone...but I had an interesting experience in one of my other communications classes when we were talking about stereotyping. One of the girls made a comment that she doesn't like to be stereotyped as a "dumb blond" but in the same sentence she mentioned that she has also used it to her advantage many times...because she can. So really, she's bringing it upon herself. Hopefully that doesn't make her quicker to judge others.
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