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talkpoliticsStereotypes are a truly powerful thing indeed. However, the problem with stereotypes is that they are a little bit true (as in some of x are truly y) which is what makes them so powerful. This makes it difficult to counter them - you cannot create opposite stereotypes of “girls are great at maths because they can focus better” or “boys are great at child care because they are more fun” without those too being based in truth AND realising the damage it does to the outsiders (boys hearing that girls are great at maths will conclude that boys are not good at maths, girls hearing that boys are great at child care will conclude girls are not). In every stereotype there is both a loser and a winner.
But why use stereotypes at all, you may ask? Well, it is human nature to both notice and remember commonalities... this is how stereotypes are created. It is a survival mechanism. It is actually necessary to have stereotypes in many situations.
We are creatures of narrative; we both consume and create them every waking (and otherwise) minute of every day. Before we can re-write certain narratives to improve the lives of those who live within them, we have to understand each narrative.
For example, I’ve heard young men, and young women, on many different occasions, across race and class lines, brag about how “stupid” they were. For the young men, “stupidity” meant a kind of strength, for the young women, it indicated how “real” and trustworthy they were; in both cases, “stupid” was a positive social value. A young black male who puts on a display of “stupid” is seen as strong and authentic. His peer group is grading his academic aptitude tests with a mirror-standard, that the academics aren’t picking up on, in which a “zero” is a perfect score.
Quite a few of these narratives (which are clearly destructive) descend from racist/classist propaganda, which morphs, over a generational curve, from blatantly intentional to inadvertently commercial. E.g., the stereotype of the not-exactly-intellectual black male started as blatantly Eugenicist propaganda, but now, after at least five generations of it, it sells records and movie tickets... and is difficult to get rid of because it’s so lucrative; alongside the brisk business being done, in the marketing of black anti-intellectuality to the mainstream, is the infernal feedback loop of young black men supporting the stereotype by buying back and metabolizing their own altered images.
Scratching our heads about these race and class narratives, and the corollary role-playing, reminds me of all the head-scratching we do over eating disorders among young girls. Immersed in a totally saturated field of “eat this snack to have fun” advertizing and the complimentary contradiction of “be skinny to be sexy to have fun” advertizing, is it any wonder the problem isn’t going away... and only getting worse, in fact?
Yes, culture and stereotypes feed off each other to perpetuate their existence. What I describe above, the “stupid” being authentic, is well grounded in working class (such as US blue collar) culture. Being good at academics is seen as unattractive for both boys and girls, it is also seen as a sort of class treason - like you are doing what “the Man” wants you to do, so failing in school is a big F you to “the Man”.
This culture resulted in the stereotype that if you are really and authentically of this class, then you are just like this. So anyone who does not match the stereotype is mocked as being a faker with all sorts of pejorative names.
Oh, and as a closer, might I recommend a book on the subject:
The Little Black Book of European Stereotypes: By Eric Fisher
by Eric Fisher
But why use stereotypes at all, you may ask? Well, it is human nature to both notice and remember commonalities... this is how stereotypes are created. It is a survival mechanism. It is actually necessary to have stereotypes in many situations.
We are creatures of narrative; we both consume and create them every waking (and otherwise) minute of every day. Before we can re-write certain narratives to improve the lives of those who live within them, we have to understand each narrative.
For example, I’ve heard young men, and young women, on many different occasions, across race and class lines, brag about how “stupid” they were. For the young men, “stupidity” meant a kind of strength, for the young women, it indicated how “real” and trustworthy they were; in both cases, “stupid” was a positive social value. A young black male who puts on a display of “stupid” is seen as strong and authentic. His peer group is grading his academic aptitude tests with a mirror-standard, that the academics aren’t picking up on, in which a “zero” is a perfect score.
Quite a few of these narratives (which are clearly destructive) descend from racist/classist propaganda, which morphs, over a generational curve, from blatantly intentional to inadvertently commercial. E.g., the stereotype of the not-exactly-intellectual black male started as blatantly Eugenicist propaganda, but now, after at least five generations of it, it sells records and movie tickets... and is difficult to get rid of because it’s so lucrative; alongside the brisk business being done, in the marketing of black anti-intellectuality to the mainstream, is the infernal feedback loop of young black men supporting the stereotype by buying back and metabolizing their own altered images.
Scratching our heads about these race and class narratives, and the corollary role-playing, reminds me of all the head-scratching we do over eating disorders among young girls. Immersed in a totally saturated field of “eat this snack to have fun” advertizing and the complimentary contradiction of “be skinny to be sexy to have fun” advertizing, is it any wonder the problem isn’t going away... and only getting worse, in fact?
Yes, culture and stereotypes feed off each other to perpetuate their existence. What I describe above, the “stupid” being authentic, is well grounded in working class (such as US blue collar) culture. Being good at academics is seen as unattractive for both boys and girls, it is also seen as a sort of class treason - like you are doing what “the Man” wants you to do, so failing in school is a big F you to “the Man”.
This culture resulted in the stereotype that if you are really and authentically of this class, then you are just like this. So anyone who does not match the stereotype is mocked as being a faker with all sorts of pejorative names.
Oh, and as a closer, might I recommend a book on the subject:
The Little Black Book of European Stereotypes: By Eric Fisher
by Eric Fisher
(no subject)
Date: 14/11/24 17:27 (UTC)Also I'm supposed to be racist but you know me better than that.
So most stereotypes can fall apart pretty quick.