Feb blog post

Stereotypes are Built on Truths

 This article talks about where stereotypes come from and how they are used in social situations. Stereotypes have always been a big deal in our society. We use them to judge a book by it's cover. In my opinion, I think it's almost an instinct to do so as a protective self-defense mechanism we have in our brains. For example, you are by a dark ally and you see a man with a black hoody on standing there. Your heart would jump and you'd speed away assuming he was a bad person and that there was a high possibility he could hard you. Another less harmful example of a stereotype is when you have heard the same opinion about someone since the time you were born so you grew up to believe that that stereotype was factual. So lets look at the stereotype of gender. If a dainty woman wanted to work at an auto shop, she would be laughed at because the stereotype for a woman is that she would know nothing about the auto industry and would not be successful in that career. Same would go for a male applying for a more feminine job. 

"We can, if we choose, simply reproduce the stereotypes that circulate around us or we can take it upon ourselves to learn" (pg 177) I think that this is very strong sentence in this section of the book because it's something we all need to think about. We can either continue the rumors and assume that these stereotypes are factual because well... Everyone says they are or we can take it upon ourselves to learn and be educated about the stereotypes. To learn the reality of the situation and not just take what everyone else says as truth. I mean, when everyone said the earth was flat literally everyone believed it and one person went against the grain and took it upon himself to learn. Sure enough, the world is in fact not flat. This is one of the finest examples of breaking a common rumor among society. In a way stereotypes of like rumors. Their opinions made out to be facts.  

I think a lot of that is what the theme of this section is really about. This section almost works to break down stereotypes and why stereotypes should not be a thing.  I really liked that this section included countless examples of stereotypes and how placing that stereotype on a situation can change the entire dynamic.