Sunday, May 06, 2007

Do you tend to ....?

Men are egoistic creatures.

Women love shopping.

Malays are lazy

Children are noisy.

Thin = pretty = healthy.

Girls are neater than boys.

The Chinese are good in Maths.

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The sentences above are examples of stereotyping.

stereotype (n) A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.
One that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.


Does stereotyping denote negative or positive elements? Is it all bad? I hope none of my examples above are sensitive or controversial. They are just common statements stereotyping people: gender, age, race, etc.

Over the years, people are being more cautious of what they say. There are issues of equal rights, and labelling or stereotyping can get one in deep water. Nonetheless, those in the marketing line will perhaps find stereotyping handy for their business to prosper.

Having said all this, maybe making generalisations, or stereotyping others should perhaps best be kept to oneself. What do you think? Pause to reflect...

*These are reflections made based on the lesson I conducted on my class - Stereotyping within the Education system*

7 comments:

Lee said...

Hello D, you certainly come up with head scratching posts, but something not yawnny. Sure caught my attention fast, ha ha. Stereotypes are generalizations, or assumptions, that people make about the characteristics of all members of a group, based on an image (often wrong) about what people in that group are like. If we assume we know what a person is like, and don't look at each person as an individual, we are likely to make errors in our estimates of a person's character.
To me, I look at the person, not who or what he/she is. UL.

k.d said...

D
I agree with U.Lee. Well put. Couldn't say it better

And yes, I think if a person is doing stereotyping or generalisation, better kept to oneself coz it can be insultng...

Intan said...

ur right ppl tend to generalise.

that's how u identify with ur race, i supposed. some stereotypings makes u proud, some don't. who wants to be grouped with lazy malays, right?

kd's right, if it's a negative thing, better keep it to oneself.

Makcik Runner said...

i think we all do sometimes...but i also think that the media or politicians has a BIG role in generalising certain issues that they (the subject) had become so stereotyped and believable until it is so hard to not believe it.

IBU said...

D! Alamak... I'm also guilty as charged on some motherly favourite stereotypes with my 3 boys, for obvious selfish reasons - to keep them in tow.

Sigh ....

NorAiniJ said...

It's part of human nature to stereotype bcoz it makes life much easier I suppose. And it is all up to us whether we wanna live our life bounded by the stereotypes or prove the critics wrong by being out of the box.

Helena said...

wow! great topic D!