Speaking of stereotyping and rhetoric, I have an article for you to read: "Don't Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgment," by Robert L. Heilbroner. If you didn't get the hand-out in class today, please print it from the Readings folder on WebCampus.
Assignment:
Read the article and be prepared to discuss in class tomorrow. (Look up words, note comments, etc.!)
Note: You don't have any writing homework tonight, so use the time to revise your paper using comments from peer review. The paper isn't due until Wednesday, but you'll have other writing to do tomorrow night, so don't procrastinate!
Ok so I just got off the phone with my mom and asked her about stereotypes and she claims "that regardless of how much you try and avoid stereotyping, it is nearly impossible because it actually keeps us safe" and she gave me this awesome example. Ok just a little background about my mom, she is a breast cancer doctor and experienced the hard times of the health care considering nowadays no one has to pay to go to the doctor anymore... anyways what she was saying was this "think about it, who do you think medical school examines before accepting them, the graduate from Princeton or the graduate from UNLV? In all reality they are going to take the one from Princeton because it shows they went through a more rigorous education plan versus UNLV known as a 'commuter school'"
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome example! It's kind of depressing for all of us, but it's something I'm definitely thinking about because I know it'll be harder for me to get a teaching job than if I had gone to Harvard like Heilbroner.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that falls into the "good" stereotype category, as in "Princeton graduates are smart and work hard." Who's really hurt by that stereotype?
Except that then gets me wondering about other "good" or "positive" stereotypes (e.g. Asians are good at math, black people have rhythm, gay men have a good sense of style, etc.). While these stereotypes give us positive rather than negative impressions of other people, I think they're still problematic because they are a box that people can then only either fit into or not fit into. We then get surprised by Asian thrashers, or black nerds who don't dance, or very rugged outdoorsy gay men, and our surprise probably affects the way we interact with them. At the very least, it probably makes people who fit these positive stereotypes perfectly or don't fit them at all feel uncomfortable, and might affect their willingness to do or be what they want. And that's not a good thing, no matter how "positive" the stereotype about them is.
The Princeton grad probably doesn't feel quite the same pressure to never be lazy though, so that "positive" stereotype seems less problematic.
It's not necessarily a bad or good thing. The only thing that would cause problems is the person who does not get into med school because he didnt go to Princeton. Like What if they have the same credentials? This is where stereotyping could get in the way.
ReplyDelete