»How did stereotypes originate?«
|
|||
 As you may notice I'm only taking the example of gender stereotypes here, people can of course add more that they know of if they think it appropriate. General Male stereotype - Lazy bum who moves from a game on tv only to get another six-pack from the fridge.. Insensitive moron who does not 'get' the 'finer aspects' of a woman's 'feelings'.. practical and provides solutions.. interested in working of machines, advanced functionality of computers, etc.. concise in his communications, can't chitchat easily (ie, can't mindlessly jabber), takes an opinion on everything... maybe you can add more. General Female stereotype - Always concerned about looks (I got this from the "too little ladies..." thread - dress, hair, makeup?), too sentimental and emotional for their own good... always intent on over-dramatizing/exaggerating things.. uninterested in techonology and its applications, interested only to extent of personal use.. can never talk only about the point - must have embellishment or 'jabber'.. empathises more than problem-solving.. does not take opinions always, can just act as peacemaker.. better at taking care of things than men.. generally scared to try out new/risky things.. How do you think these stereotypes came about? Why have mostly derogatory features been chosen for both genders? And why is it that where one is good the other is bad? Is it because this IS the typical male and female, or is it something else? posted by ryder |
|||
|
|
|||
| in-my-opinion.orgMiscAnything that doesn't fit in any other categoryHow did stereotypes originate? |
|
|||
 ryder: How do you think these stereotypes came about? Why have mostly derogatory features been chosen for both genders? There are exceptions, i.e. stereotypes are positive: Red Indians are wise. Jews are good business men. Germans are tidy and efficient workers. ... posted by knn |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
knn: Red Indians are wise.
Jews are good business men. Germans are tidy and efficient workers. I included positives in the ones I mentioned too, but they're overwhelmed by the negatives and the "general perspectives". Red Indians - Run around with plaited hair and weird clothes (although this may well be true, I don't really know), you expect them to say "How" or "Hail Great Manitou!" any minute, they're thought of as speaking in broken english, and talking about spirits and rain-gods and what-not, have sort of dusky skin and look bird-like somehow. Men and Women. Jews - Long hair, look gay (no no I'm not saying they do/are, I'm just saying they're depicted so). Although I haven't heard much about Jewish women. A Protestant friend of mine used to be poked at as Jewish "because she looks like one", although I don't see any standard Jew Woman Appearance checklist. Germans - sweaty and large, blonde, thick accents you can barely wade through and make sense of, get worked up into ripe tomatoes easily. posted by ryder |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
 ryder: How do you think these stereotypes came about? Why have mostly derogatory features been chosen for both genders? And why is it that where one is good the other is bad? Is it because this IS the typical male and female, or is it something else? 1) Differences 
In order to categorise something you note the differences from what you perceive as the norm. So, a woman describing a "typical man" might identify things that the men she has met have in common that are different from her norm - which would most likely be herself. 2) Limited exposure / strong first impressions Before we were so globalised, one of the western steroetypes for a chinese man was a small guy with lot of cameras who bows all the time. Probably originating from the fact that the only chinaman that many westerners saw was a tourist, and tourists typically have cameras. When meeting these chinese tourists, the westerner would find their greeting gesture of bowing, to be different to what they were used to, and so as with most first impressions, it stuck. I had a similar discussion many years ago on another forum about stereotyped professions. We identified that many of the stereotypes matched the characters of childrens games - ie that Bakers were large jolly men with rosy cheeks - as portrayed in the happy families card game. It led to one question; are our steroetypes based on the games, or are the games based on our stereotypes? posted by Marl64 |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
One stereotype that puzzles me is the "mincing queen" (for those with limited exposure, not all gay men mince around, looking like they've had their wrists snapped  )
I'm unsure whether these people act this way because; a) Whatever makes them gay, also makes some of them behave this way b) They are over-emphasising effeminate behavour c) They are simply living up to peoples expectations d) Something else Perhaps if we have any as members, they might like to enlighten us. posted by Marl64 |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Marl64: Before we were so globalised, one of the western steroetypes for a chinese man was a small guy with lot of cameras who bows all the time. Ooh, Japanese. Hmm yes I guess most 'cultural' stereotypes have come from limited exposure; they seem to especially have eccentric and plain odd characteristics attributed to them. For Eg., Indians - Dots not feathers.. Always have dusky skin and speak with the Hinglish Mumbai accent, men nearly always have a turban, women are quiet and in saris and have great hair.. pagans worshipping animals and forces of nature. BUT nowadays I think Americans see Indians more as suits with ties who are desperate for IT jobs... ha which is rather true for many really. It might interest you to know the American stereotype here.. Tall and sunburnt, sweaty and looking really pissed and cursing every other sentence; walking with unimaginably heavy back-packs and cameras 'round their neck, speaking like they purposely want to mangle up every word in the Queen's English (remember that's what we follow in India).. and have read more books by Indian authors about the subcontinent than Indians themselves would care to. So these stereotypes come from the most memorable qualities possessed by whichever example is in question.. thus the grievances and eccentricities tend to colour anything good unless so exceptional, like (generally) men's crisp style of communication and women's empathy. Okay.  Marl64: One stereotype that puzzles me is the "mincing queen" didn't even know that existed
posted by ryder |
|||
|
|||
 Register Log in |
The time now is 6 October 2008, 17:39 php B.B. |