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Go to a NASCAR race. The majority are rednecks (although the last one I went to in Charlotte we sat in front of 4 hottie asian chicks from UMich on thier vacation, so there are obviously exceptions...and that was a very good exception for my friends and I )
College tailgate = drunken college kids
Country concert - white guys
Rap concert - black guys
Obviously they not ironclad and representitive of the entire group, but there are varying degrees of truthfulness to stereotypes.
Some are long outdated like the dumb Polish guy stereotype, I haven't met a lot of Poles that I can clearly say were stupid, nevermind enough on a regular basis that I would make a deliberate connection.
One stereotype which is very true is that Asians (and Sikh Indians) really value education and push their kids to do well in school. While I went to school a very lax Asian parent was one who could deal with their kid being a straight C student and those parents usually owned a business (usually a restuarant) where their kid could always find work if things didn't work out.
Racial stereotypes are not true, sometimes ethnic stereotypes are because they include the cultural ones that are actually a choice, or learned. Sometimes regional stereotypes are true to a large extent.
My favorite stereotype is the penny pinching Jew or dumb ******, I used to get very upset and usually would almost fight anyone when they joked about polish people or Jews but then I said one day "what the heck am I getting all bent out of shape for?" I couldn't go 3min without finding a reason to be a offended(I was liberal back then) so I just stopped and now I can laugh at myself(now I'm a conservative).
I'm a Polish Jew and proud of it!!!
That's because you saw the negative side of that stereotype. Is it bad to "be careful with your money", or be "thrifty", or to know the value of a dollar? It's also why some people tend to be more successful, rise to the top, value an education.
Obviously they not ironclad and representitive of the entire group, but there are varying degrees of truthfulness to stereotypes.
Some are long outdated like the dumb Polish guy stereotype, I haven't met a lot of Poles that I can clearly say were stupid, nevermind enough on a regular basis that I would make a deliberate connection.
One stereotype which is very true is that Asians (and Sikh Indians) really value education and push their kids to do well in school. While I went to school a very lax Asian parent was one who could deal with their kid being a straight C student and those parents usually owned a business (usually a restuarant) where their kid could always find work if things didn't work out.
hmm.. some stereotypes are very transparent so they aren't deceptive and you can take them at face value for the most part i agree. but then their are stereotypes that are erroneous in interpretation.
for instance, i was just reading in another thread and i have heard this stereotype consistently that chinese make cheap products. yes, many products are not the highest quality but where it becomes erroneous is when you are attributing the chinese as being at fault and responsible when these companies are foreign based and the chinese are not necessarily totally responsible for these lesser quality products. they also forget or overlook that the 'made in china' is actually not chinese products nor are they made to chinese specifications. the brain behind these products and how they are made is not necessarily chinese but greedy corporations. this is no different than those mass produced non-tasty tv dinners companies know people will buy anyways either because they are poor or whatever. the point is, still in essence, they are blaming and attributing the lack of quality they find to the chinese soley. besides the fact the stereotype isn't true. there have been more scares but statistically the made in china products aren't anymore worse, they just seem to be considering the vast amount of production they do. if you look at the history of other products outsourced they also had bad or poor production at one time, not even in asia. on top of that, many american products are also poor quality or iffy. american products have been recalled in the past resulting in harm or deaths for various products besides the plethora of lower quality end products to higher quality 'made in america'. again, many stereotypes are largely exaggerated by cultural prejudice and ignorance. that's like saying person a is at fault when in fact they may be while ignoring person b is also at fault simply because person a is at fault.
so stereotypes can be misleading but can catch on anyways simply because of ignorance.
I used to work with a social worker who liked to say "Behind every stereotype is a grain of truth". I don't think she was talking about racial stereotypes, though, or even ethnic stuff like "dumb Swede", etc. Growing up in a very ethnic area (W. Pennsylvania), I have heard "dumb" in front of every ethnic group out there.
BTW, the issue came up with her when talking about "absent-minded professors". We were all living in a college town and dealing with professors as patients at the time.
Obviously they not ironclad and representitive of the entire group, but there are varying degrees of truthfulness to stereotypes.
Some are long outdated like the dumb Polish guy stereotype, I haven't met a lot of Poles that I can clearly say were stupid, nevermind enough on a regular basis that I would make a deliberate connection.
One stereotype which is very true is that Asians (and Sikh Indians) really value education and push their kids to do well in school. While I went to school a very lax Asian parent was one who could deal with their kid being a straight C student and those parents usually owned a business (usually a restuarant) where their kid could always find work if things didn't work out.
Quite true. Stereotypes exist for a reason. They have to make SOME sense to continue as stereotypes. I won't mention a few obvious ones, for fear of offending folks. But we all know that stereotypes do, in fact, describe RECOGNIZABLE features of the group being 'typed'. Everyone, (including the 'victim' group), recognizes this fact, and virtually ALL "groups" of any description recognize, and humorously use, stereotypes about THEMSELVES.
If stereotypes did NOT have this PARTIAL element of truth, they wouldn't offend and upset people the way they do. The 'obvious' stereotypes can, and do, cause offense, when used disparagingly by 'outsiders'. But totally RIDICULOUS stereotypes....(those which are seen as 'nonsense')....would not offend, because it would be obvious that they had no element of 'truth'. Examples might be stereotypes about "Amish biker gangs"....or "East Indian trailer-dwelling rednecks"....or "Mormon punk rockers"....or "Illegal Hispanic immigrant computer geeks"....or "Arabic-American skinheads"...."Midwestern rural surfers". While a FEW examples of each of the above 'groups' undoubtedly DO exist, there aren't enough of them to form a viable 'example' of typical, recognizable behavior that most people would instinctively recognize...and thus, these groups are not seen as 'stereotypical', and no offense or controversy is attached to them.
Quite true. Stereotypes exist for a reason. They have to make SOME sense to continue as stereotypes. I won't mention a few obvious ones, for fear of offending folks. But we all know that stereotypes do, in fact, describe RECOGNIZABLE features of the group being 'typed'. Everyone, (including the 'victim' group), recognizes this fact, and virtually ALL "groups" of any description recognize, and humorously use, stereotypes about THEMSELVES.
If stereotypes did NOT have this PARTIAL element of truth, they wouldn't offend and upset people the way they do. The 'obvious' stereotypes can, and do, cause offense, when used disparagingly by 'outsiders'. But totally RIDICULOUS stereotypes....(those which are seen as 'nonsense')....would not offend, because it would be obvious that they had no element of 'truth'. Examples might be stereotypes about "Amish biker gangs"....or "East Indian trailer-dwelling rednecks"....or "Mormon punk rockers"....or "Illegal Hispanic immigrant computer geeks"....or "Arabic-American skinheads"...."Midwestern rural surfers". While a FEW examples of each of the above 'groups' undoubtedly DO exist, there aren't enough of them to form a viable 'example' of typical, recognizable behavior that most people would instinctively recognize...and thus, these groups are not seen as 'stereotypical', and no offense or controversy is attached to them.
no, not all stereotypes are accurate in the interpretation of it's use. i see you glossed over that point.
please explain how asian women are more subservient than middle-eastern women who can't even show thier frigging face? i don't recall a stereotype conjured up by westerners that 'middle-eastern women are subservient'.
see, stereotypes can be skewed by cultural lens in viewing others.
besides, most any stereotype is inspired by a cultural point of view. the western world has had the priviledge of conjuring up many stereotypes about others in line with their views and personal standards.
i can make one up myself. watch this: 'whites look like albinos'. i don't recall a white person ever coming up with such a stereotype, wonder why?? lol
many whites do indeed resemble albinos and of course some don't. see how easy that was?
I used to work with a social worker who liked to say "Behind every stereotype is a grain of truth". I don't think she was talking about racial stereotypes, though, or even ethnic stuff like "dumb Swede", etc. Growing up in a very ethnic area (W. Pennsylvania), I have heard "dumb" in front of every ethnic group out there.
BTW, the issue came up with her when talking about "absent-minded professors". We were all living in a college town and dealing with professors as patients at the time.
Did you ever find out why some professors are absent-minded?
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