Tessa Perkins has five assumptions about Stereotypes. These are:
1) Stereotypes are not always negative (e.g. 'The French are good cooks').
2) They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful ( e.g. 'upper class twits').
3) They can be held about one's own group.
4) They are not rigid or unchanging ( e.g. the "cloth cap worker of the 1950's became the
1980's 'consumerist home-owner who holidays in Spain').
5) They are not always false.
Here are my views on Perkin's assumptions.
1) Stereotypes are indeed not always negative. Usually they are used for negativity such as calling Americans fat and that the Welsh enjoy having 'relationships' with sheep. However, as Tessa states, stereotyping can be used in positive way. For example, she claims that the french are good cooks. In general, this is true as a lot of the culture in france is to do with their extensive range of premium quality recipes and restaurants. Furthermore the french are known for liking cheese, and this is because they have invented hundreds of flavours, such as brie.
2) I also agree with her statement that it does not always apply to a minority group. As shown in the previous assumption, stereotyping can be used to describe an entire country. Another example of this is that 'Africans are good runners'; this is used sometimes because in general African nations usually win medals for running in The Olympics and at other athletic events. It can apply to a minority group, such as teenagers who are sometimes stereotyped as being 'unruly', but it can be used for a majority group too.
3) Stereotypical views can be held about one's own group because I, as a teenager, do stereotype my own kind at times to be 'law breakers and trouble makers'. Obviously this isn't normally the case for the vast majority of teenagers, but because we are portrayed this way in the media that view becomes my own view. I know that I'm not like that, but when i see a teenager in a tracksuit and Adidas trainers, I instantly think they like to cause trouble, even if they could actually be wearing them just because they are comfortable clothes.
4) I agree with the view that stereotypes can change over the years. For example, fifty years ago middle eastern people were viewed as being merely undeveloped and also were not very common in the news. These days however people stereotype the middle east as a land of danger and terrorism, because of recent events with the terrorist attacks from Al Quaeda and the Taliban. Furthermore, now people are suspicious of asians in general, for because they all have a similar appearance, people think that they could be terrorists and so are occassionally reluctant to interact with them.
5) I believe that Tessa is right that stereotypical views are not always false because when it is used to generalise a majority group it is in most cases true. For example, the stereotype 'Americans are very patriotic' is true because, when shown in the media, American people proudly display their national flags and are generally passionate about their nation, such as at sports events in their country like American football in which spectators would rise and sing the national anthem. Generally however stereotypes are false, because to label middle eastern people as terrorists is simply a narrow minded view on a group of people who are in general harmless human beings like the rest of us. In fact stereotyping, especially in this way, could be viewed as racism, because it could easily offend the average Afghan citizen.
Tessa Perkins: Stereotypes
Sunday, 25 September 2011
at
14:41
Posted In
Tessa Perkins: Stereotypes
| |
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments