STEREOTYPES VS. CATEGORIES
This week in sociology we read an article, "Should We Generalize". This article talked about stereotyes and categories. It is in our nature to generalize things, whether it's people, animals, or even just objects. We put certain things into certain subgroups in order to help us. The only problem is that the way we categorize things can be hurtful to those around us. The article talks about how we if we were to say the word fish we would just put that in a category of ALL fish whether it's salmon or tuna, it doesn't matter but that is how we categorize things. But in our society today the way we categorize can we hurtful. Let's say you see a kid with one leg you would probably categorize that as oh that sucks he probably can't do much, but though his perspective it can be a great opportunity in which he teaches himself things that others cannot do. We just put all those people together in one big category thinking that because of their disability they can't do much. In my opinion categories are groups that help us put things together in order to help ourselves where as stereotypes are a negative connotation towards people because that is how society has made us see things. For example, if you were to see an African American you would think oh they're really good at sports because that is how our society has made us see things. As we talked about this in class it really made me become aware of the generalizations and cateogories I was putting people into. When I was at dinner the other night with my friends we saw this man who had this huge rash looking thing all over his face and they started to laugh, I thought to myself wow this could be a good thing for him, maybe this hasn't affected his life and maybe it has made him a stronger human being.
Yes so If I said that we should go catch a fish, you would categorize that in your head and probably guess that we are catching a trout or salmon but not a shark or whale. And the guy with the rash is an interesting example - not sure what the stereotype with him would be, but it does seem like laughing at him is a little quick to judge. Maybe he was having an outbreak from eating some food that he is allergic to or maybe it is a skin condition he has lived with his whole life. I suppose that could be an example. I had this marked late because it was due by classtime last friday. After I marked it late, you turned it in, but I didn;t get to it. Thanks for letting me know. It should be updated now.
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