They say the third time is the charm, so here we are again for the third week in a row of listening to me rant, whine, stomp my little foot and once again give my feeble opinion (as little as that might be) 🙂
Stereotyping… What exactly is “Stereotyping”? Wikipedia states:
[i]”A stereotype is a simplified and/or standardized conception or image with specific meaning, often held in common by people about another group. A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image, based on the assumption that there are attributes that members of the other group hold in common. Stereotypes are sometimes formed by a previous illusory correlation, a false association between two variables that are loosely if at all correlated. Stereotypes may be positive or negative in tone. They are typically generalizations based on minimal or limited knowledge about a group to which the person doing the stereotyping does not belong. Persons may be grouped based on racial group, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age or any number of other categories.”[/i]
I’m sure each of you at one time or another have found yourself being negatively stereotyped. Or at the very least knows someone who has been one time or another. This can leave you feeling unfairly judged, as the person doing it is making an assumption (and we all know what it means when one “assumes”)
Whether it’s because of your sex, race, the clothes you wear, how you style your hair (or the color of your hair), where you come from, the accent you have, etc… You find yourself on the end of being stereotyped. Sometimes though, you are the person who is doing the stereotyping. I myself have been found guilty of doing just such.
While there are positive stereotypes, this rant is based on the negatives associated with stereotyping folks whom you have no knowledge of whats so ever.
You see the guy riding his Harley all tattooed out, wearing leather and folks think – he must be a hell raiser. You see the teen-ager with the spiked hair with piercings covering their body and folks think – he’s a druggie going no where in life. You see the homeless person on the street and folks think – drugs or alcohol got him where he’s at. You see the lady walking down the street in a little short skirt and folks think – she’s easy.
That Harley rider could be a brain surgeon who never drinks/parties, helps out everyone, got the tattoos because he likes them and wears the leather for safety. That teen-ager could be the nicest, kindest person who is extremely responsible and uses the spiked hair and piercings for nothing more than expressing himself. That homeless person could be someone who lost their job through no fault of their own and is just trying to get back on their feet. That lady walking down the street may have just lost 100 pounds and just wants to show it off.
Now these are just small examples. There are others. Without knowing all the facts we base the picture on a whole – lumping everyone into a single imagine we have formed over the years.
I found myself at the end of just such negative stereotyping recently. The assumption was based on the fact I’m female. Not just any female, but a blond female (and we’ve heard all the blond jokes, but trust me, some of us do have brains).
Any way onto my story and rant…
My sound card on my computer finally went to see the big sound card in the sky. Not wanting to miss listening to TROLOV, I went out to Best Buy to buy me a new one. While browsing the different varieties and trying to decide which one I prefered, a salesman walked over to me.
[i]”Ma’am, can I help you?” [/i]
Yes, I’m trying to decide which sound card will work best for my needs. I mainly listen to music, podcasts and occasionally play games. My old sound card was a Sound Blaster Audigy 2. I’m leaning toward the Sound Blaster X-fi Titanium.
[i]”Ma’am, is your husband here?”[/i]
My husband? Yes, he’s on the other side of the store. Why?
[i]”How about if we go and get him?”[/i]
Ok.. (so I walk away and get my husband and bring him back)
Here’s my husband. Now can you tell me more about the Sound Blaster X-fi Titanium?
Now this is the point I get ticked, this man turns to my husband ignoring me completely and asks, [i] “What kind of system do you have, what is the main purpose you use this computer for, and how much do you want to spend?”[/i]
At which point my husband looks the man squarely in the eyes and goes, [i] “What are you asking me for? She’s the one who fixes all the computers in the house, she’s the one who set up our networking system and besides that she’s the one who handles the money. Ask her, I know nothing about computers except how to check email.”[/i]
Now the guy turns back to me red-faced and asks, [i] “Ma’am, how can I help you?”[/i]
At which I responded – You can’t. And walked away.
Now while the above is minor, this gentleman made the assumption that as a female I would not know anything about computers and would need the assistance of my husband. If I needed my husband’s assistance, I would have asked my husband to begin with and not asked for the opinion of someone who works in the store.
This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered such assumptions. I also have encountered them when I need car repairs or heaven forbid I just need the part. If, my husband goes in, no problem, I go in and I get asked 15 million questions.
It infuriates me to no end when someone makes an assumption without knowledge of who I am. The customer service gentleman could have easily just asked me some questions before forming his opinion. This would have given him the knowledge that he needed to know if I at least somewhat knew something about computers.
So have you ever found yourself at the end of negative stereotyping? If so, what was it and how did you handle it?
Do you think its fair for folks to be placed in labels or certain groups as a whole? What can we do to stop the negativity this can cause?
-Tammy 🙂
PS: I ended up buying the Sound Blaster X-fi Xtreme Gamer as for me I found it to have a much better sound quality than the Sound Blaster X-fi Audio.
Edited for typos 😀 Not my fault though, my religion made me do it :p
