Saturday, February 27, 2010
Death to Stereotypes
Stereotypes aren't just harmful -- they also tend to be wrong. Really, really wrong. And yet pervasive. In his New York Times op-ed, Charles Blow points out that the revival of the image of the drug-addicted black mother in popular culture (looking at you, Tyler Perry) corresponds with a remarkable drop in drug use among young black people. Black adults aged 18-25 are much less likely than the average young adult to use illicit drugs, and young black women have the lowest rates of all. This is the sort of interesting (and excellent) social development that stereotypes prevent us from seeing.
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But what about the fun stereotypes? There has to be room for those somewhere in this gloomy doomy world!
ReplyDeleteI recently heard that the human brain makes assumptions and predictions so that it can save energy. Considering the average brain consumes about 25% of caloric intake I say, stereotype away and save me some energy for more important stuff like remembering what day it is.
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