I agree. The slogan to "Make America Great Again" is code for exactly what you're talking about. It's like the chain-emails I get a couple times a year showing pictures of 'America' from the 50's and early 60's usually with some sort of nostalgic theme or sometimes even musical accompaniment, suggesting how great things were back then with pictures of school dances, people picnicking, going to drive-in shows or simply images of families sitting around the dining room table or watching an early TV show or listening to the radio. Of course, the people in these pictures are always white and most of the kids are blond, dad is smoking a pipe while reading the newspaper and mom is wearing an apron and washing the dishes. For a large number of Americans, this was a total fantasy and for them, going back would be to once again disappear into the shadows of society.
Maybe we are seeing an issue that is not there. After all we all want to be with people "like ourselves". The issue is we change our perception of "like ourselves" over time, hours, days, weeks.
I have found that people "like me" have changed at times from Engineers, to males, to political like me types, to people I know, to people who don't smell.
So is it an issue, or not? What exactly is "like me"?
I would love to respond to that, but if I did, at least in the manner and detail that I would like to, the last few posts would get 'Red Flagged' (I'm surprised that they haven't already). Perhaps we should take this thread to the 'Pub' ;-)
My point in posting the article about Clinton was not to introduce politics but to demonstrate that women everywhere have to work much harder than men to achieve their dreams.
As do blacks. The converse is that Asians are expected to be high performers, so the stress is in trying to live up to possible unrealistic expectations.
Stereotypes are extremely tough to get rid of.
TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
faq731-376 forum1529
It's even more challenging than some might think. People forget that stereotypes serve a need- they aren't just unfounded historical biases that we can shed by merely being aware of them. They're a coping mechanism which help people deal with living in a society which is so heterogeneous that it overwhelms them. Don't get me wrong- I think that understanding how bias works is critically important. Education is important- people need to understand how this works, and what harms can result from it. Socialization is important- it's easy to fear what you don't know or have no experience with, and experience with a diversity of others from a young age (i.e. in PUBLIC schools) is also critically important. But frankly I don't see how you can ever eliminate the need for people to "typify" others based on normative tendencies of groups, unless you expect us all to start living in villages with no more than about 100 inhabitants- and even then you'll still have people typified based on family association etc.
Stereotypes can be useful in helping to gage someone else's life experience.
[ul]
[li]Nearly every American black man has been pulled over for "DWB".[/li]
[li]Nearly every American Hispanic has had his/her citizenship or immigration status questioned.[/li]
[li]Nearly every woman has been talked down to or mistreated simply for being a woman.[/li]
[/ul]
I'm a white male. I barely blink when I drive by a cop. No one questions my citizenship (even though I'm one of those "anchor babies" and a beneficiary of the 14th Amendment). Employers don't worry about my child-bearing status.
If you want to see stereotypes in action, just walk into any car showroom, or some furniture stores. The salesperson will automatically assume you don't know anything.
Even after you ask a technical question, you will still get some fluff answer.
One fact that many people can't get over is that we evolved or were designed to survive. And that means different things for people in different geographic locations, and it means men and women are a little different.
That has nothing to do with having a equal chance (for what humans can do)to achieve one's goals.
But we must also understand that not everyone who wants to be an engineer, can become a good engineer. Some have to become managers.
