Stereotypes

Stonewall's frustration with the 'Americans are ignorant' stereotype got me thinking. Why do stereotypes happen?

Well, often they seem to arise out of a kernel of truth, but heavily distorted for whatever reason. Some are simply a deliberate attack on a definate group (racism, or wartime propaganda). I thought it might be instructive to list some of the stereotypes we often encounter, and try to work out where they come from.

For example:

"Men can't/won't do housework"

I used to get annoyed at this, as I can & do do housework, but I discovered at Uni that this is a worryingly true stereotype (although I did live with some girls whose idea of cleaning the kitchen was to hoover the work surfaces... :roll: ). So, I conducted a little research, and basically discovered that men who can't/won't do housework tend to be men whose mothers (and possibly sisters) did all the housework in their house.
So they grew up not knowing how to do housework, and expecting that everything would simply be done around them. Most really did not realise quite how much there was to do. This also applied to several girls...


"The Italians are poor fighters, and will retreat or surrender at the drop of a hat"

From WW2, when the average Italian soldier did not give a monkey's about the war, and frankly just wanted to go home. Plus they were poorly equipped and knew it. WW2 does also show this to be an untrue stereotype, as when they wanted to Italian units of all types fought on an equal level to anybody else.
It could also *possibly* have a root in Early Modern history, when Italian armies were almost exclusively mercenary armies which tended to withdraw rather than fight if they faced a determined opponant.


Please add your own, of any kind, and feel free to add comments to any 'reasons why' that anybody has given. And don't get upset if somebody rubbishes your theories!

 

Sounds like a fun concept.

Probably true. I have noticed the same thing happening with group assignments; usually those who feel "it just needs to be done" end up doing the whole thing at the benefit of those who apparently feel that it will eventually be done for them. It's totally unfair, because in fact it justifies the lazy ones in their attitude.

"The French can't fight" probably originated during World War II when unwilling American soldiers had to die to liberate France. The role of the Free French forces in the liberation of their own country and the defence against counterattack in January 1945 is completely ignored in this view, as is the fact that the French in World War I had done the job the USSR did in WW2, which is bearing the brunt of the fighting to wear the enemy down.

"You're interested in war. You like war."
This is one I've run into a couple of times myself. People apparently fail to see the distinction between wanting to know more about a war and approving it on a moral level. I can't guess at the origins of this stereotype because I really don't understand the cognitive leap required to reach this conclusion.

 

Remember stereotypes can be good as well as bad, you can be assigned a set of characteristics that make you look good even though they don't apply to you. I am a woman so therefore I'm kind and nurturing,I came out of the womb knowing how to raise children, I clean, cook meals, I like handbags and shoes, I have no idea about car mechanics or home repairs....I'm a weak, dependant female. I'm a woman so I must have a fluffy mind and I probably fill my day watching daytime chatshows and thinking about puppies, kittens and fashion.

I'm studying Psychology at the moment, according to one of my text books...

In this busy world our brain has to process so much information, we make assumptions about people. Imagine you were walking down a quiet street and there was a group of people hanging around on the street corner, if they were 7 year old girls you might think how sweet they were. If they were male bikers you might think that there could be trouble.

 

From the quote down I agree with you hahn, but all that stuff above it....
When I see you talking on the forum I often tend to forget you are female, and the stereotypical woman you describe is defenitly not my idea of a stereotypical woman.

 

This is actually highly unfair, as for large chunks of European history France (or the area that was to become France) had the biggest and best fighting forces going.

I think that the point is that war is all about killing people. Tanks, warplanes, whatever, are all just machines designed to kill people more efficiently. Any interest in this is therefore an interest in killing people.
Or, possibly, glorifying war.

At least, that is what I have worked the process out to be.

 

Likewise, the general opinion is that people interested in the German side of the war are Nazis (but for some reason, people interested in the Russian side of the war aren't necessarily communist and people interested in the US side of the war aren't necessarily a democrat).

When people make such parallels, the best tool is usually to make a similar stereotype about them.

 

I never really understood why everyone thinks the Polish are stupid. While the jokes are funny, where did this come from?

 

the polish are deffinetly not stupid they did fight very well and they lasted a while agaiinst the germans . With Outdated equipment . but if you look at plans for future and present plane and ships ect .You will find that they are quite advanced and they shouldnt be made fun of thwe PZL-37 was the most advanced bomber in 1939 and had the most bomb capacity

 

Their intelligence should not just be measured by their 1939 equipment, either

The French did not last that much longer, even though their situation was much better.

 

The Polish laster a bit more than 3 weeks which was Hitlers prediction, and you can't forget Russia attacking from the East I think it was on the 14th of Spetember.

I know one reason the Soviets didnt allow polish officers or limited their numbers in the Polish Republic of Poland. In 1939 the day after Polish calvary ambushed German troops to slow down the Germans so the rest of the army group could advance. the Polish were succesful is slowing down the Germans. The next day a couple of Italian reporters came to the battlefield and seen dead calvaryman and their horses, along with German panzers. They came to the conclusion that the Polish cavalry charged the German tanks. Thus creating the myth that Polish didnt know any better than to sent cavalry againsts german tanks. This was also obviously used as propoganda not only for Nazi germany but also for Communist Russia.

 

Probably the same root as Irish jokes in the UK - look, here's a small & distinct immigrant group with odd customs. Let's make jokes about how thick they are.

 

Sounds a lot like "Rednecks" here in the States.

Methinks Ricky has hit the nail on the head. "Small...distinct...group with odd customs."

What better than to ridicule someone different from you, eh? If you could trace it all back, I'd bet this is one of the tiny springs whence all prejudice flows.

 

The most advanced bomber of the Polish air force certainly, and it compares very favourably with the bombers of the rest of the world, but its defensive armament was weak and it was quite short legged. Still an excellent aircraft, I'd rate the Ju88A higher though, only marginally smaller bombload, greater range, better armament and significantly faster. The Wellington and He111 are also at least as good IMO.

 

Some prejudice also emerges from envy. For example, the Dutch are considered greedy by stereotype; this is probably because half the world's wealth was once ours and we didn't exactly give it to charity.

Another issue with "small distinct groups" is - why blonde jokes? Blondes are a majority.

 

Are you sure about that? They are not a majority over here, and they are certainly not a majority world-wide

Besides, true 'blone jokes' only ever apply to female blondes, which narrows down the group a tad. Essentially it is just another 'women are dumb' stereotype. :roll:

 

Fair enough, on a global level only Asians are allowed to make minority jokes.

Stereotypes seem to emerge mostly from collective bad experience or selective memory of such experiences. I don't think it has to do with minorities at all times, but it does require a strong social position (i.e. being part of a majority) to be able to make jokes on stereotypes.

 

True. We lacked the time and money to become really advanced (examples: the 14TP tank or the PZL-49 Mis [Bear] which was a deeply modified PZL-37 with stronger Bristol Hercules engines, stronger defensive armament and a bombload of 3000 kg - this one would surely have big chances if fighting for a foreign contract).

But that was just an off the topic remark. As for stereotypes, I agree with Ricky. People are what they are, the often find pleasure when they have an opportunity to laugh at somebody (or somebody's bad luck, mistake, anything). If a particular group seems (*not* "is" but seems) worse/weaker, jokes about it emmerge just like that.

 

Natural blonds? I dont think so, scientists claim that peopel with natural blond hair colour will dissapear within the next 250-300 years.

 

Hair dye is here to stay then!

 

Awesome topic Ricky.

I despise stereotypes. I got into a fight with my father once because he told my sister the way to get a Chinese name is by throwing a tin can down the stairs.

The stereotype that really makes my blood boil is that of the Mexican population in the United States. They are seen by many people as social leeches who come to America to undermine the US economy, steal jobs from American citizens, sell drugs, traffic humans, insert any other derogatory action here.

I know for a fact that in the area I live in (Southwest Arkansas), our agriculturally predominant economy depends entirely on the Mexican population, be they illegal or not (excuse me, undocumented ). And these jobs that the Hispanic population is supposedly taking away are the kind of jobs not many other people want to do; I know I don't.

The other day, I heard a few, as Tom describes above, rednecks discussing (for lack of a better word) the marches going on around the country protesting this new immigration law. I'm sure you all have heard something about it, because at least a million people have marched against it so far. I heard this one lady, who I felt no contempt for until that time, say that she flipped off the marchers. She was proud of this. All I could think of was if that is being American, get me the hell out of the United States. She, nor any of the other bumpkins, had any idea what they marchers were protesting, had no idea what the immigration bill is over, but they talked down about these people anyways because they're stealing jobs and challanging the white man's cultural stronghold in the region.

Sorry, this rant has turned into one on ignorance, not stereotypes. Anyways, thanks Ricky, this is the best topic I've seen in some time.