Racial Misconceptions In Small Societies; Peer, Media, Madness
When you live in a small community, you may become a victim or scapegoat to believing opinions of your peers or the media with regards to stereotypes about other races aside from your own.
Often in schools cliques are formed and opinions about other students; genders and races are made about peers.
Who Controls the Group Opinion? - "Popular" students - The majority ethic groups
How Are these terms/ opinions formed?
~ When peer groups disagree and have different values These stereotypes and terms are not concrete. ~ Do the individuals a society would call a nerd see themselves personally as a nerd ?
~ Aside from the name calling are these terms offensive or something an individual can embrace?
This all depends on the context of the culture and environment.
Youth growing up in small communities with ambiguous unspoken rules within their society are sponges to the environment that surrounds them. Many forms of the media has a direct influence on youth when they find themselves on social media sites, watching videos online and engaging in activities with their peers. Mass media tends to associate humour and the characteristics of individuals from different cultures with stereotypes that become commonly recognized. Youth may assimilate the stereotypes seen on t.v. to real world situations and this can be detrimental to social relationships.
A phrase we need to critically use and apply - "Never judge a book by it's cover" All individuals can be seen as a book, with a story behind them. We cannot know what the story is about or has to offer if we do not first read into it and inspect what the story is about or has to offer. Definitions: Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
Race: group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, an ethnic group having distinct physical characteristics. Culture: customs, arts, social institution of a particular nation, people, or other social group.; the attitudes and behavior characteristic of a particular social group.
In this journal article the authour discuses the identities inflicted on students within a school and classroom.
Loud Black Girls
Quote from Text :
"In addition to the image of being "large and loud," the black female students were also characterized as aggressive and having a lot of "attitude." For example, teachers and students described (and I observed numerous times) how some black female students would stand as a group in the hallway between and sometimes during classes, talking to each other loudly and blocking the hallway. Students and teachers found it difficult and frustrating to walk past the black female students"
Examples:
For a 'young black girl', she has expectations and roles to adhire;
- Perform femininity (dress, speak, walk, talk, and respond a certain way)
- Stereotypes based on her race & gender
- Constantly socialize
Her expected roles also change depending on where she is.
ENVIRONMENT
- Home
- School
- Office
- With peers
"Quiet Asian Boys" Labeled quiet and mysterious.. the Asian boys were up to something.. maybe..eventually.. <assumed>> Stereotype the unnecessary toughness the article discussed connected the mysteriousness to the Asian boys getting involved in gangs to prove their masculinity.
The authour states that the "quietness of the Southeast Asian American male students made them unnoticeable, almost invisible."
Quote in text from Student: "I don't pay no attention to the Asian boys, I really don't. But I do pay attention to the Asian girls, you know? 'Cuz they do show themselves more or they talk more, you just see them more I guess [Asian boys] just been stereotyped in different ways since they... seem like they look at it as they don't count."
Reference - Lei, Joy L. (2003) “(Un)Necessary Toughness? Those ‘Loud Black Girls’ and Those ‘Quiet Asian Boys’ Anthropology and Education Quarterly 34(2) pp. 158-181.
Expectation of Boys + Adding Race
- Strong - Independent
- Smart - Intelligent
"What Asians are know for "
Your race is a discourse to your gender performance.
Book: Childhood In a Global Perspective (2nd edition) Authour: Karen Wells In the third chapter of the textbook published by Karen Wells; she examines gender, race and class. She mentions theories from Judith Butler whom is an American philosopher and Gender theorist; that arose the notion that gender is a trait which we express and perform. Gender is not static but rather fluid and changing continuously with our behaviour in particular situations. All humans perform masculine and feminine traits. Common Known/ Assumed Mas./ Fem. Traits
Masculine Traits
- Independent
- Aggressive - Competitive - Tough
- Active
- Logical
Feminine Traits
- Nurturing - Affectionate/ Loving - Sensual
- Patient
- Empathetic
- Receptive Changes In Society - Women entering the workforce - Men being caregivers
