Subject: Re: Avoidance of stereotypes and the true themes of "Eskimos"
From: Andrew Kennis (kennis@math.grin.edu)
Date: Tue Feb 25 1997 - 18:37:10 GMT
On Tue, 25 Feb 1997 Hotspur8@aol.com wrote:
>
>
> i whole heartedly agree. Stereotypes, to me, are not a "bad" thing...
> they can be used as a simple convention in order to represent an
> oversimplified conception or opinion regarding a race, a gender, a certain
> 'type' of person, animals, what have you-- it aids the reader in
> recognizing that these unvarying 'PATTERNS' of 'BEHAVIOR' indeed exisit...
I whole heartedly, *disagree*. Stereotypes to me, are a horrible thing
and indeed are *not* "unvarying patterns of behavior", but are instead
falsified, oversimplified, overgeneralized, and inaccurate conclusions
based upon a certain group of people.
Why don't you take a step back and look at the disgusting atrocities that
accepted stereotypes have been largely responsible for.
The stereotype that all Jews are rich and greedy, was used as a technique
to breed hate and justify the holocaust. The stereotype that blacks were
inferior and subhuman was used to justify slavery. The stereotype that
women were not capable of displaying intellect worth of having the right
to vote, led to the denial of woman's suffrage for almost a century and a
half. The stereotype that all Asian Americans during WWII led to them
being enslaved in internment camps. The stereotype that Native Americans
were all savages led to the near desecration of their race.
Even today, this country is plagued with stereotypes. The stereotype that
blacks are inferior in their intellectual capabilities and can only draw
talents in atletic oriented activities, maintains vast discrimination.
The stereotype that women are not fit for business has resulted in only
5% of CEO's being female and vast discrimination against them in terms of
business loans (NY Times findings).
I ask you now, are you convinced that stereotypes are not only a bad thing,
but are also very dangerous? Still unconvinced?
Perhaps you might be getting stereotypes confused with legitimate
cultural traits and norms. Claude Ake, a professor of political science
at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, posits that African
culture places much more of an emphasis on communitarian values:
"Our people still think largely in terms of collective rights and
express their commitment to it constantly in their behavior. This
disposition underlies the zeal for community development and the enormous
sacrifices which poor people readily make for it." (taken from
"Africa Today", 34, nos. 1&2, 1987).
This is a sociological norm, and certainly displays much more
intellectual rigor and empirical evidence than a statement such as: "Poor
people, more often than not, are lazy, stupid, and immoral." Or, "Women
can serve no greater purpose in society other than fulfilling their
wifely duties: cooking, cleaning, and breeding." OR, for our purposes:
"Homosexuals like 'The Beauty in the Beast' a lot more than heterosexual
males." (an actual example cited by Paul, in support of his conclusion
that Eric in "Eskimos" certainly had to be homosexual).
The number of people who have either have had a lack of faith in JDS's
abilities to exploit *real* literary devices other than resorting to
dropping stereotypes (which I really do not think requires a significant
degree of talent) and who also have even tried to justify the use of
stereotypes as if they were harmless, is rather unsettling to me.
> just look at the bible.. if that isn't one of the greatest novels ever
> written-- it's full of stereotypes..
Um, first of all, I think it's funny that you describe the bible as a
novel. Secondly, I think it is even more humorous that you use it to
justify stereotypes.
--AK
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