Here is a link to the video if you haven't watched it yet:
In this talk, Adichie talks about how most people seem to fit those of other demographic groups into a single, one-size-fits-all mold. She used very good examples about her experience at an American university, where Adichie herself broke this mold many times over. Many of the students--and even professors--had only one image of an African person that they would accept: poor, uneducated, probably starving, and so on. Adichie was very intelligent, in good health, and, for all intents and purposes, very "un-African". One example of this simple story that Americans are subscribed to is when her professor critiqued a novel of hers set in Africa for the characters not being "African" enough. In his mind, they should have all been impoverished and hungry; in her book, Adichie made the characters relatively middle class, driving cars and conducting business.
When she referenced this single story, I realized that--while I would like to think that it is not to the extent of most Americans--I am subscribed to this same story as well. I like to consider myself open-minded, but I still often find myself passing judgement on someone just because of some social group that they fall into. This is especially apparent when I think about entire countries. It is hard as an outsider to not think of them as a singular entity. I often forget to wrap my head around the fact that, no, they aren't just "Canadians", but 35 million living and breathing individuals--each with their own thoughts, ideas, emotions and values. I feel like the reason we blanket large groups under one single story is because being completely open-minded is HARD. Stereotyping people is easy, and you can skip the huge step of actually analyzing a person by subscribing to a single story that represents everyone in their group.
From now on, I will make sure to remember that no matter how much truth there is to a stereotype or story, there will always be little quirks and outliers that I need to take into account. Not every McDonald's employee is unskilled or unintelligent. Not every Brazilian is a crazy party-animal. Not every computer programmer is a socially-incapable geek. Not every story is the sole story you should believe.
It's honestly hard to come into a world with filled with judgement and form your own opinions based on exactly how you should feel about a person. It's sad, but we were even brought up this way through exposure to propaganda and advertising. Gabe, I believe you will be able to form your own opinions if you say you're going to. You have a very driven mind, and it is very easy to see that you get things done once you say you will. Carpe Diem
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kevin. Godspeed.
DeleteGabe, I too wrote about how I judge people based on a single story. However, unlike you I wrote about individuals rather than a whole demographic. I found your perspective to be notable since the single story of a demographic is the basis of racism. Although I am aware that scientifically there is no variation of race between humans, I still find myself thinking about certain stereotypes. I like how you concluded your post by disputing specific examples of stereotypes.
ReplyDelete"I feel like the reason we blanket large groups under one single story is because being completely open-minded is HARD."
ReplyDeleteThis is the truth, Gabe. It's much easier to default to short-cuts than to remain in a place of critical analysis and open-mindedness. (This is why it's good when we hear challenging messages or viewpoints with which we don't agree. It forces us to grapple a bit even if it's uncomfortable.)