“Although the stereotyping of others is not the sole province of dominant groups, it always reflects power positions. Ironically, even apparently positive stereotypes can work to a group’s disadvantage”
I felt the reading this time was kind of written from one persons perspective, rather than touching on any others. As a reader I feel like Newman expects me to accept what he says as facts without any kind of specific example. His views seem quite liberal and I feel like he tries to place blame in certain areas for inequalities. Although many times I agree with him, I have a hard time trusting something that seems more like opinion than fact. The discussion about how positive stereotypes can be bad for society made a little bit of sense, but I don’t think they are as harmful as negative ones. It is true that people should be judged on an individual basis because everyone is different, but I don’t believe that a positive stereotype can harm someone the way a negative one does. Stereotypes are used every day for us to make quick judgments about things that we see in common. I have yet to see anyone feel oppressed from a stereotype that is positive and makes them feel good. The chapter this time was not that interesting and I feel that the previous ones have done a better job presenting issues that actually warrant some consideration.
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2 comments:
I could not agree more with Kevin when he says that chapter 5 was basically Newman preaching a liberal personal point of view and failed t include any other elements or sides to add credibility to the claims he asserted. I also agreed with Kevin and focused quite heavily on the aspect of positive stereotypes being negative in Newman's eyes. I think that it seems like everyone just needs something to complain about. I think that we collectively should look at how good we all have it in the US compared to many other places.
I had a hard time taking anything away from chapter 5 with an open mind, to me most of his arguments were pretty poorly crafted. I say this because in my opinion he does not give any credible evidence to substantiate his claims. I felt he was just talking from a personal standpoint in the majority of chapter 5 and I was not able to connect or identify with much of what he had to say.
If a postive stereotype is considered as negative, why does he even care breaking down stereotype into postive and negative.
It can be hard to write a book about inequalities based on facts and no personal perspective. This subject is hard to take a ruler to a poll to measure what the truth is.
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