Episode 3: Stereotypes and Expectations
In the Shadow of the Evening Trees
English - November 08, 2021 23:28 - 30 minutes - 41.7 MB - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingRelationships Society & Culture Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
In this episode, we circle back to our discussion of stereotypes in Episode 2 to dive a little deeper. As we observed last week, despite a person’s best intentions, there really are no “good” stereotypes. While a person’s intent is important, equally if not more important is the way that person’s messages are received: You …
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In this episode, we circle back to our discussion of stereotypes in Episode 2 to dive a little deeper. As we observed last week, despite a person’s best intentions, there really are no “good” stereotypes. While a person’s intent is important, equally if not more important is the way that person’s messages are received: You may think you’re praising or supporting a group when you make generalizations about their qualities and characteristics, but your stereotypes can undermine a marginalized person’s sense of self and have the effect of isolating marginalized people even more than they otherwise are. If a marginalized person doesn’t fit your preconceived ideas about their group, it can add to the feeling that they don’t belong, either in society at large or in their own particular demographic group. Marginalized people should not have to live up to anyone’s expectations; they should be themselves.
We also talk about our individual and collective need to evolve beyond our limited understanding of people who are different from us. By way of example, for its time, the extremely popular show, Seinfeld, was probably well ahead of the curve when it came to addressing LGBTQ+ issues. Watching the show today, however, is often cringe-inducing. But this is a good thing, because it’s a sign that we’re evolving. And we all have to start somewhere.
Ultimately, each of us needs to expand our definition of “normal” to include all the amazing variations of people we encounter everywhere. We’re not all there yet, but we’re getting there.
The post Episode 3: Stereotypes and Expectations appeared first on In Shadow of the Evening Trees.