Last week I attended Paolo Corso's reading. Corso is a local New England author who focuses most of her of her work on Italian culture. In one story, she discusses how she is an Italian woman that cannot cook. She reveals the pressures of growing up with this burden in a family of female chefs.
Although people might not recognize it, what Corso described is a stereotype. Google defines a stereotype as any oversimplified idea or statement geared towards a specific kind of person or group of people. During the reading Corso stated how many people associated being an Italian woman with the ability to cook well. For her and other Italian women, this was not necessarily true. Although her work is written in a very humorous and witty way, it still reveals the pressures this "myth" brings fourth.
There are two ideas that everyone should realize. One is that whether a stereotype is positive or negative, it is still a stereotype. Some might not understanding why Corso was so affected by the belief that all Italian women are good cooks. Since this is a positive association, there appears to be no harm in such a statement. But there is an underlying pressure that any stereotype can cause. A person who is placed under a stereotype either has to try to live up to it if it is positive or try not to fit into it if it is a negative one.
For me, being an African-American female, I know exactly how she feels. I am exposed to both positive and negative stereotypes about African-Americans and women. Every day I try to prove that gender nor race can tell what a person is about. As nice as it would be to fit into all the positive stereotypes, such as I have rhythm because I am African-American, or I am kind and gentle because I am a woman, I just cannot do that. The fact that I am an African-American woman means close to nothing; they are just demographics, physical features, and facts used to categorize people. But it cannot in anyway reveal the personality or skills a person possesses.
The second idea is that we are all undefinable individuals. How simple the world would be if we could take the physical traits of a person and develop a summary of who they were. "Oh, this little boy has big ears and long fingers, he will grow up to be a great listener and play the piano." It is impossible to pinpoint what a person can do and who they are by how they look or where they are from.
For me, being an African-American female, I know exactly how she feels. I am exposed to both positive and negative stereotypes about African-Americans and women. Every day I try to prove that gender nor race can tell what a person is about. As nice as it would be to fit into all the positive stereotypes, such as I have rhythm because I am African-American, or I am kind and gentle because I am a woman, I just cannot do that. The fact that I am an African-American woman means close to nothing; they are just demographics, physical features, and facts used to categorize people. But it cannot in anyway reveal the personality or skills a person possesses.
The second idea is that we are all undefinable individuals. How simple the world would be if we could take the physical traits of a person and develop a summary of who they were. "Oh, this little boy has big ears and long fingers, he will grow up to be a great listener and play the piano." It is impossible to pinpoint what a person can do and who they are by how they look or where they are from.
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| Image Taken From Google.com |
I agree that there are a lot of stereo types that are meant to be truths even tho they are far from it. I find myself and friends making jokes that are very stereotypical, although these jokes make ourselves as the punch line they are based on stereo types. Most people don't see something as simple as "an Italian woman being a good cook" as stereo typing, but it definitely is.
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