prejudices

[Fallbreeze]

Stereotyping, in and of itself, can be a positive or negative thing. I agree that you can have a stereotype of something without ever having experienced it. I could stereotype all nonfictional characters as ego driven without ever having to read a nonfiction book.

Prejudice, to me, can also be something that doesn't necessarily NEED a personal interaction to start. Just a stupid reason, enough envy/jealousy, and a way to spread it.

I guess, to me, what it boils down to is: Stereotyping can be positive. It can also be negative, to a degree. If you tip over from mentally being negative, to absolute hatred and jealousy (or deadly apathy), you go from stereotyping to prejudice.

[Rodri]

I try very hard to treat everyone the same until they give me reason to treat them otherwise but I still have to fight against a lifetime of conditioning to overcome the prejudices that can still surface in me. Then again I am happy to admit that at certain times, I will discriminate. I will discriminate when making a purchase based on quality, price and features and select the brand I want. We all discriminate in who we choose as our partner-for-life. So for me, prejudice and discrimination are two totally different things. The problem comes when people discriminate based upon their pre-conditioned predjudices.

Stereo-typing is usually just a lazy way of describing a large and diverse group/race/sex in an umbrella statement which is also usually a statement of your predjudice against that group. Usually these stereotypical remarks are only made in the absence of the target group and in the presence of a large group that shares the same prejudices.

It's primitive stuff really and probably goes back to the first time two human males saw each other, ever. Instant dislike and mistrust and fear of anything or anyone different.

[imnothere]

So perhaps what is viewed as a prejudice is a broad generalization made at a shallow level of interaction with the subject.

that is my definition.

I try very hard to treat everyone the same until they give me reason to treat them otherwise but I still have to fight against a lifetime of conditioning to overcome the prejudices that can still surface in me. Then again I am happy to admit that at certain times, I will discriminate. I will discriminate when making a purchase based on quality, price and features and select the brand I want. We all discriminate in who we choose as our partner-for-life. So for me, prejudice and discrimination are two totally different things. The problem comes when people discriminate based upon their pre-conditioned predjudices.

Stereo-typing is usually just a lazy way of describing a large and diverse group/race/sex in an umbrella statement which is also usually a statement of your predjudice against that group. Usually these stereotypical remarks are only made in the absence of the target group and in the presence of a large group that shares the same prejudices.

It's primitive stuff really and probably goes back to the first time two human males saw each other, ever. Instant dislike and mistrust and fear of anything or anyone different.

if i hear you correctly Prejudice is what you have, Stereotype is what you do with it.
for example if one had a prejudice against, i'm going with something mundane so that no one thinks i'm picking on them, um... say... public grooming. one could stereotype said behavior by stating "dont pick your nose in public, what are you a monkey?"

or have i misunderstood?

[Ikeni]

You're getting stereotyping mixed up with discrimination.

Discrimination is a sociological term referring to the treatment taken toward or against a person of a certain group in consideration based solely on class or category. Discrimination is the actual behavior towards another group. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discriminate

A stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype

[imnothere]

so a prejudice is something that is yours
a stereotype is a prejudice held by the public
and what you do with those to thought patters is something else.


have i got this right?
i want to get the definitions straight so we can continue with the conversation.

[Ikeni]

Prejudice: prejudgement (e.g you see someone in the street who looks ugly and assume they're not a nice person).

Discrimination: acting on your prejudice (e.g insulting the person in the street who you feel looks ugly).

Stereotype: a commonly held social belief in regards to social groups (e.g black people always commit crime, Germans are Nazis etc.).

[imnothere]

ok so now that we have that established

how are we evolving as a society in that our stereotypes are changing. where can you see us going in the future? will we eventually pull out all the old stereotypes? and if we do will new ones replace them?

[Ikeni]

ok so now that we have that established

how are we evolving as a society in that our stereotypes are changing. where can you see us going in the future? will we eventually pull out all the old stereotypes? and if we do will new ones replace them?

It's impossible to fully combat stereotypes, so all I can see are old ones gradually dying and new ones taking their place. Stereotypes are primarily based on ignorance and incorrect interpretation so unless we went out of our way to debunk them (which would be a waste of time since it's not really detrimental to the world) they'll remain with us forever. It's a feature of civilisations that has always been there throughout history too; Greeks thought that their 'uncivilised' neighbours (Thracians, Celts, etc.) sounded like 'barbarbar' when they talked so the term barbarian was coined, and anyone would know that a language wouldn't ever try to sound like that so like I said earlier in this pot it was based on ignorance and incorrect interpretation.

[Fallbreeze]

It wasn't only ignorance and incorrect interpretation. As long as mankind has fears and ego, stereotyping and prejudices will always be a part of us. As detrimental as they are, these assumptions serve to comfort us falsely. As long as we accept that false comfort, we won't ever get rid of them. We'll just evolve the stereotypes we have to fit with the current thoughts.

[imnothere]

ok, i can accept that there will always be some. but it seems to me that there are less now then there were 50yr ago. and in amarica there are laws protecting people form acting out on them.
you cant employ someone based on old stereotypes.
you cant deny basic services based on old stereotypes.

now this means that if you want to practice your prejudices or act on stereotypes you have to come up with some other excuse for it. more often then not, that means actually looking at the person in front of you and knowing a little bit more about them. so that you can find some reason to act on your first impulse.
and here is why i think that this is a good thing. because sometimes you will see past the stereotype or prejudice to the person, and for good or bad, judge them for who they are.


so that was the gist of my OP, can you see a time when stereotypes actually lead people to look at one another and judge them for who they are?