Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Exploring Biases 2/15/12


In the first reading I did the exercise where we write down what comes to mind when we read some categories. I am not going to list some of the things that I thought about but I thought that it is interesting that I could stereotype whole groups by a few things that stand out. I know I am very bias and I think it has something to do with me coming from such a small town and being a bit naïve. On one side of my family I also have very judgmental people who say what they think even if it is ridiculous. Because they are my family I always felt there must be truth in what they were saying but I was dead wrong in most cases.

     I do not want to offend anyone in saying how I have found that I am bias but I do want to say that I have learned many lessons and I feel I am a very open person now and a very accepting person. I also think there may be something not necessarily biases but when you put a person or a type of person on a pedestal because they are in a certain group so you expect more from them. This can be damaging for people because they have unfair expectations to meet.

I thought it was interesting in the reading how they told a story of how they were trying to describe a man named John without mentioning he was black. I realized I do that a lot. If it is a Caucasian I usually describe the clothes when I point people out but when they are of a different race then I usually use their race. I just thought it was interesting.

I agree with Richard Anderson when he says that communication is getting more and more important. Being able to write in a way that attracts people and also being able to get your message out to people is very important today especially with our media and advertising. What does he mean by only touching paper once? It’s funny that he keeps his clocks ten minutes fast because I do to.  



Interview With Teachers From Around the World

I just had a thought after Mondays class when we talked with all the teachers from different countries. I think that every ethnicity groups others as one type of figure or stereotype. That is why when I see a bunch of Asians it is relatively hard for me to tell them apart. While talking to the teachers many of them asked me if I was the girl they met earlier or yesterday or that morning. I had not met them before but I think that I fit into some stereotype of what an American looked like perhaps. I was even asked if me and the other blonde in the room were sisters. I don’t know if anything is behind this or if I am just crazy but I thought it was a weird coincidence.

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