TOD 11.29.07

“All women are bad drivers.”
“Most women are bad drivers.”
“Some women are bad drivers.”
“That woman is a bad driver.”
“That woman is driving badly.”
“That woman is driving badly right now.”
“That woman is driving badly right now according to me.”
“That woman has done one thing while driving that I do not like.”
“That woman has done one thing while driving for a few seconds that I do not like but which may have a perfectly decent explanation and which I’ve certainly done myself in the past and would not want to be judged by.”

It sounds downright silly when I say it like that. Almost like stereotyping is dumb…and unloving.

Remember, the language you use in your head is the most potently repetitive mechanism of belief formation you have. And by the way, one final thought. Why does it even matter that the other driver was a woman?
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1 comment:

thexterminalxcase said...

it matters she's a woman because all women are bad drivers!!!
j/k

sterotyping is generally considered to be bad, but it seems to me that its sometimes usefully and even necessary.

example: The FBI is has credible evidence that a terrorist has smuggled a bomb into a subway. Is it better to check every 10th person that comes through the gates or to profile (stereotype) that certain persons are more likely to do this than others.

so, if stereotyping is sometimes good and sometimes not, where do we draw the line?

November 29, 2007 at 3:34 PM

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