Adichie’s TED talk shows us a rare perspective of the world. More importantly, her perspective gives us insight as to how a stereotype develops from lack of communication. In this TED talk the speaker, Adichie, even admits to how she has stereotyped before, when living in the United States. Issues with immigration led to a negative stereotype for Mexican people crossing the border. After visiting Guadalajara Adichie’s stereotype is broken and she understands how seeing a story from one perspective isn't enough information.
This can be related to The Wire on HBO. The show operates like a multi-sided ethnographic documentary. It shows the many issues the characters from different cultures face, all in unique perspectives.
Great post! The one part of Adichie's talk that stood out to me was when when she said (and I'm paraphrasing) that stereotypes weren't necessarily untrue, they just were not the whole story. Obviously, stereotypes are never all encompassing but I had never thought of them in that light before. Stereotypes are only possible because people don't understand the contexts and nuances of certain societies and that's because those stories aren't being shared, especially in mainstream American culture.
ReplyDelete-Jordan G.
I completely agree with your post, I can relate to Adichie's experience with stereotyping. I am Hispanic and it never fails for some individual to automatically assume that I am Mexican based on the fact that I speak Spanish. Sometimes, individuals are not properly educated on certain cultures that they make basic assumptions on any provided details.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post because many people, such as myself, can relate to her experiences. Being hispanic and growing up in a wealthy neighborhood in LA I was always stereotyped and stood out more than others. Then I realized I too was stereotyping the other students who came from affluent families. Hopefully, others can realize these issues when they see it in front of them.
ReplyDeleteI like that you related Adichie's story to what we are seeing on The Wire. I truthfully think the two are deeply related. The Wire depicts multiple perspectives on one story, which is exactly the type of storytelling we need in this world if we want to fully understand one another.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the post and the issues that Adichie had. I find myself being stereotyped or stereotyping other people before I know the full story. I like how you tied it to The Wire. It wasn't my first thought but now I totally see how they link together.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your post. Stereotyping has become somewhat of a habit to a lot of people and it isn't until someone experiences something first hand that they are able to jude it.
ReplyDeleteI viewed this TED talk for a different class last semester, and it had as great of an impact on me now as it did then. Since seeing it last year, I have tried to make sure that I search out more information on a subject so that I don't fall victim to the single story. After I find that information, I make sure to share my knowledge whenever the topic comes up in conversation with others so that I can help others avoid single story pitfalls. It's interesting how often this happens though, and we are completely unaware until someone points it out to us.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post about stereotyping. Every ethnic group can link to it. This is an issue that is got to stop in America. To improve of the lack of communication, we must start communicating to each other in a respectful way. Adiche is right. There is not enough information when viewing the story in one perspective because other perspective will provide relevant info.
ReplyDeleteI really likes how you took the TED talks piece and related it right back to communication or lack of communication. I didn't really consider that as a man factor but after reading this blog it occurred to me that the whole thing has to do with communication. It also made sense to me how you said you cannot get a complete story from only one perspective.
ReplyDeleteI really love your example and how you tied everything down to stereotyping. I think we see that a lot in our society because all of the negative story lines we see in todays media. It is sad to think that someone can feel entitled to make a judgment on someone they don't even know. For example, Homeless people I feel like they have their own story. Only because homeless don't have nice looking cloths, money, or a roof over their heads does not mean that they are bad people or that we should exclude them. Sad to what media can do to someones character.
ReplyDeleteI liked your comparison to communication! It really all comes down to how communication is processed from one human to the next and whether or not we choose that one piece of information or consider multiple perspectives. The less we view the world and what it's communicating with us, the more our minds close to what else it has to offer. We as society should work on communicating more with each other in order to better understand the different cultures as well as ourselves and how we grow as human beings.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! I totally agree with you when you mention stereotypes develop from lack of communication. People do not realize that communication is key, its so easy to assume or automatically stereotype someone without knowing more information or communicating!
ReplyDelete