Critical Summary of Andre's Stereotypes: Conceptual and Normative Considerations
By:
Maricarmen MartínezThe purpose of Andre's essay is to inquire the nature of stereotypes and whether there is something in their nature that makes them objectionable. Andre distinguishes a stereotype from a generalization by first examining the origin of the word.
Andre says that the word stereotype means originally a "metal printing plate". Hence, the idea of something
unchangeable is linked to the original meaning of the word. Notice also how a metal printing plate suggests something that becomes rigidly attached or imprinted into something else. Once imprinted, a stereotype "circulates" among language users carrying its rigidity and its impossibility to be reexamined.
Andre goes on to give the usual definition of stereotype: " a conventional, formulaic, and usually oversimplified conception, opinion, or belief. A person, group, or issue considered typifying or conforming to an unvarying pattern (10). The adjectives in this definition point to an useful and expedient way of using language that resists depth reflection. But, most importantly, stereotypes are concepts incapable of handling new data or evidence. Like an obsolete computer program, a stereotype cannot ope rate over data for which it was not designed. According to Andre, this inflexibility comes from our individual resistant to change.
In order to understand Andre's argument we should pause for a moment and think about our thought processes. We all need concepts to think. Thus, my concept of a tree is efficient and flexible enough to help me recognize a tree in any part of the Planet . I, for instance, was born in the tropics. My concept of a tree was probably generated from the experience of looking at tropical trees, say, palm trees. But rather than accepting as trees only those that shaped my concept of what a tree is, my concept o f a tree allowed me to recognize evergreens in my trip to the Alps. Thus, I did not put on a tantrum because my German friends were calling "trees" to those strange looking sticks, with strong smell, and tiny leaves. Neither did I complain because they di d not produce coconuts etc... But of course, I had an open mind and was willing to be inclusive of pine trees and welcome them as legitimate members of the class of "trees". In other words, I did not create a stereotype of a tree because I did not allow m y geographical chauvinism to come between myself and the beauty of the Alps. This would have been self-deception, not to mention, how silly would I have looked if I refused to admit that evergreens are also trees!
Andre says that
stereotypes are a function of our resistance to change, and our tendency to self-deception. We deceive ourselves because we are afraid of the consequenc es, say, of admitting that there are trees as beautiful as my good old tropical trees. My nationalism could feel threatened; not to mention the mental exercise of trying to fit an evergreen in my tropical concept of a tree. Andre says:An unwillingness to face something is a form of self-deception; it results from a sense of danger to oneself: a fear that the unfaced fact itself will turn out to be unpleasant, or at least that the facing of it will be. Thinking is work; an unpredicta ble world is frightening. Stereotypes like other generalizations protect us from effort and fear.(10)
Andre does not mean to say that we should not hold general beliefs. We need to share some beliefs that are not subject to change just to make some sense of each other. In fact, there are some beliefs that we all cherish because to deny them will imply some major changes in the way we think of the world or as Andre calls it "conceptual scheme." This does not mean that those beliefs cannot change or be denied, but simply, that for mere economy of words, its is preferable not to change them. Andre does no t give an example of these beliefs, but I will...
Think, for example, of the time consuming effort of naming color according to their scientific descriptions. We will have to say that color X and Y are rays of light of certain intensity that when they hit a normal eye, with a particular retina, produc e in that person the experience of say, red. Obviously it is more practical to say: "It is red." This is functional and expedient.
There are some other beliefs that we do not want to change because they protect our psychological health. My belief that I am attractive, intelligent, witty and nice is good for my self-esteem. The content of this belief is important, even perhaps when it does not have anything to with reality. It allows me to move around self-confident and most of the time in a good mood.
A stereotype is a belief that must function in two ways: 1
. is important to the stability of conceptual scheme; for my self- esteem; to help me bring about some desirable situation; or, 2. it might shield me fr om facing an unpleasant fact in particular, if by facing it might not accomplish anything important.Andre thinks its important to analyze those rigid beliefs about certain classes of people. She calls these beliefs "stereotypes."
Stereotypes are not about the totality of the human race, but of a class or clas ses of individuals. Thus, a stereotype about the human race is impossible because the human race cannot stereotype itself. The human race might be stereotyped by Martians but not by themselves who are the very gen erators of the stereotype. In other words, a stereotype always demands one individual that belongs to a group of people passing judgment over another individual or groups of individuals. A rigid belief that a group has of itself is its myth but not a ster eotype. This explains, for Andre, why there are so very few stereotypes of white men. For Andre, white men constitute the standard of the human being, and from it, women and other races deviate. Thus, "what stereotypes there are concern not men as such, b ut men in relation to women: men are naturally polygamous and domestically clumsy" (77).Stereotypes attribute to people a set of behaviors and psychological traits. It is then an expectation that a member of a certain group will behave and act in a particular fashion. Like some of our general beliefs, stereotypes are also simple and gener al. But, the particular trait of a stereotype is that is always addressed towards a group. I could have always chosen to stereotype evergreens saying that I believe that evergreens are them "stinky, clumsy, boring green sticks". If one of them did not sme ll as I expected, or was shorter than I expected, I could always protect my self-esteem from my blunder, by calling it" an exception to the rule".
Stereotypes, for Andre become undesirable because they are unfriendly to truth, and, for Andre, and I hope for all of us, it is better to be correct about issues rather than deceived about them
. Whether I like it or not, it is plain wrong to say that an evergreen is not a tree.A stereotype is also
an unjust social arrangement. A stereotype, being a subset of a general belief, reinforces this: "that all Xs are Ys and that all Xs, must inevitab ly be Ys". As general beliefs they protect our self-esteem, and shield us from facing disagreeable facts, especially if we are too lazy or too frightened to do anything about it. Thus, stereotypes about minorities protect the self- esteem of the majority because: 1. they assure the majority of their superiority ("Blacks or Hispanics are ignorant"); 2. they protect the majority from facing their moral responsibilities ( Blacks, and Hispanics are like happy children). We do not want not to have stereotypes because we do not want to face the question about what to do about them, once we are enlightened.A stereotype might be dangerous even if it is positive. The question is not now the moral validity of uttering stereotypical judgements, the truth is that stereotypes do not allow us to see clearly. They filter conflicting information and do not leave traces on how did they do it. Because we do not know the mental procedures that allowed us to filter that information, we think that the information is true and that is natural for us to have it. We all need to filter information, but when we filter infor mation, about a certain class of group and are not even aware on how was it filtered we are holding undesirable stereotypes