January 1, 2007

  • Stereotype Threats?  How Lame.

    Inadvertently, my mother taught me to be oblivious to stereotypes.  She never followed a stereotype, and so I never felt I had to either.  She loved being feminine, she loved working, she loved having a family, she liked having an education.  So, naturally, she always told me to just do what I want to do.  One of the first books she bought me was a book about a girl wanting to be the President of the United States.  That was in the 1970′s, folks.  Only a masochist would want to be the President, with all the bovine feces they get from their constituents.  I prefer to be self-employed.

    So anyway, I had no clue that some dweeb got his master’s by publishing stuff about stereotype threats — the idea that if you expose someone to the theory that their race/gender/identification does worse at things than other groups, they will self-fulfill the stereotype.

    I still subscribe to the theory that if one is weak enough to bend to propaganda, then one isn’t that intelligent, anyway.

    If I ever had to blame someone else for ‘stereotyping’ me as a minority woman to keep me where I am today, then let me instead thank them for ‘stereotyping’ me so well!!

    So I find it silly that so many women are offended by the following parody of video game systems.  I find it funny, myself.  (Matt says women don’t have a sense of humor.  I love you, Matt.)

    Luckily this isn’t a real ad by Nintendo, because all those people who succumb to stereotype threats would be suing/bombing/otherwise displaying their idiocy online.  Oh wait.  They already are.