And this guy….
And him.
Admit it, the second you saw these photos several beliefs regarding them entered your mind. Your personal biases exposed themselves. All three images were found by searching internet dating sites. In no particular order I found them:
One is from Yahoo Personals. Posing as an adult woman, as opposed to the 16 year old cheerleader I usually portray in online, I looked for a man with a post-graduate degree, full time employment and making over $100,000 a year.
One is from Gay.com where I searched for a man in my zip code. No other options for a search were provided. I guess the guys on that site aren’t as picky as the women on Yahoo. More options might have been available had I actually joined the site but…I wasn’t about to do that.
The third is from LDS Singles.com and I looked for a guy 21-61 in my zip code. I guess the Mormons are about as picky as the gay guys although I did have to join, the site not the religion, in order to view any results. I signed up Mrs. Bald Man just in case the missionaries are about to be dispatched to our house.
My lawyer says it is better that I don’t post the links directly to their profiles nor should I identify which one came from which search. I will let your imaginations run wild as to who is who but I will say my lawyer is the one who told me Gay.com existed.
The point of this exercise is to begin a discussion about stereotypes and biases. I’ll admit it, I place people in to pigeon holes within 3 minutes of meeting them and I base a lot of the interactions I have with them according to which hole they've been assigned. I like to think I am good at it. In fairness, the three photos above were picked because they make a snap judgment virtually impossible. I am sure if you actually met the three men in question the site that they were found on would be as clear as the nose on a person of Middle Eastern descent whose religious affiliation is not Muslim’s face.
In today’s climate of political correctness and diversity training, stereotyping and profiling are practices so infuriating they’d make my lawyer throw a hissy fit. But face it; stereotypes exist because they reflect a predilection or commonality that resides within a certain community. Often there are historical or social reasons for the development of these traits and, over time, given the intermingling of races, societies and cultures that we have today, the prominence of these traits are lessened. That said, stereotypes provide us with a baseline on which to form an opinion that is as clear as any photograph taken by a Japanese tourist.
Not every Italian is mute without his hands. Not every Irishman is a big drinker. Not everyone who voted for Obama was ill-informed and stupid. There’s a large enough percentage of each of these though that makes there continued use as a reference valid and accurate.
Stereotypes can be based on things other than nationality, race or sexual orientation. Think accountant. Think auto mechanic. Think stripper. I’m sure each of these occupations conjured an image in your mind and, unless you are my lawyer, the stripper was the most enticing. Stereotypes based on occupation are probably the most accurate of any as these are self-assigned in most cases. Certain types of people are drawn to certain occupations. Think radical religious suicide bomber.
Most of the time, the elimination of stereotypes and profiles serves one well in daily interactions. That guy in the next bathroom stall tapping his foot and waiving his hand under the divider who is setting off your Gaydar could simply be listening to his MP3 player and in need of toilet paper. Just as often our instincts, which are influenced heavily by our preconceived biases, serve us well too. If someone walks like a thug, talks like a thug and dresses like a thug, they are probably a thug; or a rapper.
Those of us clinging to our guns and bibles know full well that certain stereotypes are allowed in today’s society. Those of us who trod along slowly in an airport security line putting our 3.1 ounce zip locked baggy encased liquid bottles in the x-ray buckets wonder why others are not. I’ll type the requisite “not every Muslim is a terrorist line” but I do it grudgingly. I know full well not every Muslim is a terrorist. However, in the past 30 years, nearly every terrorist who has been worth his 40 post-explosion virgins has been Muslim. For this reason, every time I see someone of Middle Eastern descent get upset when they are randomly selected for a more thorough pre-flight inspection complain I think, “what an Ass.” And every time I see a pasty white suburban housewife with three kids in tow and a WWJD sticker on her suitcase submit without complaint to the same random pre-flight search I think, “What an ass” and “I wonder if she ever was a stripper”.
If I wear a raincoat and carry a camera to an elementary school playground on a sunny day, I should expect to be looked at with a jaundiced and skeptical eye by those around me. Simply being in an airport and getting on a plane is not a crime for anyone who is Muslim. But I think they should understand when they are looked at a bit differently. It is because of others in their faith that this is happening. Perhaps if they spoke out a bit more, this stereotype would be proven false and we could change from thinking Muslim = Terrorist to Muslim = “those guys who stop and face Mecca all the time”.
S2
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