Below is a (slightly edited) response that I posted recently to a friend's blog concerning his feelings about having been cast into restrictive and unfair stereotypes at different points in his life; an issue which he has had to confront again just recently.  Sam, I hope you don't mind if I repost my response here as I believe this is a fairly universal theme in people's lives. 

 

I wonder whom of us has not also felt this way at one point or another in his/her life?

 

Overcoming a stereotype is a difficult thing. People do form opinions and particular views of others with exposure and prolonged interaction. Our minds search for patterns of behaviour and manners of speech in an attempt to categorize, file, and label others into nice, cleanly demarcated slots. Often it is not done with any negative intention at all, but rather because people don't always know us the way we want them to know us.  And it is in our nature as people to try to optimize out complexity. Our brains love patterns. Patterns which are repeated take on a label. Labels are a type of meme which are easily transmitted between people. What aids the spread of this is the promiscuity and credibility of the carrier.

Like it or not, a statement is often given credibility based merely by its "perceived believability" and the association of the transmitter of that message to the object of the statement (the accused). This is why inaccurate or hurtful remarks made by those closest to us about us are the ones that are most damaging and hurtful to us.  It's because to others these statements appear to pack so much credibility, be they true or false. And when they are false, who is to know?  Do these statements ever come with a disclaimer?  eg. "it is only my opinion that...", or "but at least that's how *I* see it"

No, stupid things are said everyday and they are often said with such conviction that it is hard for a third party to sort out what is true and what is not.  This is nothing more than a testament to the effectiveness of propaganda as a tool for persuasion.

 

 

To view Sam's original entry that inspired this, click here