Directed Entry: Sterotypes and Visual Culture

Linda Nochlin's article "The Imaginary Orient" was very interesting to read. I was aware that there were certain liberties taken by artists when depicting the Orient during the Romantic movement, though not to that extent and not with the aims laid out by Nochlin in her article. It's very interesting to think about how the artists manipulated the reality of the situation, and how easily their audiences accepted their depictions as true. This was likely possible because the majority of their viewers had never themselves been to the Near East; and also because the artists' truth was what they wanted the Orient to be like: dangerous, romantic, and different than anything they had experience with in their daily lives. They had a preconceived notion of the Orient in their minds, and artists were happy to reinforce their patrons' stereotypes in the name of commercialism.

As much then as now, we as a society tend to associate certain stereotypes with specific groups of people. For example, to have pop culture tell it, all black people are thugs, all Asians are martial arts experts and/or do nothing but study, and all Jews are rich. Those previous statements are obviously not always true, but for someone who has never had personal contact with someone from any of those groups, they have nothing to base an opinion on but the information that is provided to them through media. We're all capable of forming snap judgments of people before even getting a chance to know them. It's something that we all do, though some of us more easily let go of our assumptions than others.

For example, I think the media's preoccupation with celebrities' love lives is incredibly dumb. There are plenty of other interesting things going on in the world, but for some reason they choose to focus on Brad and Angelina's inevitable break-up (apparently, they've been on the verge of a split ever since they started dating. It's really going to happen any day now). And while I couldn't care less about what some movie stars I'm never going to meet are doing with their personal lives, for some reason I hold onto the notion that all relationships are flash-in-the-pan affairs and will be over with at any moment. Deep in my mind, there is the little voice fueled by movies and media and pop culture that men (and women) only want One Thing, will inevitably be unfaithful, and will quickly move on to the next hot body without a care for crushing their former partner's tender heart. Now, on a conscious level I know this silly notion of rampant infidelity and people's inability to form lasting commitments to be untrue. My parents have been together for 28 years. There are millions of strong, happy, long-term relationships existing in the world. But I continue to have this knee-jerk reaction in response to relationships, and whenever I'm introduced to a friend's significant other, some little part of me is waiting for the inevitable break up. It's kind of sick actually.

Though we all have our biases and preconceptions, if we acknowledge their existence, we can better work on eradicating them. By relying solely on stereotypes for information about unfamiliar situations, one ends up with a very two-dimensional view of the world. Going out, interacting with people, and trying new things are the best ways to form informed opinions of the world. I'm working on following this advice myself--trying to refrain from being so quickly judgmental--and hope to be a richer person for it.