Gender Stereotypes In The Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison

Stereotyping

“The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love. But the minute you step outside, race matters. But we don’t talk about it. We don’t even tell our white partners the small things that piss us off and the things we wish they understood better, because we’re worried they will say we’re overreacting, or we’re being too sensitive” from chapter 31 in Americanah.

What are stereotypes?

A stereotype can be considered a negative or positive set of beliefs consumed by an individual(s) about the characteristics of another group of people. When discussing the perspectives on stereotyping, or the way individuals and /or groups in the society are categorized, you have to understand that they are based from in-group members looking at out-group’s members. We may be so accustomed to stereotyping sometimes we may not even realize are doing it at times. Whether its stereotyping preachers, police officers, or lawyer’s kids as being “bad” and “trouble makers” or stereotyping athletes as being lazy in the classrooms or blondes as being dumb. Stereotypes can usually be form by the suspicion of others which are mainly turned negative. Stereotypes have a great impact on how people feel and the things people do. A study was done based on group competence pertaining to stereotypes. In this test, there were two group, the kind but helpless group, and the cunning and skillful group. Throughout the duration of the test the envious subjects became more qualified at tasks and untrustworthy. Stereotypes may be apart of our daily lives, but they show unrealistic expectations from other races that are sometimes taking serious. Why do we intend to stereotype other races and cultures? How are they perpetrated? Where do we hear them most often used? Are there any groups free from stereotypes? I will speak on the dangers of stereotypes containing gender stereotyping, and stereotypes from society pertaining to family, peers and social groups and race.
Taking the research further according to an article called ‘The other society…’ a common question we ask ourselves is “How do we imagine the other?” (Suvukynas,Virginijus). This question acknowledges our personal tolerance for the other and confidence with the relationship if one should build. We have to have an analysis our own self perception in order to put stereotypes on someone else. This enables us to develop bonds of relativity to certain individuals or groups, and also, discern what individuals or groups we don’t associate with.
Thinking over the kinds of stereotypes in society, often taken into consideration is gender and religiousness.

In the Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison seems to portray the female characters as invisible too. These female characters were label as whores or mothers with no voice or say so. They were invisible just as the invisible man. “Gendering processes that constitute religion expression, experience, and religious scholar differently for women and men” (Sigalow). Studies have proven that the experiences with gender stereotypic readings result in children applying theories such as gender in relation to religious expressiveness. In addition, Schau and Scott discovered that children’s books containing traditional gender stereotyping, increased the understanding children have with job interests and emotional expression. “Attributes such as sensitivity or affection are typical of women, whereas aggression or courage is more common in males” (Lopez- Zafra, Esther and Garcia- Retamero, Rocio). Furthermore, stereotypes with gender have become dynamic due to the incorporation of belief about changing characteristics. The dynamic aspect of gender stereotypes, therefore, stems from a perceived change in the social roles of women and men. According to social role theory, the adoption of non-traditional roles by women and men leads to an expected convergence of their attributes over

time.
In terms of today’s civilization, stereotypes have a negative meaning. However, Bar-Tal and Teichman rightfully tell us that it “is part of a necessary neural process of categorization, or schematization, which is basically neutral: We give names to phenomena we encounter in order to save energy in the brain’s information processing about our environment” (Bar-Tal, Daniel).
Where do these stereotypes come from? How are they being brought up? “Individuals acquire stereotypes from society’s major institutions such as the family, peer groups, schools, churches, and the media, and stereotypes cannot be properly viewed as radical beliefs held by a small and insignificant part of the general population” (Moore). Stereotypes matter. The labels that we place on out-group members allow us to shape society into who makes a different and how the world has to function. The use of a stereotype in class permits the engagement of communication with strangers in order to develop some sort of temporary form bond. People honestly realize what they can use a person for once they realize the characteristics of another individual. As stated earlier, negative connotations give people impressions that stereotypes are imposed to push them away. But in reality, the purpose really makes it easy for you to feel who you want to deal with and who you don’t.
“Do members of dominant social groups view themselves as being more similar to the national stereotype than members of less dominant groups?” (Kosmitzki, Corinne, Cheng Josephine Y, and Chik, Sidney W.

K). Taking a look at social orders and structures, perspective outlooks give people insight on the way civilization operates. We have people we relate to, likewise, we have people we can not stand to associate with. What then happens when you realize someone is too different from you? Nine times out of ten, you put your own distance in the relationship, figure what it is about them that sets the two of you apart, thus giving them a label that is a stereotype without thinking twice about it. Relating to those facts, in the Invisible Man, the invisible man came across plenty conflicts, in particular one when Dr.Bledsoe the president of the college, sent him away to New York to “work for the summer” to earn his year’s tuition. With that whole situation I felt that Dr.Bledsoe should not have judge the Invisible Man based off a statement he made if anything he could have tried to get to know him or hear him out. Social orders created expectancy between gender roles and age which give a little predictability as to how old you should be acting a certain way or doing a certain thing. As well as, what gender is expected to do what jobs and tasks, or what conduct and behavior is appropriate when being expressive with

feelings.
In a world where there are range of stereotypes, what category do you fall in? It seems weird to feel like someone looks at us as being different, but we do it to others and forget about our flaws at the same time. “As with the study of stereotypes as a whole, significant theoretical debate surrounds the question of how sensitive stereotype consensus is to perceived social reality” (Haslam, S. Alexander, Penelope J. Oakes, Katherine J. Reynolds, and Justin Mein.). A study was done to investigate how much stereotypes contribute to “race debate” and prejudice. Little correlation exist, while issues brought to the attention of testers revolved around how people were treated it is still questionable that we sometimes put the wrong label on someone. Doing this we count out treating someone fairly or as a friend because we doubt that they measure to our personal standards. This links back to the social order and expectancy of human conduct and behavior because we go off of what others show us about their personality. When dealing with peers, we often lose patience when trying to figure them out. It is likely that after the first or second encounter, we have already put them in a few categories on a stereotypical scale. It may it be possible to separate stereotypes from prejudice at the same time, and that is only because stereotyping is the way we see others versus the way we treat them with a prejudice nature. Overall, the judgmental analysis that we perceive causes the social order of society to be off balance which results in us as a civilization to lack unity and trust in the strangers we share a world, nation, and planet with. Concluding from that, the Invisible Man stated “And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man”, from page 573 (Ellison).