Author(s): Mark Beeman and Robert W. Volk
Source: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 299-304
This article offers a very interesting exercise to introduce the idea that stereotypes are social constructions. Being societal constructions, stereotypes exist in some cultures and not in others and change over time. To drive home this point the authors accessed a list of racial slurs used against ethnic whites in the early 1900’s. In the activity the class is divided up into small groups and asked to define these terms. (Biddy, Dutch courage, Dutch milk, stolid as a Dutchman, Dutchy, Frenchified, made in Germany, Greek ease, to have an Irish shave, Irish club house, Irish draperies, Scotchmen.) Of course since these terms are no longer common in our society, the students do not now what they mean and have to guess at the definitions. The definitions are given along with some of the background of the time. The stereotypes are placed in historical context as these groups were new immigrants, and considered different that the dominant culture of the time. The parallels to today’s stereotypes are drawn, showing how stereotypes are often recycled. This meaning that they are dropped from an assimilated group and applied to a different distinct ethnicity. A discussion is lead surrounding questions of what stereotypical thinking can do to a society, and how these ethnic minorities were able to shed these stereotypes over time.
interesting I have never heard those terms, have you done this in your class? I am curious as to what the students make of the terms and the type of discussion that ensues- do students make references to more current terms and how they might be similar to these older terms?
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