Blogging Assignment

To enact invisible narratives, or to play on cultural assumptions/metaphors is to behave and believe with a predisposed bias. Invisible Narratives are everywhere from history and biology class to football and magazines, and they subliminally manipulate the what people believe and how that people act. In the example we discussed in class, of the two articles where in one there is a white person “finding” resources in a grocery store after a natural disaster, and in the other one there is a colored person “looting” resources in a grocery store after the same natural disaster, it shows how by simply switching the words used to describe the actions of characters it creates a backstory for the individuals. In this situation the white person is being portrayed as heroic whereas the black person is being portrayed as a criminal. It is not right that people create invisible narratives or metaphors to stereotype and create social bias’ about groups of people. However assuming that all people play into all invisible narratives that society creates, and assuming that everyone allows them to influence the way they act or how they see the targeted subjects, is just as bad as targeting the subjects in the first place.

Not all people play into invisible narratives however. Biology books describe a sperm as being the dominant sex cell and an egg as being the passive cell in their reproductive relationship. However that should not lead anyone to believe that males are dominant, and females are passive. There are dominant men and dominant females. With my parents the stereotypical roles were reversed. My mother was dominant and my father was passive. It does not have to be a one or the other situation either. In all of my relationships I seek women who I see as an equal. I have never had the idea that one person should or should not be dominant because in order for two people to grow together they must both be dominant in their own lives with respect to each other. To be honest I have no clue where my ideas about relationships came from, However I have taken a lot of biology classes but I still treat the opposite sex with the same amount of respect that I would like to be treated with.

Developing biased preconceived notions about individuals and groups of individuals based on the metaphors and cultural assumptions that we encounter on an everyday basis is a sign of conformity that comes from blindly believing and not thinking for yourself. These unconscious judgements should be made conscious, and should be conquered within ourselves once they are noticed. If we don't consciously correct these bias’, the metaphors will change the way we act toward and judge each other. They will cause us to assume that every black person is a criminal, and every woman is just waiting for penetration. They will cause us to alienate ourselves, and they will cause us to keep people in the same roles that they have been cursed with without any room for improvement.

Empathy and humanity are two incredibly important traits that humans have been gifted with.

hu·man·i·ty

\hyü-ˈma-nə-tē, yü-\

noun

: the quality or state of being human

: the quality or state of being kind to other people or to animals

: all people

em·pa·thy

/empəTHē/

noun

: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

The ability to put yourself in another's shoes because you are both sharing a human experience allows you to treat everyone with the same respect that you would want for yourself. When one shuts themselves off to their empathy and humanity the easier it becomes to play into bias invisible narratives and bigotry. It is easier to say that all whites are criminals and all whites are successful when you believe in white supremacy, it is easier to believe that all males should be dominant over females if you believe that women are less than human. therefore in order to play into the roles cast upon social groups by society there needs to be a predisposed bias such as sexism or racism.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanity