Alright. We have another woman running for the President of the United States. Not only is she a woman, but she is Black and Indian. You know what that means, right?
Yep. We are being crushed under the weight of stereotypes. Social media, professional news sources, and of course, Donald Trump and his cohort, all have made use of stereotypes in an attempt to frame Harris as unsuitable for the presidency.
From the miserable childless cat lady, to the recent declaration that she is not Black enough, gender and race stereotypes directed at Kamala Harris are invasive, like a disease or a mold.
Stereotypes Operate Under the Radar
Stereotypes or effective because they blend into the background. They are particularly destructive when people do not notice that they are using or being influenced by stereotypes. For example, when you hear people say "I'm not sexist, but. . ." or "I'm not racist, but. . ." it is likely that the "but" will be followed by a stereotype. These stereotypes have prevented women from being successful, from receiving equal pay, from being diagnosed with serious health conditions. These stereotypes are destructive.
To break these stereotypes, we need to track them and call them out for what they are.
My team and I created this handy dandy Women Politician Stereotype Tracker that can be used during the presidential race to identify stereotypes and call them out.
Creating the Women Politician Stereotype Tracker
I got together several people, including Jenn Brown, Kara Starnes, and Quinton Brown, who understand how stereotypes are formed and used around work and labor. This seemed like a reasonable focus given that the goal of the Presidential election is to hire the best candidate for a particular job. We came up with a lot of possibilities, many of which have already played out as predicted before I could complete this project.
How to Participate
Step 1: Send this blog post to people who might wish to participate.
Step 2: Download the Stereotype Tracker.
Step 3: Watch for the stereotypes.
Step 4: Using the hashtags #Stereotypetracker, list the stereotype or take a picture of your card with an X on the stereotype, and post the link where people can find the stereotype in the media.
There are many stereotypes that I did not include on this version of the stereotype tracker. Feel free to include additional stereotypes in your posts under the stereotype tracker hashtag.
How do You Know it Is a Stereotype?
Sometimes the stereotypes are not obvious. Why? Because they manifest through normal language that taps into deep seated beliefs. For example, during his interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, Donald Trump stated that Harris only recently claimed she was Black. Before then, he stated, Harris only identified as Indian. In this very strange and obviously inaccurate statement, Trump asserts that Harris is deceptive and not really Black. He also called Harris and Rachel Scott, one of the Black woman reporters who interviewed him, “nasty,” tapping into stereotypes that women should be both pleasant and passive. Do you see how this works? Now you try it. You can either explain how the stereotypes are deployed in these messages, or just post your link and let the rest of us work it out!
Debbie S. Dougherty is an Author, Farmer, Professor, and Consultant. You can learn more at DebbieDougherty.com
If you wish to follow my blog, please send me an email at DebbieDougherty@outlook.com
Comments