Blog Post #2

I really enjoyed Elif Shafak’s talk, ‘The Politics of Fiction’. I found her messages to be very unique and eye opening. One idea of hers that I found to be particularly interesting was that people tend to form clusters based on similarity and these clusters are generally where stereotypes form about other clusters of people.  Ms. Shafka explains that the three main stereotypes associated with her Muslim culture are politics, cigarettes and the veil. I understand that clusters of people perpetuate stereotypes but I do not think people are necessarily the ones to blame.  Popular culture is the route of this ongoing ignorance. Sure, popular culture provides people information about other cultures that they may not otherwise have access to, but the popular culture industries are known for using selective exposure. Selective exposure refers to the medias way of favoring information that reinforces pre-existing stereotypes while avoiding contradictory information. In other words, the media sets the tone for what they want society to believe and guess what, it works! That is why popular is responsible for the three main stereotypes associated with Muslim culture.

I started thinking about what stereotypes popular culture has taught other cultures to associate with Americans, but more specifically, American women. I searched the top U.S. television shows viewed worldwide and found CBS’s, ‘Two And A Half Men’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’ to be the most popular among foreign viewers. Although I have to admit I find both shows to be entertaining, it is distressing to think that other cultures see these characters as what the stereotypical American is like. Being that this is the culture we live in, we understand that these characters are extreme representations of Americans, which is why the shows are funny. However people from other cultures do not see it this way. Take a look at the video below and let me know your thoughts about what is assumed about our culture. As a woman, how does it make you feel to think other cultures may stereotype you in this way?

I appreciate the way Ms. Shafak uses storytelling to open her eyes to new cultures. She says, “Through storytelling we can catch a glimpse of other cultures and even like what we see.” I like her way of thinking because it is nearly impossible to accurately learn about a culture without any personal experience. Her thinking reminds me of many other women writers we have discussed this semester. Sharing stories is one way to spread awareness of different cultures instead of relying on popular cultures narrow lens of widely distributed information.