I know it is very hard to get rid of our prejudices (trust me, I've tried), but I feel that there should be some sort of process for ethnographers to do so. I believe that this task IS possible, but like I said, extremely hard. However, I don't think that we are safe from any type of prejudice, even ones against groups that we have never seen. For instance, I read an ethnography about a car theft ring, and immediately, I was prejudiced, thinking that the members were just common criminals, and deserved to be punished. I have never come in contact with anyone from this sort of culture, but still, I had my own preconceptions. So, how do we keep these theories and thoughts at bay? I believe that we have to keep an open mind and see everything relatively. What do you think? Do you think it's possible for an ethnographer to stay free of any and all prejudices?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Ethnography and Prejudice
In class on Thursday, two groups presented their ethnographies -- one on the students of Howard University and the other on the culture of "the Dav." Each was interesting in its own way, but there seemed to be an underlying similarity between the two. Each group, as instructed, discussed the prejudices and preconceptions that they had to conquer in order to give a fair and unbiased report. This led to many interesting questions as I mulled over my own preconceptions of the culture that my group has chosen (it's a secret!). How, in fact, do we get rid of these notions? Is it even possible? Should we choose a group with which we have NEVER had experience?
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I think it is impossible for an ethnographer to remove them self from their stereotypes and prejudices because stereotypes are a natural part of being human: we need them to organize and understand the world. The problem comes when these stereotypes we use to simplify concepts become misrepresentative or hurtful. Because stereotypes are a natural part of our thought process, we can never truly get rid of them. Instead we must learn to recognize our prejudices so that they do not prevent us from getting to know people as they really are. Although we can never truly eliminate these preconceived notions, if we recognize they exist we can push them to the back of our minds. Then when the ethnographer spends more time with the people they are observing they can get a more accurate picture of who they are, and then they can decide if their stereotypes hold true or not.
ReplyDeleteLike AllenaM said, I think that it is impossible to diminish our stereotypes, but we CAN be aware of them and “put them in the back of our minds”. However, that in itself is difficult. I was one of the members to do the ethnography project, and I did not realize my stereotypes until I told my friends about my ethnography presentation. One of my friends told me not to wear anything “bright and out there” and Kelsey did not wear any jewelry. Also, some of stereotypes we did not realize we had until we discussed our project and how to assemble it. So running along this idea, maybe even keeping an open mind we are not able to be free of our prejudices. In the present moment, I thought I was being relatively open to what I was seeing, its not until rereading my notes did I realize that I did hold a stereotype while even observing. Maybe instead of thinking of the possible stereotypes we would have when we go into an ethnography project, we just repeat the ethnography. Now that we learned that the students at Howard were dressed just like AU students we personally do not have to worry about our appearance. Going a second time, we might bring new stereotypes but probably more observations that we did not notice the first time and in that retrospect we can diminish our stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteThese are some really interesting points! But don't you think that the whole "point" of a stereotype/prejudice is to have these preconceived notions in the front of your mind when viewing the subject, helping to organize whatever information we perceive? From this angle, it seems almost impossible to put these ideas in the back of our minds. I'm just curious (no offense intended!) as to how one could go about this. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteAnd Maria, as your presentation was overwhelmingly positive about the students of Howard University, when you say that you would possibly bring new stereotypes, would these all be positive? And if so, if you met with adversity, do you think you would be more offended than if you didn't have these positive images in your head?
Having read this little debate I realized that the question of why people have these stereotypes in the first place hasn't been brought up. This is important to understand as an ethnographer, since it allows greater introspection into how you got to the conclusions you've found. Stereotypes serve as a way of simplifying the world. Without them, your mind would be blown with the massive amount of information you'd have to process to reach any sort of conclusions at all. Now that everyone has generally completed their observations, imagine if you had to try and break down why each and every person acted as they did during your observation. Every glance, every motion, every word. *cue brain melt*
ReplyDeleteBy understanding the origins of stereotypes in general, an ethnographer can, at least partially, understand which stereotypes are applicable and how they play into their final analysis of the subject group.
As a member of the Howard University group, I remember discussing our findings after we left the school and thinking to myself that I had less prejudices and preconceived beliefs than the other members of my group did. It was only when we started compiling our data into our presentation when I realized how biased I was going in. By biased, I don't mean that I was racist (although I look back now and wonder how I could have ever thought some of the things that I did). My biases were more related what I perceived the general personality of the campus to be like.
ReplyDeleteLike others have written, it is completely impossible to remove all bias before entering a new environment. Depending on our background and circumstances, every person has a different view of pretty much everything in society. As AU students, we perceive GW and Georgetown kids as snobby and elitist but they have a very different perception of themselves. This doesn't mean that we would be rude or hostile if we were there, but the feeling of mild superiority still lingers.
I don't think I felt any sense of superiority over Howard University, but I definitely had other biases. For example, I realized that the image I had of black college students had a lot to do with movies like "Drumline" and "Stomp the Yard". I grew up in an environment with a large percentage of black people. This definitely gave me a different perception of the group than some group members who had three black students at their high school.
Bias definitely creates obstacles in objective research, but I don't think it's always a bad thing. It's completely natural and if you are aware of it and can incorporate it into your findings and understand how it functioned in your research, it can be very useful.