Stereotypically Yours!

The other day I heard my mother complain about how she had not yet received some of the snail mails that were supposed to have been sent by “Speed Post”! She went on to launch a tirade against the Postal Department. Now how often have I heard it? Many times and it isn’t just my mother who gets into this offensive mood. In fact, come to think of it, we have umpteen things that are oft repeated and sometimes pigeonholed, without leaving any scope for change. Be it social or political, related and unrelated, we seem to take potshots at people and phenomena, bringing me to jabber about a sociological concept – Stereotypes.

Politics does not seem to be anybody’s cup of tea, coffee or anything potable. Still, at least once a day, I hear people declare the representatives of state they elected corrupt. It is virtually like a synonym or a tag that comes with a package. Politician A is corrupt. If B is a politician he is corrupt. If he is corrupt, he must surely have some links with politics or politicians. No, I am not having a revisit from my school days on logical deductions but that’s the way people seem to be talking in real life. But not once have we heard any straitlaced chap stand up and say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I proclaim myself corrupt”. Despite all attempts a politician makes to portray himself and his party as the cleanest and corruption disinfected, nobody seems to be listening. If anything, the one-liners of the Jay Lenos and the John Stewarts get more fodder and sound more comical to the audience, which is ever ready to lap up more on the matter.

But let’s not get politician bashing. There are other things to clobber. Traditionally, one tends to maintain a not-so-friendly relationship with his/ her boss. The reasons are as vague as the typecast affair itself. Almost everyday, I receive at least one email forwarded by a distraught junior who seemingly is bloodthirsty and would do anything to defame his boss, mostly a Project Manager. Even in daily life, there are innumerable times you come across a person who feels he can do a better job than his boss and should probably be getting the latter’s salary too! Also, the BOSS is seen as a villain who derives sadistic pleasure from dumping more work to his junior.

Celebrities are also popular picks among people who love to stereotype them. Whenever a celebrity falls sick or meets with an accident (though it might be a raging bull which wanted to humor itself for a while) and is caught on camera, how often have you said or heard people say, “Yeah, right! All for publicity”. No matter how convincingly a popular party animal says “No comments” on anything that is alleged, in the public eye, he/ she already starts looking like there is a striking resemblance with a stowaway on “COPS”.

Forget about the high-fliers and seniors. Even the people we deal with in our day-to-day lives are also either of this category or that segment! Relatives are just one jealous lot and doctors and lawyers were created as the human form of leeches! Husbands / wives / long-time partners are boring or have changed over time to droning creatures. Come to think of it, I could pen a poem out of the entire situation.

Daily I come across at least one kind of stereotype,
What can I say, some are wrong, some right

My kids are the most beautiful and intelligent of the lot,
Don’t the other kids look like a bunch of ocelots!

At my office, I work the hardest- I'm the best
While my carpool partner scalps the cream though he rests

Whoever made women at work so gentle?
All they best do is freak out and get emotional!

Whoever made guys so thick-skinned?
Make them a shrink and you’ll have a psycho successfully killed!

Africa and Asia are full of naked, poor, hungry kids
Refer NatGeo and Discovery acts

I could keep singing such limericks for hours

But for now, I sign off – Stereotypically yours!

(November 8, 2005)