Today in class we discussed discrimination and prejudice. The ginger video really made me laugh because my best friend from home happens to be a ginger. Me and my friends always make fun of her using stereotypes like "gingers have no souls." Now obviously the discrimination against Gingers is a joke and I doubt anyone really takes offense to it. But the same kinds of discrimination is taken against races and other ethnic groups. These aren't a joke.
Part of class that I felt strongly towards was the influence of mass media. So much of our everyday lives is based off of what we see on the tv, in movies, in magazines. News reports on crimes being committed by African Americans, or television sitcoms playing off of well known stereotypes allow what we believe the norm of society is to persists. I don't think stereotypes will ever disappear. Does it always necessarily have to be a bad thing? No. Many comedians have routines that most people don't take offense too, and there are jokes out there basically based on each and every race that are exchanged among friends. It's the intent of these materials that decide the "prejudice factor."
This video reminded me of todays video:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e11-ginger-kids
Great title for this post, Sara. Thank you for the link to the South Park video. I had not heard about the sketches on "gingers" the show does until I read this and when a student in my other section mentioned them as well.
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