Yesterday at my very successful Memorial Day Cookout, my friends and I played Taboo. If you've never played Taboo its a game where the object is for a player to have their partner(s) guess the word on their card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card. For example, if my word was "Xanga" I would have to try to get my team to say the word "Xanga" but my five 'taboo' words would be something like "blog, internet, website, featured, and TheBigShowAtUD" (since those are all things directly related to Xanga). So I'd say something like "a place where people type their feelings." Or something like that, get the picture?
So, we're playing Taboo, and on a few of the cards, I was shocked, and actually shocked myself by the stereotypes/generalizations that came up:
Clue: "Something white people do." Answer: Bungee Jump
Clue: "Black people have bad this." Answer: Credit
*Clue: "If I was skinny I would have a nice what?" Answer: Figure*
I starred the last one because that was my category, those words actually came out of my mouth.
I have to say, I don't like that. I could make myself feel better by saying in the game you have to generalize so your team can guess the word, but really, thats even worst, that just means that as a representative for a larger population, these assumptions continue and are still mainstream. I have skydived, but it was still generalized that only white people bungee jump. There was a Black banker and a Black accountant playing, yet it was still generalized that Black people have bad credit. I love my curves, and I still managed to say that if I was skinny, I would have a nice figure. In normal conversations, you wouldn't hear my friends and I validate these stereotypes, but in the heat of a very intense game of Taboo (in which my team lost multiple times
) they came out. So does this mean that these things are
really what we think deep down in our subconscious? That leads to the question how deep do generalizations and assumptions about groups of people go? How pervasive are the messages disseminated by the mainstream media and mainstream culture?
I've always known that those things run deep, if they didn't there would be less racism and stereotyping. But how do we combat something we may not even know is there? Something that is hidden within us, until a game of Taboo? Sure. It was just a game, but I'm always looking for a deeper meaning to things such as these.
Comments (97)
That is kind of scary... the idea that those kind of stereotypical ideas might be inside us all deep down.
I've always thought that game looked fun. That's really terrible with the stereotyping and such. =S I hadn't realized it was there.
haha i never would have guessed any of those... sometimes you have to say stuff you dont agree with to win though.
well, well. look what lurks in your subconscious mind.
my credit is good. psh. watch what you say. and i would NOT be a taboo word. c'mon, now.
oh and to answer one of your questions... no, that doesnt mean you sincierely believe them in your subconcious, it just means that you acknowledge it as a common place stereotype. you KNOW not all black people have bad credit. i've never had to deny a black person merchandise because their credit card was maxed out, but i've done it to multiple white people (i work at walgreens).
I wasn't home yesterday I was at work and shopping. You seemed had a better day that i did.
It's amazing what God uses to show us ourselves. Then He gives us a choice to change or remain the same. I'm not mad at you... Were all harboring beliefes that we are unaware of.
The fact that they were instantaneous thoughts for everyone shows that the stereotypes are there, however, the question is do you believe them. We can't avoid being exposed to stereotypes but we can choose to realize they are wrong. I could sit here and blather about West Virginians (you know, incestous hillbillies) but I also know that it's false (since I am from there). So don't be shocked that they were said, be curious, find out if the people saying them actually believed what they were saying (including yourself).
Oddly, with those clues I wouldn't have had a clue about any of the words.
These are horrid questions, all of them. They should be ashamed.
at least it's not taboo to talk about these things and bring them to light.
I wonder if it's a bad thing. Well, it is a bad thing, but what I mean is as long as those thinkings don't manifest themselves in such a way that we start treating people differently. I don't know if those thoughts and generalizations are wrong things just things that seem to apply in most cases. I don't know... I sometimes generalize like that. Taboo is fun!!!
@TheBigShowAtUD - you would too. When people think Xanga, they think Dan, and then TheBigShow lol
LIES. they do not.
I was kind of under the impression that everybody had bad credit these days. The recession knows no color!
@bosefius - i was going to say the same thing, but you said it much better than i did.
i really love the game taboo.but when i play, i'm not shocked when stereotypes come up.
It's scary the sort of generalizations that are in the back of our minds, often times unbeknown and unrealized.
Perhaps they're not all of the things you unknowingly believe to be true or stereotype, but what our individual selves perceive as an overall belief that other's may be stereotyping in THEIR minds.
I think consciously, even if we ourselves don't believe these things and are against particular judgments, one really cannot deny the fact that many others are making these generalizations, thus we feel we can get across to them a particular meaning since these generalizations are pretty societal.
It's a sad thing really.
I love Taboo! But I've never noticed these sorts of stereotypes or generalizations... They're sort of scary though.
And I fully support loving your curves!
I've always wanted to play Taboo. idk I don't have anything good or bad to say about it just that somethings that are generalized in our heritage are classified as racisim but racisim to me is hate.
Don't be too concerned. We all have our darker sides, but you have a good heart. That is what matters most of all. Trust me, being a redneck guy married to a black woman from the Caribbean, I see it all. I could never see it coming out of you.
I've never played that, wow...
oddly enough, i was just thinkiing about this today while driving...minus the taboo part.
I played Taboo once at my best friend's place with a bunch of her other friends. It was so fun, but i don't think we had any of those issues come up. Even if they did, i wouldn't have taken them seriously. They're just things that people know that other people believe so it becomes easy to use them in the game. It is sad, though, that there probably are people who believe those things.
you can't be politcally-correct with Taboo! WIN.
You know, I think as long as it's not done viciously, it's not too bad. It the context of a game we all know these stereotypes still exsist.
racist.....lmao