No stereotype is true; is stereotyping useful?

[dsrtao]

The Angry Young Man
The Radical Lesbian Feminist
The Wise Old Man
The Wise Old Woman
The Hunter
The Joker, The Fool
The Trickster
The Nerd
The Jock
The Cheerleader
The Salaryman
The Gruff Guy With The Heart Of Gold
The Cynic
The Dupe
The Straight Man
The Earth-Mother
The Hippie
The Straight Arrow
The Prideful One
The Expert
The Incompetent
The Petty Politician
The Band of Five
The Party of Four
The Troika
The Rivals
The Fearless Leader

Comments

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Looking at your list, would you draw a line between stereotype and archetype? (Either a line of spectrum or a line of division.)

[dsrtao]

Nah. An archetype is just a very old, popular stereotype.

(Psych people and literary people may feel free to disagree with me; I'm not being particularly precise.)

[mangosteen]

Specifically, the "Band Of Five" is much more of a trope than a stereotype. It's a literary form, which in and of itself unpacks into five more stereotypes.

The Lead Guy
The Second-In-Command
The Smart Kid
The Girl
The Big Guy

(Also, do not go to www.tvtropes.org without having at least several days to sift through it. It's the mother lode of all of these tropes.)

Tropes everywhere.

Munach pashta zakef katan,
Eli

[cristovau.livejournal.com]

I'd have to say, some of your stereotypes are somewhat more specific than others. A simple mental test for me would be if the stereotype connotes a specific haircut. If it doesn't, it is probably an archetype (hunter, trickster, prideful one, incompetent). If it does, it is more specific (hippie, cheerleader (as opposed to "the enthusiastic one), Radical Lesbian Feminist).

It is a matter of generalities versus specifics.