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

[mangosteen]

Stereotypes are just the "people" version of TL;DR.

[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.)

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Stereotypes don't have to be true, they only need to be "true enough" for whatever purpose one is using them for.

The trouble comes when the rough approximation given by a stereotype needs to be substituted for more granularity, but isn't.

[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

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Useful and harmful. You need to extrapolate, but also instantiate...

[cristovau.livejournal.com]

In writing, let's say, the stereotype is a good starting point. Most good fictional characters can be labeled with broad stereotypes. Get too many of the same stereotypes together and the story loses something. A diversity of stereotypes interacting with each other broadens the plot possibilities and dynamics. It doesn't have to be The Breakfast Club, this is true for most stories.

However, it is only a starting point. No character should just be the stereotype, because as you stated, no stereotype is true.

[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.

Types

[robertdfeinman.livejournal.com]

German photographer August Sander made a career out of documenting "types" in local society.
You can see a small selection of his work here:
http://www.masters-of-fine-art-photography.com/02/artphotogallery/photographers/august_sander_01.html

The trick is to find an individual who typifies the whole (or at least people's expectations of what the type is). It's too bad the pictures don't have their captions, some professions are a bit hard to figure at this distant remove.

Another thing to examine is the use of dress to signify one's profession or social standing. We don't think this is as prevalent as it used to be, but Wall St bankers, lawyers and college professors all have recognized uniforms.

[seawasp]

All stereotypes are true. They are also all false.

All of them are useful -- as-is, or by having them handy to use as misleading red herrings when you do the change-out.