The Italian Job

I'm not going to lie, I love being Italian. Being Italian, along with any other group of people also has its stereotypes. Do I get offended by them? No. Do some people? Yes. Do I think, contrary to the anti-stereotyping I'm trying to establish on this page, that sometimes views of Italians are just downright hilarious?

...Absolutely.






Time to get a little more serious. As an Italian-American, I do not find MTV's new show Jersey Shore to be offensive. I find it to be highly entertaining not in the fact that I watch the show but just how stupid some of the people on it are, and how ridiculously over the top it is. What is interesting though is that there are many Italian- Americans who find this portrayal offensive, understandably. The difference is that "white" ethnicities are usually not portrayed in umbrella stereotypes on TV in a negative way. Here, they are. Maybe it's a wake up call for those that might have stereotyped against other ethnicities in the past? What do you think?





I find some of the stereotypes hilarious. Here's the other thing though. If you had to name three "ethnic groups" associated most with crime, they would probably be Hispanics, African Americans, and Italians. Why don't as many Italians seem to be offended as other "races" would if they were in the same situation? Or do they? What do you think?

Suburbia

My interest in social sciences was limited to none until my spring term at Drexel last year. I had no idea what Anthropology or Sociology were, but I took intros in both just to see what they would be like. Loved em both. As of this point in time I'm hoping to declare a minor in Anthropology from Temple University. Do I want to be an anthropologist? No, but I find it fascinating and it is my strong belief that people should know more about it than they do.

I come from a hugely white suburbia population in Berks County, Pa. I went to a very good public school (the same as Chad Henne, Kristy Kowal, and many other cool people), with great teachers. Taxes are low and the economic/financial standing of those living in the school district is a wide range, but almost every student lives in a suburb to rural area.

I grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, a more urban sort of area with another good school district. But it was much more "mixed" in terms of race and ethnicity. And it was fantastic. That's the one thing I miss from elementary school and the only thing I don't like about Berks county.

Do I have a problem with living in a predominantly white suburb? No, but I have a problem with people living in such areas that stereotype and have never been outside their shell. Don't get me wrong, no one's perfect and I think it's safe to say everyone thinks in some sort of subconscious stereotypes, including myself.

I have made amazing friends in Berks County. I see them as people first before I see them as a socially constructed color. That's how little children see people. They recognize a smile before they recognize that someone has a different shade of skin.

Sometimes, though, I challenge my best friends, and they challenge me when it comes to anthropology and stereotyping. Some of them are very receptive to the knowledge I try to share with them from my classes and experiences, but some of them don't want to hear it. It's disheartening. Am I asking you to agree with me on this blog? Absolutely not, then there's no room for progressive conversation, it's just a bunch of one sided arguing on my part.

My friends (and you) are completely entitled to their(your) opinion, but I believe that anyone who forms opinions about race needs to be further informed about it. Stereotypes exist for a reason, but lack of race/gender/human behavior education and the environment in which people are brought up play a huge part in the misunderstanding.