Rhetoric and Stereotypes of Social Groups Essay

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Analyzing such everyday phenomenon as stereotyping, it can be stated that the overall verdict given to such phenomenon is negative. Nevertheless, it can be stated that most people, even those who agree with the aforementioned statement, cannot deny that such phenomenon became an inseparable part of people’ communication. Rhetoric, in that regard, can be said to have a strong effect in enforcing stereotyping in communication. The latter can occur unintentionally as well as intentionally, serving particular interests. Going through the reading in the text book focusing on rhetoric devices, the issue of stereotyping can be seen clarified in terms of its usage to specific group. In that regard, the present paper will attempt to clarify the topic of stereotyping and its relation to rhetoric through conducting an analysis addressing the following groups of people: politicians, tattooed people, feminists, and senior citizens.

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Discussion of the Stereotypes

The stereotypes associated with each of the aforementioned group vary, and in that regard, many of those stereotypes might be obtained and popularized through different sources. Starting with politicians, it can be stated that the main stereotype associated with such group of people is related to with populism ideology. Such stereotypes are usually based on images created by the politicians themselves, while stereotyping tends to exaggerate and put an emphasis on such images. In that regard, the populist politician stereotype can be divided into the following groups (Lester & Ross, 2003, pp. 224-225):

  1. Glad-to-see-you politician – an overwhelming concern shown by politician.
  2. An outdoor athletic politician – an image showing energetic person.
  3. People’s politician –usually portrayed as a father’s figure, connected to children and youth.
  4. Family guy –an image showing as a respectable and virtuous character.

Certainly, there are the stereotypes of corruption and dishonesty connected to politicians as well as the stereotypes of politicians belonging to a particular party, e.g. the conservative republican stereotype and the liberal democrat stereotype.

The stereotypes connected with tattooed people can be seen more related to particular groups such as criminals, delinquent people and bikers. The connection with delinquent behavior is even empirically proven with children, where a study in Durkin and Houghton (2000) revealed that children and adolescents are likely to associate tattooed people with delinquent attributes. On a personal level, tattooed people can be associated with riding bikes and wearing leather clothes, a stereotype that started top disappear with more tattoos becoming attractive for a wider audience.

For feminist, the stereotypes might be even easier, as they are frequently re-enforced in the media. The feminist stereotypes are commonly associated with non-traditional sexual orientation, hating males, independence, and the absence of family. Accordingly, feminists within such stereotypes are seen as careerist, paying no attention to their families, if they have any. Accordingly, such stereotypes can be associated with the stereotypes of non-traditional sexual orientation, i.e. lesbianism, to which feminism is often linked, including images such as being masculine, wearing suits, etc. The more difficult stereotype can be seen associated with senior citizen, as most people have their own inspiration for such stereotype. Such stereotype is usually linked with helplessness, peevishness, and grumpiness. For the last stereotype, a good source of stereotyping can be seen through the portrayal of senior citizens by Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the 1993 movie Grumpy Old Men. Another stereotype of senior citizens portrays them as bad drivers, which might be caused by another stereotype of having deteriorated hearing and visual senses.

All of the aforementioned stereotypes can be seen negative, with the exception of the stereotypes utilized by politicians, and which are created intentionally. In that regard, all stereotypes invoke the same image, and it is not just that ignorant and uneducated people who associate groups with stereotypes. As stated by Nicholas Kristof, “In times of stress, even smart and sophisticated people tend to be swept up in prejudice” (Moore & Parker, 2009, p. 153).

Language and Rhetoric

There are many rhetoric devices used to enforce a stereotype within the society. Such rhetoric works through affecting g one’s beliefs without offering ant reasons for claim. One example of a rhetoric device can be seen through the usage of the dysphemisms, i.e. the usage of words that produce negative association when replaced with other terms (Moore & Parker, 2009). For example in the case of feminists, replacing the word feminist with the word feminazi by the famous radio host Rush Limbaugh can be seen as an example of dysphemism, where a word with neutral associations, such as feminism, was replaced with a term that carries some negative associations, namely related to Nazism (Media Matters, 2005). The association might be used to enforce such stereotype as men hatred and baby killing, being pro-abortion. In relation to feminism can be seen more simple, for example, the Ad Hominem fallacy, i.e. moving the discussion to a personal level and personal attacks (Shemitz, 1996). An example of the latter can be seen through media epithets labeling particular feminists, e.g. “crazy Clare” for Clare Short, “hard left harpy” for Margaret Becket, and “harridan Harman” for Harriet Harman (Walsh, 2001, p. 74).

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In terms of tattooed people, it can be stated that one of the rhetoric devices used to enforce the stereotypes is innuendo. Innuendo is implying and suggesting what is not said (Moore & Parker, 2009). One of the examples of can be seen through the fact of conducting studies which investigate the perception of tattooed people as delinquents implies that there is a link between the two. Accordingly, portraying bikers and criminals in media all having tattoos, and using communication phrases such as, “you have a tattoo; so, do you have a bike”. For senior citizen circular reasoning might be used as a fallacy that enforces stereotyping. For example, stating, you can’t be a good driver at your age, you are old”. Additionally, hasty generalization might be seen as a common device enforcing the stereotypes, i.e. the “likelihood that the sample is not representative of the group” (Shemitz, 1996). An example of the latter, can be seen through single facts that are generalized, e.g. all senior citizens are bad drivers.

It can be stated that there are some truth to the stereotypes, or at least once was. For example, the link between tattoos and criminals can be caused by the fact that at a certain time tattoos were used to identify belonging to a certain gang, or give a hint of the crimes committed by a person (Goldberg, 2001). Such fact is not true anymore, but nevertheless, the associations remained in place.

Self-Appraisal and Conclusion

One of the most important aspects learned during the course of studying chapters4-6 is paying attention to the communication devices used when conveying a message. In that regard, I can state that learning to analyze emotional associations, specifically those intentionally put for a purpose. Such matter is better understood when watching different ads and political campaigns, with the materials learned serving as a magnifying glass to read between the lines. Those materials are especially useful in identifying the way stereotypes are utilized by particular groups, rather than the way they are condemned. For example, a line from Martin Scorsese’ award winning movie The Departed utilize the material s learned about stereotypes perfectly, when the Alec Baldwin’s character says to Matt Damon:

“Marriage is an important part of getting ahead. Lets people know you’re not a homo. Married guy is more stable. People see the ring, think at least someone can stand him. Ladies see the ring, they know you must have some cash and your …. must work”. (Scorsese, 2006)

I understand form the text that it was a stereotype, which people do acknowledge and make use of it, and that is why we can see that all public figure tend to portray themselves as family people. It can be concluded that stereotyping is a large part of people’s everyday communication. They cannot be erased, but their effect can be at least moderated using rhetoric devices, many of which were previously used to enforce stereotypes. In that regard, using language many of the associations connected to particular groups can be softened reducing stereotyping. Accordingly, using sound arguments and avoiding fallacies can be used to communicate an idea or an association when it has evidence and/or claim that can be supported.

References

Goldberg, L. (2001). Gang Tattoos: Signs of Belonging and the Transience of Signs. LinaGoldberg.com. Web.

Lester, P. M., & Ross, S. D. (2003). Images that injure : pictorial stereotypes in the media (2nd ed.). Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

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Media Matters. (2005). Limbaugh defended his use of term “feminazi” as “right” and “accurate”. Media Matters for America. Web.

Moore, B. N., & Parker, R. (2009). Critical thinking (9th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Scorsese, M. (Writer). (2006). The Departed [DVD]. In B. Grey, B. Pitt, D. Lin & D. Davison (Producer). United States: Warner Home Video.

Shemitz, J. (1996). . Jon’s Homeschool Resources.

Walsh, C. (2001). Gender and discourse: language and power in politics, the Church and organisations: Pearson Education.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Rhetoric and Stereotypes of Social Groups." December 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/rhetoric-and-stereotypes-of-social-groups/.

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