Stereotypes

I know they are unavoidable, but it still strikes me when I detect stereotypes being blatantly used. Perhaps they aren't blatantly used, perhaps the user is not fully aware of the fact that it is a stereotype being employed, but lately I ran into two being used to communicate a broader message and it made me pause.

First is in The Shack (yes, that again). This one is definitely a spoiler, so if you haven't read it and don't want it ruined, go away. Otherwise, you probably know (or don't care to be told) that one of the persons of the Trinity is portrayed as a heavy set African-American woman. There are some good literary reasons for this, such as breaking the idea that God the Father is white, or necessarily male. But my purpose here isn't to go into whether or not it is valid to portray Papa as anything other than a man, but rather to point out that once the initial break from the stereotype from God is made, the author moves smoothly into another stereotype. Namely, heavy set black women 1) love cooking as much if not more than they love eating 2) love mothering people and caring for them, especially when they hurt 3) are sassy 4) speak their mind and 5) do things that no one expects or that are perhaps considered mildly socially inappropriate. I've seen this on TV, in movies, in books, frankly it just isn't impressive anymore. Those mediums often use stereotypes to set a character, it's just easier that way. What bugs me is that people seem to be wow'd by Young's use of this image for God, but Young is stereotyping just in a different way. I mean, that stereotype I learned in "How To Think Like A White-Boy 101." They offered that in high school, I think. Collard greens, fruity chicken, please. Try a little harder. She doesn't quite talk right to match the stereotype, but I don't know if that's because I'm missing the boat here or because Young doesn't actually know how his stereotype talks. I dunno.

Second one that bugged me recently was in a Newsboys song ("He Reigns") that we sung in church last Sunday. I like the song, not sure it works in our church because I think it takes a certain style and energy to pull that off, but the theme was appropriate for the occasion and it's not a bad song. Luta reminded me what I'd noticed in the past, however: it relies on stereotypes. Asian believers are, of course, on fire with the Holy Spirit. Duh, right? And it's naturally the plains in Africa that sing out redemption (slaves maybe?), because duh, Africa is nothing but plains, right? And 1) the Amazon is the only place with heavy rain and 2) The amazon best summarizes South America. Guess they ran out of space, either that or figured mentioning their home continent of Australia would look self serving, and those of us in the so-called West don't need to be referenced because we all assume we're the standard for comparison anyhow. And the song is all about the variety of God's People worshipping God, so mentioning the people who are assumed normal just doesn't do it. Like I said, I do actually like the song. But it seems a bit ridiculous to rely so much on stereotype. Simple artistry and imagery, yes. And apparently they aren't painting a picture of the depth of variety in each culture and each place, but instead highlighting the shallowness of variety across the Earth. Why not drop the location-worship connection? List the worship verbs, and then the geographic nouns, separately? And list a few more, please, because I love the mountains in Africa, and I'm sure someone somewhere loves the plains elsewhere.