So You Think You Know Me?

One of the most restrictive human inclinations is the overwhelming need to categorize. People tend to think that life becomes easier the more structured it is because if not for organization, the days would unravel into utter chaos. When that theory’s applied in bookstores, music shops and libraries it becomes a matter of convenience, a system for simplicity. But when that same penchant for cataloging creeps into our views of other people, it can enter a narrow territory between understanding and stereotyping.

Halfway through fifth grade, while living in Raleigh, I learned from my family that during the subsequent summer we would be moving to Charlotte. At first forlorn that I wouldn’t continue school with the same friends I had always been with, I was then concerned about the prospect of leaving my hometown for another. And then my parents broke the bigger news--that I would be attending a Catholic middle school.

When I told my friends and various acquaintances at school about my destination, they were shocked. “A Catholic school? Aren’t those run by nuns who can hit you whenever you’re in trouble?” I had no idea. Were they? I spent the rest of fifth grade dreading sixth and having nightmares of rulers and wooden crosses.

When the summer came and passed, and I had started establishing a life in Charlotte, I went on to sixth grade and realized there wasn't a single nun or priest on the faculty. Mostly, my teachers were mid-twenties graduate students. When I listened to the views of others', my mind ran wild with images of maniacal sisters brandishing sharpened yard sticks, but what I really should have been worried about was how easily I let another’s stereotypical and preposterous view affect me.

I have always had very strong feeling toward pigeonholing someone or their beliefs because humans are too unique, too independently peculiar to be grouped together in any rigid taxonomy other than genetics. In my developmental years, I often felt out of place because I listened too intently to the voices of others instead of accepting myself without hesitation. Many of my so-called friends made me feel uncomfortable about reading out of class for pleasure. They considered that geeky behavior, and every middle school student is damned if he doesn’t want to be labeled a geek. So I stopped bringing outside novels to school and only read at home. Eventually, I gained the confidence to do what I wanted and began reading everywhere, but it’s frightening to consider what dangers the naive assumptions of others can hold.

Generalization can assist in the process of perceiving other cultures. Generalizations become hazardous when they result in harmful stereotyping—unrealistic and exaggerated attributes of a group of people. Real awareness begins by understanding yourself, then learning to understand others, not forming one judgment and applying it universally and for all time.