Showing posts with label cultural stereotypes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cultural stereotypes. Show all posts

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Yes I Am Israeli And You Are An Anti-Semite


When I was in graduate school one of my professors  made a comment: ” Why won’t you write your dissertation in Literary theory?  you are Jewish and Jews are famous for their love of ideas”  I didn’t know how to respond, on the one hand I knew that I wasn’t going to write about  theory, but on the other hand I didn't want to ruin his good impression of the Jewish people.
Only later when I studied the subject more thoroughly I realized that, like other forms of generalizations, cultural stereotypes serve as a short cut, and help people to comprehend better their reality. It is also a way to measure oneself against the others. Moreover, although it sounds like a judgment it could be used as an observation.

Keep reading this post in my Times Of Israel blog:
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/yes-i-am-israeli-and-you-are-an-anti-semite/