On Stereotyping

Where stereotyping is concerned, the concerns have mainly been about two things. First, whether it is fair to do so, and second, whether such an act of categorisation would result in people feeling indignant or insecure.

But then again, stereotypes wouldn't exist if they haven't been an element of fact based upon them.

The questions i want to explore here are as such:

First, to what extent it is justified to put certain groups of people (for this post, this curious category called Ah-Lians, or ALs in short) in stereotypes?

Second, what about those people who have some, but not all of the characteristics that makes an AL an AL, but whom you and i would know if we meet them, are not.

Third, the effects of stereotyping on the AL community itself.


The curious thing about ALs are that, they defy efforts by people to understand them. By "people", i mean the ordinary, mainstream, arguably institutionalised people, like myself and people of my socio-cultural category.

This is because using the mindset of the disciplined, rational mind to understand that category has this element of bias.

Because they are different, so we say they are undisciplined, irrational, et cetera.

People would say, "well, but that's true about them!" but the problem i'm illustrating here is that we can use words like "rough", "vulgar" to describe them, but they wouldn't use the same words to describe themselves.

So there is no such thing as objective understanding, because we're using a different language from that sub-culture.

Anyway, to what extent is all that stereotyping justified?

in my opinion, if we want to categorise ALs into that specific category, they will have to meet criteria more than just those we normally know, like:

How they dress,

How they speak,

Their world-view (if they have one)

The problem highlighted here is that stereotypes exist when sub-cultures are formed. Sub-cultures have distinct identities that make them unique. When these identities are amplified, they become stereotypes. Strictly speaking therefore, ALs haven't formed such a sub-culture yet. they are just a collective of people that falls out of the social category so-called "mainstream".

This addresses the second topic in my post. people who share some, but not all, of these characteristics need not be ALs,

Firstly, precisely because they don't have all the qualities,

And secondly, because they cannot be said to belong to that sub-culture of ALs, because that sub-culture doesn't quite exist.

Of course, that's not to say they wouldn't be put into that category, because after all, since stereotypes are amplified identities, display some of these characteristics is itself an act of amplification.

So for those who like to wear casual, here's some advice:

Dress according to the occasion. this is an important act of differentiation, because a discerning, intelligent person would be able to do that. It shows the degree of awareness one has on her position relative to others in society.

Don't call casual clothing stylish. I know style is subjective, but clothing designed and worn for functional reasons of comfort can rarely be called stylish.

A personal touch. This is the toughest thing to do, but the most important. The problem with ALs is that they don't have personality in their dress-sense, so a personal touch would instantly create a sense of personality and put you on a different league.

But here's a disclaimer: I'm no fashion expert, so all that i'm saying is just some advice for anyone who wants not to be associated with ALs.

Lastly, what's the impact of stereotyping?

The most obvious would be the creation of the sub-culture itself. Stereotyping creates identity amongst people who have these characteristics. People who don't like such identities change themselves and hence depart from that category, but those who keep those identities consolidate themselves and form a sub-culture.

When that happens, then you have a real AL community.

The ramifications?

If you don't like them, too bad, you're got to live with them. That's because it is too late to change them, since they have consolidated their identities and are now proud of it. no amount of shaming or condemnation will work.

If you do like them, you'll probably join them. and we all know the consequences of that.