Polarization in Social Schematas

A Jew and a Black walk into a bar.... When we hear this we know that a racist joke will be inserted. But because it is premised as a joke "Here's a joke..." we pay little attention to the ramifications of telling this joke and the rationalization of it on both ends, the speaker and the listener. In this case the joke teller and the joke listener are implicated in the same misfortunes of racial stereotyping and prejudiced mentality. Let me explain to you how these two persons are conducting a racist paradigm in society. First of all when you mention two different racial groups interacting, you are insisting that their differences be made apparent. The joke teller is alluding to their racial difference, if not blatantly and remarkably accentuating the differences from the outset. The listing of the two races elicit a mental image in the joke listener's head. This mental image is in noway positive because the cynical view is that we often look at the worst of things ("It could have been worse" or "It's not that bad"); because we view things in a negative light we also view things in a polarized way as well. We only see opposite ends of the hierarchical ladder. In fact it's not even a spectrum. Take this example: When a person asks you to imagine/think of a dumb blonde. Who do you think of? I think of Jessica Simpson in her moments of wondering if Chicken of the Sea tuna is actually chicken or tuna. The word "Dumb" is highly associated with "blonde" because they are always coupled in popular culture and expressions of stereotype. When I hear dumb blonde, I imagine the dumbest blonde ever! I don't take any second to consider the middle blondes which I am sure exist...I don't even consider the blondes who fall in the middle between "Extremely Dumb" and "Really Smart." That means that I don't even use a spectrum in my mental schemata. Immediately I resort to a polarization where either there's a really dumb blonde girl who exceeds standards in terms of her superficiality or a really smart girl. But I will never think of a blonde girl who is somewhat dumb. There is no Likert Scale comparison in my mental schemata/classification.

This polarization effect is explained in terms of the need to stereotype and classify. Humans need to rationalize---to make sense of certain things they encounter on a regular, everyday basis. One cannot dispute so much information in their head therefore they resort to stock-in-trade, on hand, (ill)prepared stereotypes and preconceived notions as blueprints to match their visions and interacting subjects. Social scientist Herbert Gans says that humans have an abject need to classify. This need is done out of necessity in order to make sense of things, so they don't doubt. This reminds me of my OCD/compulsive/irrational/anger-wielding/controlling personality in which I seek answers for nearly everything. Personal insecurity of my whole self, personal confidence will plummet if I do not come to a final understanding or get an answer to a certain question. That is also a form of control. It's a form of perceived control in terms of one's personal locus of control. The internal factors and external factors (outside of my control) vary greatly, but because I want to discount the external factors I pretend that I have control over my entire world that I see through my eyes. However there are things that are beyond my control and lie beyond my horizon, yet I do not want to witness them because I don't want to feel insecure or open-ended. Open-endedness is a fear I have because I cannot close a certain case.

This is similar to being left hanging. When your best friend sticks his hand out for a high five and you don't want to give him a high five, he will say "What gives?! You left me hanging!" This is a sign of need for closure. The friend wants closure and personal reflection /reciprocation of your friendship's living form. It is a verification of friendship similar to a hug. If you don't give the other person a hug in return he will think you are no longer entertaining the friendship. This could cause huge ripples. Closure most often happens in forms of Goodbyes and Byes. Departures signify the most need for closure. Some people drift away and depart without drawing attention to themselves. They are covert in their actions to not demand or not need a goodbye to confirm a closure in communication. They don't require this as feverishly as others do. They pry and pry for an answer as to why you didn't return a call or why they were de-friended.

Any joke that makes race and ethnicity as well as gender (sensitive topics) more pronounced, is not beneficial to society because it perpetuates racism. It is a divisive effect that penetrates everyone's unconscious. It only builds upon people's stereotypes and microaggressions. These types of classificatory jokes are meant to elicit certain images and preconceptions of racial groups and then satirize these differences by calling the entire enmeshing a joke. Jokes are a way of paving over the racist notions and sweeping the dust under the rug. It is clear that jokes remain jokes. But some cynical people will dispute that jokes are a way for jokesters to rise above their jokes and use their jokes as a symbol/instrument of authority. In actuality they will become more meta and postmodern by stepping out of their concrete actions (E.g. they will tell a racist joke outright and then deny its racist tendencies because it is within the confines of a declared joke) and defending their outlandishly offensive statements with "It was just a joke, etc." This deflection of responsibility stems from their conception of being outside of concrete meaning. They use the excuse that everything to them is outside of them and therefore they do not claim responsibility to it because they do not impart the meaning to it as long as it is a proclaimed joke. Cynics believe that this way of life is cruel, insensitive. It does not encourage personal responsibility and being watchful over what people say. If you claim that you step outside of everything you do, you falsely believe that you step outside of those forthcoming responsibilities, good or bad. Mostly bad.