Counterstereotype Explained

A counterstereotype is an idea or object that goes against a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.

An example is the character type called the magical negro; Spike Lee popularized this term deriding the archetype of the "super-duper magical negro" in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University and at Yale University.^{[1] [2]}

Examples

• American popular literature in the 19th century contained stereotypical images of black people as grotesque and servile. In protest, a counter-stereotype arose which showed black people as graceful and wise.^[3]
• In the United States during the 1970s, in response to feminist criticism, advertising agencies chose to display counter-stereotypical images of women as sexually assertive and intellectual.^[4]

See also

• Affirmative action
• Benevolent prejudice
• Overcompensation
• Political correctness
• Reverse discrimination
• Women are wonderful
• Xenocentrism

References

1. News: Stephen King's Super-Duper Magical Negroes . Nnedi . Okorafor-Mbachu . Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu . Strange Horizons . 2004-10-25 . 2006-12-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061114013842/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20041025/kinga.shtml . 2006-11-14 .
2. News: Director Spike Lee slams 'same old' black stereotypes in today's films . Susan . Gonzalez . Yale Bulletin & Calendar . . 2001-03-02 . 2008-12-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090121190429/http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v29.n21/story3.html . 2009-01-21 .
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20070311062533/http://www.library.unt.edu/classes/slis/_private/larrick.htm The All-White World of Children's Books
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20020228053731/http://www.rtvf.unt.edu/people/craig/pdfs/madave.PDF Madison Avenue versus The Feminine Mystique: How the Advertising Industry Responded to the Onset of the Modern Women’s Movement