Biases

A common theme that has been coming up everywhere recently has been that of “Bias”. Over the past few weeks in class we have discussed how to outsiders and Baltimore locals we are these rich, snobby, white kids who just come to run rampant through their city for four years, show no respect for it, and never really get to learn it. They certainly have a bias for us without ever really getting to know us individually. For my event analysis I even discussed how I ran into this topic yet again in our class readings and a movie I watched. Koro Aspirina had a bias against Kahu for being a girl and people had a bias against Marjane for being from a different background. Once again in this week’s readings the biased theme has continued, particularly in Shakespeare’s sonnet ‘My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun’ and the ‘One Word’ excerpt from Elizabeth Gilbert.

First let me talk about Shakespeare’s, in my opinion, very odd sonnet. Traditionally I have always thought of sonnets, especially Shakespeare’s, to be more on the romantic side. This may be a false imagine planted in my head because the one sonnet that always sticks out in my head is the one where Shakespeare compares a girl to a summer’s day. Because of this, this sonnet in which he completely trashes a girl strikes me as being a little peculiar. In this sonnet he describes how everything about his mistress is “ugly”. In solely just my opinion, this may be Shakespeare’s showing his bias against all women who pursuit being mistresses. He seems to show his opinion that these women who try to take men away from their true loved ones are all ugly at heart.

After I read the poem I read the ‘One Word’ excerpt. In this excerpt the narrator discusses how everyone in a particular city generally has the same life “word”. She then goes on to judge one woman in Rome as being the type of woman who has the motto “You will look at me, but I will refuse to look at you.” From this judgmental action of just looking at the woman and what she is wearing she then develops a bias against all Italian women that they are all the same like this woman and all follow the same life “word”.

After reading all the pieces of literature due on Tuesday I came across an email from the Vice President for Student Development talking about Biases! If this isn’t a sign that they need to be stopped then I don’t know what is. Just like the email explains (and what I summed up in my event analysis) we need to work on creating “a community that welcomes people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.” In our readings Shakespeare seemed to have a bias against mistresses, but for all he knows it might not be the mistresses fault for being one. She might not even know she is a mistress and is being misled by a man. Also in “One Word” the narrator judges one woman just by looking at her! Overall I think the point I’m trying to get across is that we really need to stop taking things at face value and get to know people without judging them first.