Bike stealing: commentary on gender and race by canttakesky

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Bike stealing: commentary on gender and race

POSTED BY: CANTTAKESKY
UPDATED: Saturday, November 27, 2010 16:00
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VIEWED: 524
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Friday, November 26, 2010 8:45 AM

CANTTAKESKY

What happens if a man tries to steal a bike?

What happens if a pretty girl tries to steal a bike?

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Friday, November 26, 2010 9:12 AM

KPO

"Love is natural and real. But not for you my love. Not tonight my love..."

Lol, interesting watches.

I don't think the first video is a fair test, the two actors may have dressed the same but the white guy wasn't as convincing in the role, he seemed pretty all-american and middle class. Some white kids near where I live OTOH, if they were stealing a bike I would have no trouble reaching that conclusion. It's more about class associations (or can be) than simply race, imo.

As for men in the second video, there's no excuse for us...

It's not personal. It's just war.

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Friday, November 26, 2010 4:44 PM

CANTTAKESKY

KPO, are you saying you thought the white man was more middle-class in behavior, and the black man was more lower class in behavior?

I thought they both represented middle class very well. The black man didn't enunciate like a Juilliard graduate, but I didn't see anything in his behavior that looked "lower-class." Just me.

It was a good introduction for my kids on what racism might look like.

I wonder what people would have done had they had an ugly girl or a black girl.

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Friday, November 26, 2010 6:04 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I'm not surprised about the people who walked past someone brazenly cutting a chain. It's easy to assume that someone who does something authoritatively is supposed to be doing it.

I'm not surprised at the double standard for the black actor, as stereotypes are deeply ingrained so much that we are not even aware of them. I remember the looter/salvager double standard during Katrina.

I am deeply surprised at the last clip, where the pretty girl actually gains a knowing accomplice for the theft!

However, as always when watching these shows, I remember to be wary. It is very easy to edit for taste.

--Anthony

Assured by friends that the signal-to-noise ratio has improved on this forum, I have disabled web filtering.

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Friday, November 26, 2010 6:41 PM

KPO

"Love is natural and real. But not for you my love. Not tonight my love..."

Quote:
KPO, are you saying you thought the white man was more middle-class in behavior, and the black man was more lower class in behavior?

More appearance than behaviour. The black kid was more convincing in the part: looking younger, smaller, less corn-fed, more authentically urban (in my view). More easily associable with a lower-class grouping, even if his manner wasn't particularly lower-class.

The people in the experiment were being confronted with quite a surreal situation, so little details of convincingness (or not) were important. The pretty blonde girl bike thief would be too surreal for words for me I think - I honestly think I might've started looking around for the tv cameras :-p

Quote:
I wonder what people would have done had they had an ugly girl

A good test of male so-called chivalry...

It's not personal. It's just war.

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Saturday, November 27, 2010 3:14 AM

CANTTAKESKY

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT: However, as always when watching these shows, I remember to be wary. It is very easy to edit for taste.

Yes, of course. Always with a grain of salt....

Still....

--Can't Take (my gorram) Sky

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Saturday, November 27, 2010 3:19 PM

DREAMTROVE

If you watch carefully, the racial bias is weak, but the conformity bias is strong. Once the idea that action is required is introduced it heads for action, and the idea that nothing should be done is perhaps even more contagious.

The gender bias is not what the show makers think it is. Helping the thief is just flirting, but the women turn against the female thief, but the neither turns against the white male.

Interesting also that blacks and whites held the same racial biases.

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Saturday, November 27, 2010 4:00 PM

KPO

"Love is natural and real. But not for you my love. Not tonight my love..."

Quote:
If you watch carefully, the racial bias is weak, but the conformity bias is strong. Once the idea that action is required is introduced it heads for action, and the idea that nothing should be done is perhaps even more contagious.

Good point.

Quote:
but the women turn against the female thief, but the neither turns against the white male.

Maybe the fact that she was a pretty young blonde made the women dislike her more... Next experiment: an ugly girl stealing the bike.

It's not personal. It's just war.

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