Race, Gender and the Media: Week 5
March 15, 2010
Just by sheer coincidence, I happened to read the entire book, “Blink,” by Malcolm Gladwell last fall. I loved it. And this story about the auditions behind the curtain was one of my absolute favorites.
The whole dichotomy of the subconcious’ innerworkings is fascinating. It’s unbelievable to see how much of one’s thought process is ingrained by our socialization.
I think it would be really great if all job/school interviews and such were “behind the curtain,” if you will. People have subconcious leanings that are outside of their control. For example, non-Americanized, non-white names can be an immediate subconcious red flag for a potential employer.
People tend to pick things they can relate too. So what about having numbers on job applications rather than names? I know that in choosing doctors, when you don’t have much more than a name to go on, I go for American sounding names. Not because I’m consciously racist (I have got some serious white guilt) but because I just feel more comfortable with that choice.
