Progressive?

I was raised in an urban area; coincidently in this area most of the people have a liberal political view. Also the area where I lived is very close to a large college campus and most of my friends had at least one parent that was a professor or university administrator. As a result of these aspects I grew up have the binary divisions of smart, liberal, urban, cultured, etc... on one end of the spectrum and all the stereotypes of people rose in rural communities on the other. The environment that I was raised in labeled people based on what type of environment they lived. Needless to say they these divisions are not true, and that being raised in a rural community doesn’t mean that some one will grow up living in the home from the Men In Black clip that we have watched.

There are many flaws in this school of thought. These divisions also create discursive technologies because they label one group thus clearing a discourse around them. The technologies at work help support the stereotype because if you only ever learn that a rural person will act one way, than that discourse will dominate your understanding. When I went to college I met many people from a variety of background and saw that the stereotypes that had subconsciously been raised with were totally false. The aspect of this view that I find the most ironic, and a huge stumbling block, is that lack that many of the adults in my life see themselves as accepting and progressive and rural people as “backwards” but by stereotyping them they are no better than the groups they be little.