The Outsiders Lesson 1

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Time's up!

Read your biography and think about why you wrote what you did about the person in the picture.

You Have a 50-50 Chance of Being Right

Perhaps you wrote that this person is a professional motocross racer or rider who has been riding since childhood and enjoys the physical challenge or thrill.

• Did you name the person?
• If so, did you use a male or female name?
• If not, which gender-specific pronouns did you use?

The individual in this picture is a two-time X Game Women's Moto X Super Gold Medalist, the first female motocross racer to make the cover of TransWorld Motocross magazine, and the first woman to be signed to the American Honda Racing factory team: Ashley Fiolek.

Besides being a motocross legend, the now-retired Ashley is a key speaker and advocate for the Women's Sports Foundations while working on her charity to help children with disabilities become involved in sports.

• Why choose this particular charity?

Ashley Fiolek was born deaf!

• How closely does the biography you wrote match the picture — and what you know — about Ashley?

Men dominate motocross and other X Game sports, so it wouldn't be a surprise if you wrote that the rider was male. This is a stereotype.

What Went Wrong?

A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified belief or idea about a particular group of people or things. These assumptions are often based on limited information, leading to misconceptions and unfair judgments.

Stereotypes can influence how individuals perceive and interact with others, sometimes resulting in prejudice and discrimination.

• What does this mean?

In Ashely's case, the general population considers motocross a predominantly male sport. Therefore, most will assume a photo of a person riding a dirt bike in full gear is of a man. For many, the idea of the rider being a woman would never even cross their minds.

• Does stereotyping make a person bad?
• What do you think?

Why Do We Do That?

Most stereotypes were born out of the human need to understand the world around them.

To better understand complex concepts and ideas, we simplify them. In post-modern societies, if a group is different from what someone is used to seeing in their daily encounters — and that group appears to have some common characteristics — the individual labels the group to help their understanding.

Unfortunately, this labeling eventually leads to broad stereotyping that does not reasonably or rationally place individuals into those groups since many stereotypes are not based on logic.

For example, if you adhere to the stereotype that everyone wearing glasses is intelligent, you could trust the wrong bespeckled individual to help you with your algebra homework.

Stereotypes could also lead to prejudice, the dislike of a group based on generalized or perceived characteristics.

Why Shouldn't We Do That?

Prejudice (pre-judging) comes from stereotyping. When you see what you think of individuals belonging to a group, and these individuals share or appear to share some traits, you begin to judge all individuals who fit the same profile in the same fashion.

Consider the following example.

While shopping at the mall, you encounter a woman wearing purple pants who is extremely rude. Later that day, you spot the woman talking to three other women wearing purple pants, and one of those women is short with you.

At that point, you assume all women wearing purple pants at the mall are awful people.

As you leave, your best friend walks in with her older sister, who is wearing purple pants. Now you are confused because her sister is a very nice person.

Then you find out her sister works at a store where the employees must wear uncomfortable purple pants. Aside from the daily discomfort, five employees called off sick that particular day, so the remaining staff had to work extra shifts and were tired and miserable.

You just made a wrong assumption about purple-pants people. Logic had to step in and save you from creating a stereotype — or maybe even a prejudice — against women who wear purple pants!

A Real-life Adventure in Stereotyping — Oops!

As you study The Outsiders, you will explore stereotypes in greater detail.

However, before you begin reading, it is crucial to understand the notion of gender-role stereotyping and how it affected the novel's author, S.E. Hinton, during its publication.

Watch the video below to learn about S.E. Hinton.

Hinton was not only 15 years old when she began writing this novel, but she was also a woman — a fact that publishers felt would take away from the book's credibility.

• How could a girl possibly know what it's like to be a male Greaser?

The publisher made up the public's minds for them before giving anyone a chance to react. It made no difference that Hinton herself was a tomboy who found herself stuck between the two worlds of the Greasers and Socs and — more times than not — sided with the East Side kids because she was more readily accepted.

Her early works, even today under new publishing contracts, still do not reveal her gender. The Outsiders, a masterpiece that has taught five generations of young adults about the beauty and ugliness of growing up and discovering where you belong, still bears the initials S. E.

Now that you have some insight into Hinton and one of the novel's themes, read this excerpt from a letter Hinton wrote to her readers in 1995.

Continue to the Got It? section to review what you've learned.