Embracing the Stereotype--Meaghan Rowland Post #4

Also in class on Thursday we discussed stereotypes on TV. There is one show that I have watched where an ethnic person embraced the stereotype and acted a certain way so that his beliefs would be accepted in the workplace. In the show "Bones" a forensic anthropologist who solves murder cases is looking for a new intern, one of whom is Arastoo Vaziri a Muslim grad student. During the first few episodes that he is a character, he wears traditional Muslim dress and talks with a foreign middle eastern accent. He prays five times a day facing Mecca even during work. Because those are his values and religious beliefs the rest of the forensic team has no problem with him doing this. A few episodes later it is revealed that he was born and raised in the United States. He normally does not wear that traditional dress, and he does not have an accent. He does pray five times a day because he is a Muslim. He explained himself by saying he felt everyone would be more accepting of his beliefs and customs if he portrayed the traditional Muslim man. In the end everyone was more hurt that he lied than anything else. This is an example of people acting a certain way to be accepted for who they are by others even if how they are acting is not who they are in its entirety.