Submission # 2: To what extent does a person’s name define them?
I
was on one of my social media accounts the other day and I came across this
video that someone shared of Katie Hopkins on This Morning saying that she judges’
children’s personalities and habits based on their name. She goes on to say
that a child’s name shows how they are as a person; because she was talking
about which kids she lets her children play with, she said that she won’t let
her children play with another child named Tyler (for example) because if a
child is named Tyler- then they must be a bad child, who has bad habits and
doesn’t follow directions. The hosts of This Morning were appalled, for good
reason, and they were pointing out that a name means nothing on a person’s
behavior and that they didn’t choose their own name, their parents did. They
had a poll at the end of the video and 9% of people say that they agreed with
Katie Hopkins. It just goes to show that there are all types of people in this
world. It’s a quite interesting video to watch to get inside knowledge on how
some people think, even if you may think that it’s wrong. Watch video below:
Names are so unique; everyone has the name that they have for a reason.
Maybe their parents liked that name, maybe it was passed down through family
generations, or maybe the person changed their name because they liked another
one better. However, in most cases, we don’t choose our names; they were chosen
and settled before we could even talk. So how does it make sense to judge anyone
based solely on their name? If we saw that a man named ‘Mark’ robbed a bank, we
don’t automatically assume that every ‘Mark’ is a bank robber. We cannot group
people with specific character traits just because they have the same name. For
example, Katie Hopkins said that she doesn’t like kids names Tyler because they
are probably bad children who don’t listen to their parents. Maybe Katie
Hopkins knew someone named Tyler who didn’t follow directions so she branded
that name with not misbehavior. This isn’t fair because not every Tyler acts
the same.
By judging people by
their name, it creates bias and stereotypes; which impair judgment. By doing
so, you limit the interaction you have with others and limit the experiences
and knowledge that you might gain from those interactions. If you didn’t talk
to people named “Jessica” because you associate think that anyone named Jessica
is manipulative, you miss out on the opportunity to meet someone who could be
very nice and sweet and not manipulative. Kids that have a more ethnic sounding
name, face more discrimination because people compare their name to their
culture and the stereotypes surrounding that culture or religion. For example,
if a Latino man had the name José; some people would judge him and write him
off as being poor and of a low class, all because of his name. This happens in
school systems and in employment systems too, in this study experiment: (http://finance.youngmoney.com/careers/is-your-name-stopping-you-from-getting-a-job/)
they tested the amount of name discrimination going on in big industries.
To judge someone based solely on
their name is cruel, they most likely did not pick their name or have any say
in the matter. A name is no more than a simple word used to identify someone. Especially
in children who don’t have any deeper meaning of this whole name discrimination
situation going on. In school admission offices and job admission offices,
throwing away a file just because the person has a “black sounding” name is
racist and it denies the person of an opportunity that they might have been
best for, if they had another name. It’s a person’s actions that define them,
not their name.
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