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jwhanson 's review for:
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
by Malcolm Gladwell
medium-paced
Some parts are interesting but there are a few case studies like Bland/Sandusky/Nassar/Turner where Gladwell over generalizes them and sums up that basically these things happen or weren’t caught soon enough because of what he calls “humans default to truth” and inability to read body language correctly. This completely ignores systemic sexism, racism, and classism which drastically determined how all of these cases were processed and how/when someone finally stepped in to investigate/prosecute them. In the Nassar case alone many of the girls parents struggled to believe THEIR OWN DAUGHTERS simply because they were young girls. Society undermines and discounts the word of women especially young girls! In the death of Sandra Bland she had racism and sexism stacked against her and was instantly profiled by the cop because he felt she wasn’t human and he could treat her with cruelty! Gladwell does not address these deep deep systemic issues and cruelties or really even consider them as reasons for why these cases were handled so poorly and why these horrible crimes (though Gladwell often implies a tone that they’re “misunderstandings”) happen in the first place.
Here is an example, at one point Gladwell quotes that young men are getting a distorted message that drinking excess is a harmless social exercise but the real message should be when you lose the ability to be responsible for yourself you drastically increase the chances you’ll commit a sexual crime. He states he isn’t saying alcohol is an excuse but the conclusion he draws from the given antidotes largely reaffirms that he does believe alcohol is an excuse. In the cited study students were asked what measures would be most effective in reducing sexual assault. The responses were harsher punishment, self defense, teaching men to respect women, with only a small amount saying it would be effective if they drank less. Gladwell says these students hold contradictory positions because in most campus sexual assault cases the man is drunk, so for instance women thinking men should respect them more is not an issue when said dude is sober only when drunk and have been transformed by alcohol. Thus, the solution is to teach men to respect women AND drink less. Gladwell tries to be like oh here is my caveat statement “i don't think alcohol is an excuse” then just doubles down on giving men the excuse that alcohol is the problem in his summations of the evidence he presents. He’s doing a lot of subverting/distorting of the studies and quotes to make his flawed point seem valid. To make it worse he even has a quote from the book Know My Name where Chanel Miller says word for word its not an alcohol issue its a respect/societal issue with how men view women. He read that quote and then came up with the conclusion its still alcohol’s fault 🫣I would argue these men would do it sober or drunk. Alcohol doesn’t change whether a man is a sexual predator or not. What would change it (to just begin) is very harsh punishments and not spinning the narrative that men have power/control over women and that we are subhuman to them—looking at you christianity! So what Gladwell effectively does in chapter 8 is reaffirm that if a man is drunk the alcohol is to blame for him committing sexual assault all while undermining Chanel Miller.
Gladwell says repeatedly the world is a pretty honest place and most people are telling the truth which stems from his whole default to truth theory. Yet I would ask is it? Is the world pretty honest? because in the west, especially, the foundation of many societies are built on the backs of slaves and the theft of indigenous land, yet people go to great lengths to conceal that truth. Laws and even layouts of cities and suburbs (read Color Law to learn more) are directly based on marginalization. I don’t buy the whole theory behind this book and don’t think Gladwell gave sufficient evidence or connected dots in such a way to prove his theory. I guess if you suspend knowledge of critical societal issues and just boil it down to our inability to accurately interpret the behavior and intentions of strangers can lead to dangerous outcomes then…yeah sure maybe it makes sense 🧐🤨. But I think in many of these cases, especially Bland’s, the handling and outcome stems from an inherent lack of empathy for the victims because they are deemed the “other,” the deep rooted culture of placing individual wants over the communal needs which allows people to justify cruelty to get what they want, and the sick display of superiority that results from privilege or ones perceived notion that they are…all leading to the world being a pretty dishonest and selfish place.
The massive over generalizations Gladwell makes minimizes crimes of rape, assault, and racism. After writing this all down I’m thinking it it should probably get negative stars!
Here is an example, at one point Gladwell quotes that young men are getting a distorted message that drinking excess is a harmless social exercise but the real message should be when you lose the ability to be responsible for yourself you drastically increase the chances you’ll commit a sexual crime. He states he isn’t saying alcohol is an excuse but the conclusion he draws from the given antidotes largely reaffirms that he does believe alcohol is an excuse. In the cited study students were asked what measures would be most effective in reducing sexual assault. The responses were harsher punishment, self defense, teaching men to respect women, with only a small amount saying it would be effective if they drank less. Gladwell says these students hold contradictory positions because in most campus sexual assault cases the man is drunk, so for instance women thinking men should respect them more is not an issue when said dude is sober only when drunk and have been transformed by alcohol. Thus, the solution is to teach men to respect women AND drink less. Gladwell tries to be like oh here is my caveat statement “i don't think alcohol is an excuse” then just doubles down on giving men the excuse that alcohol is the problem in his summations of the evidence he presents. He’s doing a lot of subverting/distorting of the studies and quotes to make his flawed point seem valid. To make it worse he even has a quote from the book Know My Name where Chanel Miller says word for word its not an alcohol issue its a respect/societal issue with how men view women. He read that quote and then came up with the conclusion its still alcohol’s fault 🫣I would argue these men would do it sober or drunk. Alcohol doesn’t change whether a man is a sexual predator or not. What would change it (to just begin) is very harsh punishments and not spinning the narrative that men have power/control over women and that we are subhuman to them—looking at you christianity! So what Gladwell effectively does in chapter 8 is reaffirm that if a man is drunk the alcohol is to blame for him committing sexual assault all while undermining Chanel Miller.
Gladwell says repeatedly the world is a pretty honest place and most people are telling the truth which stems from his whole default to truth theory. Yet I would ask is it? Is the world pretty honest? because in the west, especially, the foundation of many societies are built on the backs of slaves and the theft of indigenous land, yet people go to great lengths to conceal that truth. Laws and even layouts of cities and suburbs (read Color Law to learn more) are directly based on marginalization. I don’t buy the whole theory behind this book and don’t think Gladwell gave sufficient evidence or connected dots in such a way to prove his theory. I guess if you suspend knowledge of critical societal issues and just boil it down to our inability to accurately interpret the behavior and intentions of strangers can lead to dangerous outcomes then…yeah sure maybe it makes sense 🧐🤨. But I think in many of these cases, especially Bland’s, the handling and outcome stems from an inherent lack of empathy for the victims because they are deemed the “other,” the deep rooted culture of placing individual wants over the communal needs which allows people to justify cruelty to get what they want, and the sick display of superiority that results from privilege or ones perceived notion that they are…all leading to the world being a pretty dishonest and selfish place.
The massive over generalizations Gladwell makes minimizes crimes of rape, assault, and racism. After writing this all down I’m thinking it it should probably get negative stars!