Essentialism

Essentialism is defined as "a belief that things have a set of characteristics that make them what they are, and that the task of science and philosophy is their discovery and expression; the doctrine that essence is prior to existence."  In general, things or groups have certain properties that are universal throughout. Each group has its own standards or expectations... which may be a weird way to say it. I think what I'm trying to say is that groups of people look at other groups and establish their own properties or expectations of what that group of people is like... if that makes sense. While essentialism can be interesting, it seems that it lacks the idea that each person is unique and can contribute distinct characteristics that make up the group as a whole. Each person of that group may share commonalities, but they also possess individual and unique characteristics. I think it is unfair to assume that a person belonging to a particular group is exactly the same. A common misconception is that all lawyers are money-hungry jerks or sharks. Essentialism allows each type of lawyer to be stereotyped as a jerk. However, not all are heartless and there are many different types that actually defend people like immigrants of victims... Regardless, my whole point is that society has formed these ideas that a person is supposed to possess qualities and act a certain way to belong to a group. It seems that it does not take into account that experience, values, and judgement make up a person... interests, morals... there's tons of things that make up who a person is. Essentialism lacks life. It's like saying that all Democrats agree with Obama and hate all of the Republicans... It's not true. Each person has their own unique ideas which are formed from their own experiences and many other characteristics which make up who they are. Essentialism causes us to forget that each person has something to offer regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or any of the other distinguishing characteristics people are categorized by.