painting portraits or promoting stereotypes?

Backstory: I wrote a manifesto and hacker portrait of the ND CS student for ethics. The manifesto was about my obligation to pay forward the good deeds that have been done to me. The portrait was that of an ND hacker. What follows is my reflection on my work, and Manifestos/ portraits in general.

I think that this manifesto is good, and I think this portrait is good.

I identify a lot with our manifesto. I think that with the amount I have been given in terms of mentorship, help, and teaching I am obligated to pay it forward and help others out. This is not to say I would not do it anyways, because I get a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment out of being a TA, doing mock interviews, being a leader in lean in, etc. I love doing these things. It is so awesome. In this way my obligations and my enjoyments have come together nicely. I think the manifesto is good because it was written by me, and about me. And while I may stray from the portrait in terms of my religious views and lack of Y chromosomes, I identify with it.

Thus, it is reasonable that I think this hacker portrait and manifesto are great — they are catered to me. So, why wouldn’t I think it was awesome and perfect?

But then I realized they are just perfect for me … and this in it of itself makes them inherently flawed. If they are perfect for me, they cannot possibly describe the greater ND CS student body. I know that the manifesto and portrait would be wildly inaccurate if you tried to apply them as a universal truth. You simply cannot draw a picture or write a manifesto that will satisfy the diversity in ND CS (diversity of mindset , that is ). And I think this is the case with any portrait or manifesto. They over generalize because they cannot possibly encompass all pieces of the whole which they are trying to draw a portrait of, or speak to the beliefs of. For this reason, I skeptical about the helpfulness of these portraits and manifestos. They seem like a dangerously easy mode of promoting the stereotypes that so significantly shape our malleable minds.