Archetypes, Not Stereotypes

What is an archetype? Not to get confused with stereotypes, an archetype is, according to Dictionary.com, “An original model after which other similar things are patterned. In the psychology of Carl Jung, archetypes are the images, patterns, and symbols that rise out of the collective unconscious and appear in dreams, mythology, and fairy tales.” Now, if you are like me, you probably have no clue as to what the above means. Because of this, I decided that I should do a little more digging, to which, I came across a video where a woman by the name of Katie Todd discusses archetypes.

Ahh, that makes more sense… “Personal characteristics or traits that make up or describe a person or object.” Who would have thought such a thing? Surely I did not! With this new understanding and by doing more research, I came across this infographic from formalifesciencemarketing.com that illustrates different archetypes and lists their commonly held characteristics and challenges (Note that these are not the only archetypes, just ones that the site, mentioned above, decided to use for illustration purposes).

Do you think you fall into any of these categories?

I myself wear multiple hats, with respect to this graphic. If I had to choose six out of the twelve that most represent who I am, I would chose creator, sage, lover, rebel, citizen, and jester. Now, I did not chose these based solely on what I think of myself, but also of that of which I have been told by other people about how they view my personality and the responses I have been given with respect to interacting with people. Of these the one that I relate most to is ‘creator.’ The reason I say I am a creator is quite prevalent in the declaration of my major as a Digital Media student. I also chose this one because I am a perfectionist and because I have an emphasis in Graphic Design, (with my Digital Media Major) which means that I should have some what of a sense of aesthetics, just as the ‘creator’ in the graphic does.

Now, some may be asking, “What inspired this outburst of randomness for this posting?” Well, I am glad you asked. It has been inspired out of this weeks textbook reading. We read about Archetypes, just as the title states, and what Archetypes mean to the author of our text, The Geek Leader’s Handbook. He says, “Labels might seem like gratuitous stereotyping, but we recognize that every person is an individual, and we do not mean for the traits we refer to to be descriptive in a absolute way [meaning that they are not stereotyping, but instead archetyping]” (Glen 7). He argues that archetyping actually helps people to be more accommodating to that of individual differences because it make them more understanding instead of threatening (Glen 8). He further states this with saying that the ability to archetype and relate to people’s hopes, dreams, fears, and dreads are fundamental for a leader to possess.

If you are interested in some more food for thought, check out the archetypist.com website and read about the archetypes of the characters in The Wizard of Oz.

Thank you for reading | Noah Henry