Breaking Stereotypes

Stereotypes are a form of prejudice everyone will once experience in their lifetime. Stereotypes are centered around an individual's race, gender, social class, religion, and age. They have been known to be elements people use to make judgments and subjectify people to one key feature. As Gordon Allport states, “ To state the matter technically, a noun abstracts from a concrete reality some one features and assembles different concrete realities only with respect to this one feature”(364). Mr.Allport’s words can be summed up to say stereotypes have been used as key fundamentals to associate one feature or aspect of a person with a group that represents it, typically in an unfavorable way.

Stereotypes have been apart of society since the beginning. Stereotypes are often a generalization or assumption of an individual, and can be positive or negative. Stereotypes appear in the workplace, school, and daily life. There are stereotypes on race, gender, religion, sexuality, social class, professions, weight, and schooling. One example of stereotyping is if one sees a white-American female with blonde and blue eyes, one may say she’s “dingy”, “dumb”, and or “typical”. Now that female may be an all honor student, but because of a stereotype she was generalized to be the complete opposite of who she really is. Stereotyping a person based off of their appearance is one of the harmful effects of stereotypes. Stereotypes are harmful and counterproductive

Stereotypes can be defined as sweeping generalizations about members of a certain race, religion, gender, nationality, or other group. They are made everyday in almost every society. We develop stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all the information we would need to make fair judgments about people or situations. By stereotyping, we assume that a person or group has certain characteristics. Quite often, we develop these ideas about people who are members of groups with which we have not had firsthand contact. Stereotyping usually leads to unfair results, such as discrimination, racial profiling, and unnecessary violence, all behaviors which need to be stopped.

On a daily bases people make excuses for everything. Everything meaning our actions and the things that we say. Common things that we make excuse for deal with sexist, racist, and heterosexist comments. Sexist is classified as saying that one sex is better than the other. An example of this is someone calling a male or female something that they are not. I do not like this because we are all humans and deserve to be respected and not called something that is degrading. We all know that racist is downgrading one race compared to another. An example of this is, saying that all black people are loud and ghetto. We all act the same but some people do certain things different from others. That’s just there way of living. I do not think that just because one person acts one way the whole race does also. Heterosexist is defined as heterosexuality is better than all other expressions. An example of this would be talking about how a guy dresses and calling him gay. I do not agree with this as well because it is good to stand out and be your own person not matter how others see you.

The videos “The Hidden Messages in Kids Movie” and “Negative Disney Stereotypes” were very informative. I found these videos very interesting and insightful. I do agree that their are many hidden messages in Kid’s movies and that they may end up teaching children the wrong idea. I do agree that their is way too much violence in today’s films. I work in a pre-k classroom and I see how children are influenced by popular movies of today such as the new Power Rangers film and The Avengers movies. Many kids are quick to imitate what they see in these films such as the use of violence when playing with action figures in order to fight the “bad guys.”

I believe in being brave; I force myself everyday to step out of the box that society constantly builds around me. Growing up I was not encouraged to feel important or that I could achieve greatestness. Society and my own traditional culture created a set of ideas in me that held me from believing in myself. Over time I have realized that it is ultimately up to me to break the cycle and break way from the stereotypes. A woman’s voice matters whether as a professional or as a mother. In order to survive as a women in the 21st century, the unspoken laws must be broken, ours goals should be set higher, and we must not underestimate our will and power.

Stereotypes can be defined as judgements that people make about other without knowing them personally, and stereotypes impact our society in many ways. For example, in an interview with Guy Raz from NPR, Jamila Lyiscott says that “you have this lens where you're looking at yourself through the lens of other people the way that they're looking at you” (Raz, Guy, and Jamila Lyiscott). In this quote

Stereotypes are inaccurate depictions of a certain group of people based off a cliche addressed to them by anyone. This natural act which often feeds off of implicit biases that are unconsciously brought about by many aspects from past experiences to the environment you are within. Whether these ideas advertised by the media are used to fuel desires for the “greater good” or used to instil hate within a community, they have been a part of society for generations. Research and instances throughout the media support the fact that the media does promulgate stereotypes in a negative manner and therefore should be discouraged and fought against to improve conditions for individuals worldwide.

“The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story” ( LaVigne, Kelly). Our society groups people the same way and don’t consider their differences. For example individuals see a girl that’s skinny and automatically assume she’s anorexic or see a tall person and assume they’re good at basketball. Stereotypes effect the way people see the world whether they’re true or untrue. Stereotypes give a fixed mindset on things because humans feel it isn’t always necessary to be open minded and learn the information needed before judging.

Stereotypes can be found everywhere you go; they are inescapable. You can find stereotypes in schools, malls, parks, and the workplace. Believe it or not, people label others for a reason. Stereotyping can be traced back to thousands of years ago. Stereotypes can affect people very negatively. People can think very badly of themselves because of stereotyping which can lead to depression, self harm, or suicide. Stereotyping is not only negative, it is also unfair. Everyone has a story but by instantly judging them, you will never know what is truly going on and they might be completely different than what you expected.

What are stereotypes? Stereotypes are judging someone without knowledge of their background. The root of stereotypes is ignorance. Stereotyping, and ignorance is typically learned, people through word of mouth and lack of exposure form opinions of another person without knowledge. This results in prejudice one cause of stereotyping and it is perpetuated through the media. The media have a major influence on people, which causes stereotyping with certain minority groups, through the use of reality shows.

The importance of becoming aware of your own biases and stereotypes as prepare for a career in the health care field is that as an individual you become more understanding and open minded towards the general need of a population and the need of others that might have grew up differently. This understanding of the differences and the ability of asking the right questions depending on the interaction will result a better observation when it comes to health care field, especially when it comes to determining a condition or finding a treatment for a patient. For example, as was told on the YouTube video “Overcoming Cultural Stereotypes” that African American men have a dangerous reaction that is similar to a stroke if they take Beta Blockers,

The labeling or stereotyping of different races often define how they are supposed to act, think, and conduct themselves within society. Stereotyping can have an extremely negative effect on individuals in a particular ethnic group that have a real potential to become something better than what their labels define them as. Stereotypes such as all Native Americans are uneducated and lazy, or all Caucasian people are racists, are assumptions that can cause hatred between races, or stereotype threat; causing individuals in different ethnic groups to think less of themselves and thus limit their ability to reach their full potential. Some individuals in minority groups often find themselves having to prove that such stereotypes do not apply to them and work resiliently to change preconceived ideas about them.

If you say you’ve never heard a stereotype about someone else or yourself, you’re either a liar or very oblivious. Stereotypes are simplified conceptions of a group, and they are literally everywhere. People often tend to assume that all Asians are geniuses, black people like watermelon and listen to rap, white girls crave Starbucks 24/7 and are always wearing leggings or yoga pants, the elderly don’t understand technology, and homosexual men are flamboyant and love fashion. No matter what race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or age group someone belongs to, he or she most likely has a stereotype attached to who he or she is. Sometimes, these assumptions are in fact true, but other times they are completely inaccurate. Many are

We may never completely rid ourselves of our blindspot or hidden stereotypes however the key to fighting them is education. It is through understanding ourselves, different cultures, different lifestyles, and different people we can build respect and diversity. It starts with each person individually because there must be a want to improve upon ourselves and see others in a truthful light. If we don’t see there is a problem nothing will ever be improved. Individuals must accept that we all have stereotypes but them think rationally to decide if it is something we can throw out of our minds. Through exposing ourselves to other ways of life we will be more understanding of others and hopefully become more accepting. Mahzarin Banaji, One of the