RMHS Stereotypes

Stereotypes are this planet’s number one flaw. Not all of them are bad, but what do most people think when they hear that word? When I hear it, my mind jumps to every single negative thing I can think off. Such as our current crisis right now about “Black Lives Matter” or anything racial for that matter. Other examples that pop up in my head are, “He wears black, he must be emo/goth”, “She’s a teen mom, she’s trashy and irresponsible”, or “Women are terrible drivers”. The thing is, science doesn't back up any of these stereotypes; although these may be true in certain cases. There is not just negative things that come out of this, stereotypes can ACTUALLY be good for you.

First of all, stereotypes are destructive and prevent or discourage individual growth because it can cause violence and harm. For example,

Stereotypes affect everyday lives, students mostly are affected towards this since children through on out are a branch of life. In Dweck’s article, a group was sent out to study everyday stereotypes that happen in school, “Their studies and ours also found that negatively stereotyped students (such as girls in math, or African-American and Hispanic students in math and verbal areas) showed substantial benefits from being in a growth-mindset workshop” (Brainology, Paragraph 29). And to quote Dweck’s explanation towards those stereotypes, “Stereotypes are typically fixed-mindset labels” (Brainology, Paragraph

Today, many believe that stereotypes have been eradicated throughout our modern world, this is far from the truth. Beverly Daniel Tatum, an author of several books including “Why Are Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” asks, “How did academic achievement become defined as exclusively white behavior?” Tatum has an interesting point, however stereotyping is not just about race it can be about gender bias, or body issues too. Ann DuCille, author of “From Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Difference” says; “Barbie 's body is a consumer object itself a vehicle for display of clothing and spectacular trappings of a wealthy teenage fantasy life”. Ducille gives a good example of body politics, and the importance of not only focusing on race. Thus, is a good example of how stereotypes are learned by how one is treated in school or at home. Education about racial identity, gender equality, and body shaming, to an extent, will help eliminate some forms of stereotyping and create a more understanding and equal society. Therefore schools are not the problem, stereotypes, however racist, sexist, or just plain mean, are learned at home and in schools from peers, parents and teachers alike.

Our class was inspired by Shankar Vedantam’s piece to conduct research on stereotypes at Point Loma High School. We were provided questions by Ms. Roberts and asked one person in class and another outside of class. The ages of those interviewed ranged from freshmen to seniors in highschool. Later, we input our data in a Google form and later converted it into a summary data chart and spreadsheet. The results were sorted by ethnicity and gender. Using our results we were able to find trends/similarities of the impact/aftermath and responses of those who were interviewed

Clark’s work on identity and stereotyping has continued and has extended to not only minority groups, but to white-Americans and women as well. Research on prejudices and stereotyping has continued in the area of education. According to Steele (2004), the framework of one’s life can be controlled by their social identity and that individuals must contend to the prejudices and stereotypes that they socially must identify with. Further research suggests that those who are exposed to negative stereotypes are influenced either by believing or mimicking the stereotype or, both (Steele, 2004). Steele (2004) found that stereotypes have contributed to the underperformance of minority groups in the school setting. As suggested by Clark, Steele (2004) also believes that conforming to suggested stereotypes weakens the social identity and brings severe deficits to the ability of student to excel in the classroom. Clark’s ideas on stereotyping were elaborated in the notion that stereotype threat does not only affect minority groups, but can exhibit deficits in any group of individuals. For instance, Steele (2004) offers the example of white vs. black athletes and how in many sports (e.g. basketball or football) white athletes have shown to feel less competent in comparison to black athletes because of

Stereotypes can be defined as schemas applied to a group of people sharing common physical, biological or racial characteristics. Focusing on education, African American students had consistently been negatively stereotyped about their intellectual abilities. Research indicates that racial stereotypes negatively affect African American students’ academic performance. This correlation, though, is clearest among salient African American students, implying that psychological factors may result from these discriminations.

Stereotypes are uneducated opinions towards a certain group, most commonly used within races, skin colors, and cultures. Stereotypes are usually from a majority group towards a minority group. Most of us do not think about it much but, Stereotypes are in our everyday lives, and everyone has taken part of a stereotype, either they have been the one stereotyping or they have been the victim of a stereotype and has been stereotyped. Throughout my life, I have heard a lot of stereotypes towards my kind, and more than likely it is always a negative stereotype. Some stereotypes through time die-off but as they die-off, new stereotypes flood or society. I am a minority, I am Mexican-American and classify myself and embrace myself as one. The stereotype that I have experienced the most is that all Mexicans are unintelligent delinquents. The stereotype of Mexicans being unintelligent and lazy was influenced by the media. Media sources in our lives skew the way we judge people. This stereotype may be taken lightly by everyone who iterates it but what is not taken into account is the effect this stereotype has in the community for those of us that are Mexican. It has a negative impact on my community, I noticed that the negative effect of this stereotype starts by influencing a couple of individuals and then expands to the community as a whole. The stereotype that Mexicans are these unintelligent delinquents gets planted in our heads at a young age and that affects the way some of

Right outside a corner store, next to a stoplight, or at a park, there may be a homeless person asking for some sort of help; it can either be for a place to stay, money, or food. Many people are used to categorizing a group of people by a solo characteristic, known as a stereotype. Misconception, on the other hand, is a conclusion of someone or something that is wrong because it is based on faulty thinking or facts. Stereotypes and misconceptions appear to be similar, however, these two are not. A misconception is formed from having a stereotype. Stereotypes and misconceptions are built because many try, but are unable to understand a person or a group, or are just simply unwilling to understand the person or group. There are over a million

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

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.

Many theories have been suggested to try to explain the low performance of Hispanic and African American students compared to their white peers. Stereotype threat theory proposes that the possibility of being judged in terms of a negative stereotype in a particular domain negatively affects one’s performance. African American students are even more vulnerable to this social-psychological threat that occurs when students anticipate the possibility of fulfilling a negative stereotype. Some of the effects of stereotype threat include anxiety, low academic standards and low test scores. (Steele,

Stereotyping is one of the most common and dangerous issues that happens in America. The activity we did and the video we watched showed the same fact. During the activity we get to write one thing and the rest class got to put down something stereotypical based on that one fact about the person. For instance one person wrote saying that she always been a fashion member and people said things like she cares about people’s opinions, she’s dumb and so on. People tend to take one story line and come up with their own conclusion. Like how everyone assume that all black guys are good in sports or that they are marijuana or cocaine addicts, or that every single of them never had any relations with their father. Although number of black men had left

Stereotypes affect people in many different ways. There are two sides to stereotypes, the victims and there aggressors. Unfortunately, we all have been a victim of stereotypes even with out us knowing it. Stereotypes hurt, but individuals handle the problem differently some feel belittled or embarrassed. Many victims of stereotypes can cause people to lose confidents in there self and many others in a psychological way, which can damage social and personal development. Kids that are victims of stereotypes are affected the worsted. Not only are the kids emotionally damaged the victim them selves can turn into the aggressor and stereotype others. The aggressors in many cases are individuals that have been victims of stereotypes, or brought up in a household or environment where people are constantly stereotyping other. People brought up in that kind of situation my stereotype others cause that is all they have come to know. Some refer to this person as ignorant, which is a harsh but accurate assumption. The definition of ignorance is the lack of logic. Ignorance is the main cause for people stereotyping others. There have been many discussions on how to get ride of stereotypes. My idea is to put a culture class in junior high or high schools and make it a mandatory class. Now if this were to happen it would compel students to study and understand cultures

The main population accused of stereotyping is teenagers; they are seen as rude and judgmental. For example, in high school the people are divided into groups by how they dress and whom they hang out with. There are the skaters, freaks, preps, snobs, cheerleaders, jocks and nerds. No one person set up