Rhetoric and Stereotypes: Politicians, Tattooed People, Feminists, and Elderly People

In the essay The Way We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson writes that “All the ‘isms’-racism, sexism, ageism, et al.-are founded on and fueled by the stereotype and the cliché, which are lies of exaggeration, omission, and ignorance. They are always dangerous. They take a single tree and make it a landscape.” This quote is important due to the fact that stereotypes play a major role in many aspects of our society. In American society we have a tendency to pass judgment on people just because of a pre-existing stereotype that our society has formed on particular groups over the years. American Society tends to create stereotypes because of the simplicity it adds to our lives, but stereotypes can cause us to oversimplify the characteristics

Stereotypes have great impacts on people all over the world. One of the reasons why people believe stereotypes blindly is that they know less about the objects. In order to decline the uncertainty of this new object, people choose to believe the stereotypes to feel safer. For the purpose of understanding the world more objectively, we ought to treat stereotypes critically and at least not be convinced of stereotypes blindly anymore.

Stereotypes are socially constructed, over-generalized views regarding a particular group of persons with certain characteristics that are widely accepted, and usually expected, in a society. The dominant group of a certain society, which in this case is probably Caucasians and men, usually creates these social constructions. Claude M. Steele, a researcher from Stanford University, performed multiple research studies on the idea and psychological effects of stereotypes on its victims. In his studies, he coins the term “stereotype threat” as the “social-psychological predicament that can arise from widely-known negative stereotypes about one's group,” which implies that “the existence of such a stereotype means that anything one does or any of one's features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one's own eyes” (Steele 797).

Tattoos are stigmatized as aggressive and deviant because it was once commonly known among “out group”, outlaws, criminals, bikers, prisoners, and etc., (Heywood,Patrick, Smith, Pitts, Richters, Shelley, (n.d)). People who obtain tattoos are more perceived negatively towards tattooed figures than that of non-tattooed adults. Women with tattoos are more negatively looked upon than men. There is a type of control over people with tattoos and employment.

The Audience of this paper are people who are engaged in learning about stereotypes and equal rights. I am trying to convince people that not only black people have stereotypes. That every race has a stereotype. Stereotypes and racism has been a problem for awhile though racism has not always existed. Its fear that has turned into hate and now is “Human nature¨ .

There are certain negative connotations that people use when identifying those who they consider to be different from the majority. Stereotyping is a means of assigning a set of characteristics to a group of people usually in an unflattering,

Stereotyping is a normal part of every one’s life. Humans, by nature, classify things. We name animals and classify them by common characteristics but stereotyping can have negative repercussions, and everyone does it. In a recent study it was proven that everyone has an unconscious need to stereotype (Paul). In Junteenth and The Invisible man, Ralph Ellison argues that stereotyping can cause mayhem by making the people become something they are not.

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

1. Dovidio, J. F., & John, M. (2013). Stereotype. In P. L. Mason (Ed.), Encyclopedia of race and racism (2nd ed.). Farmington, MI: Gale. Retrieved from http://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galerace/stereotype/0?institutionId=4358

That is not a debatable topic, however the truth behind them is. Contrary to popular belief, not all stereotypes are true, and in fact a majority of the negative stereotypes are made up. The stereotypical attributes which one applies to a certain group happens in milliseconds with the brain doing all of the thinking and assuming for the person who will ultimately be judging the person in front of them. As stated by both Benaji, and Greenwald: “the default attributes that we add are so taken for granted and so automatic that, without thinking about why we do this, we are usually careful to specify a different set of attributes when the default ones don’t apply” (617). What this somewhat complex quote is saying is that the attributes which we assimilate with a group of people happen very fast in the brain, and it takes someone too specific to change the way which one views as a common attribute of a group of people. This is quite astounding in that the brain will almost reject the idea of anything which it has not directly seen when dealing with classifications amongst people of different groups. These lapses in judgment will ultimately result in a stereotype, and one that will most certainly be wrong. If someone just assumes without actually knowing, their assumption will be based on exactly that: an assumption. Take the stereotype of the members of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda for example. The common American vision of them is

In this world there are many things people are guilty of, one of those guilt’s is stereotyping others , even if it wasn’t meant in a harmful are negative way we all have been a victim or the aggressor . This paper will discuses what stereotypes are, how they affect people and how stereotypes can affect society. However, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.

Stereotypes can be defined as a generalized, preconceived notion that a group holds in common, and they impact our society in many ways (Stereotypes). For example, in an interview with Guy Raz from NPR, Jamila Lyiscott says, “I think there’s a tension with fighting to not internalize some of what has been placed on you, especially during very important formative years.” (Lyiscott, Jamila). This evidence supports the definition of stereotypes by describing the feeling of trying not to conform with stereotypes by changing yourself. This quote shows that stereotypes can affect the way we see ourselves. In conclusion, stereotypes are a generalized notion that a group holds in common that can cause those placed under a stereotype to feel the need to change themselves.

In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into

Stereotypes have an overwhelming effect especially on the people they are directed towards. Studying stereotypes helps in understanding the factors leading to discrimination of certain people and not others. This is because stereotypes are depictive of opinions that are often passed from one generation to another within a particular culture. Mass media such as television and newspapers form a common source of opinions in the contemporary society (Kotter & Hess, 2012). The media presents messages in steady, repetitive, and compelling manner, making them believable to almost everybody. Stereotyping opinion and depictions from the media can thus have detrimental effects on the

A persons’ image is vital when meeting someone for the first time. Our peers, employers, family, superiors, even strangers that you walk past can automatically judge someone, and imagine how they present themselves to the world. Tattoos have been predominantly linked with a rebellious attitude and pictured on out of control stereotypes such as rock starts, bikers, sailors, and disobedient teenagers who want nothing more than to hack off their parents. With a new coming of age generation and a step into a more lenient and liberal society these types of patrons still participate in body art but so do doctors, lawyers, or just the run of the mill house mom. Tattoos signify religious beliefs, cultural influence, or each individual’s sole