Stereotypes And Perceptions Of Military Personnel

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.

The negative stereotypes regarding transgender people serving in the military are rooted in envy towards the values that the nation’s founding fathers instilled. Since America was founded, the mission of the country’s good will towards protecting its prosperity relies on the strength of the military. The Army represents some of America’s most confident citizens who are capable of upholding the norms of society through their service. Soldiers are expected to establish a sense of honor and integrity, which makes their commitment to a stable sense of self the driving force of their service to their country. Soldiers must command respect from all citizens of American and other nations. A Soldier’s professional appearance along with his or

“Stereotypes are generalizations or assumptions that people make about the characterization of all members of a group, based on an image about what people in that group are like” (Burgess). People use stereotypes everyday. It is our human nature. Everyone is labeled under at least one stereotype, if not more. Some people agree with their stereotypes while others are offended by them. Often we don’t give people a chance at something just because of stereotypes we have heard about them. Many people stereotype athletes. People think that athletes are self-centered, unintelligent, bullies, and drink under age. I know that the stereotypes about athletes are not true for me.

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

When people see older men with a Vietnam War Veterans cap, do they know what it really means that the man they walked passed or stood behind in line, served in the Vietnam war? The Vietnam War started because North Vietnamese communists started conflict with South Vietnam. America was allies with South Vietnam so America joined to help South Vietnam and to prevent the communist from taking over. But when those soldiers, that fought their hearts out for the country came back, they were treated horribly for their effort. Most of the soldiers were drafted in, so imagine being treat badly for something you did not even want to be a part of. During the Vietnam War, the military should have never drafted young men because it had a negative effect on the young draftees lives.

Stereotypes are one form of misconceptions. A stereotype is an “unfair belief that all people or

Anyone who owns a television, or have been near one for extended periods, have seen the numerous commercials put forth by the military to garner new recruits. They show pristine specimens in the crisp, clean uniforms. However, the commercials do not show the dead men, women, children, or comrades that haunt the minds of combat veterans. Nor do they show the panicked veteran who cannot even take out the trash because, while the veteran is aware that they are home, “insurgents love hiding explosives in garbage on the side of the road” (Venables). Combat vets return home to find themselves engaging a different war, and one that they are often not trained to fight. Michael Venables notes in his Forbes article that more veterans are losing this

Misconceptions have been formed from the stereotypes and exaggerations being made about that certain group. It has been a view that in incorrect based on the truths and exaggerated truths people say. By stereotyping a person, we infer that the whole group is the same way due to them hanging around

Pictures sometimes speak like words can not. In this instance, the picture speaks loudly; it screams about a widespread problem throughout our country. A simple picture, created by Tribune Media, shows three caskets covered by the American flags. The flag shows respect to soldiers who gave their life in battle. Three honorable Americans to the naked eye until the viewpoint is changed to the compelling words at the bottom, “Which is the gay one?” This picture was copyrighted in 2009 around the time that gay marriage and gay rights were coming into play. At one point in time, homosexuals were not even allowed to participate in the military. In many cases, certain people still believe that being homosexual and involvement in the military is an impossible combination. This is why the image is so important. It shows that homosexuals are capable of being in the military. The central purpose of this image is that homosexuality does not define someone; it is only a matter of their sexual preference.

Sadly, it seems this issue is one that few in the general masses know about, and even fewer still seem to care at all. It appears the majority of people that are aware of and care about the situation are politicians, members of the media, veterans, and the families of veterans. I believe it would be best to reinstate the ban on photographing the coffins of fallen US soldiers returning home from overseas. We should reinstate this ban to help protect the privacy of the families and those fallen, honor and respect their memory, and ensure that their photographs cannot be misused or exploited.

Many people, especially in our generation eat, sleeps, and breaths misconceptions. In layman terms, misconceptions and stereotypes are both categorized that other people place individual por groups in based on how they are perceived. For example, in the essay “About Men” by Gretel Ehrlich has many stereotypes about men, more specifically cowboys. According to he essay “About Men” State's “Cowboy has been thought of as a ‘man’s man's’-laconic , hard-drinking, inscrutable- there's almost no place in which the balancing act between male and female, maliness and femininity, can be more natural”.

There are underlying stereotypes about foreign countries in war-based video games when representing an enemy. In the game trailer Close Combat: First to Fight, Middle Eastern terrorists have that of a “defiant expression, the stereotypical beard, and red turban” (Hoglund).

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

Misconceptions are told everywhere nowadays, it is a misunderstanding about groups that are told by untruthful events and that cannot be proven. It is a failure of understanding ideas that are going on in certain groups or individuals and that have no evidence that the statements being told are true. These misconceptions are being told because they are trying to make groups look different amongst others. Stereotypes on the other hand, are statements or ideas that are based on some truth that have been shown by particular groups. People think that just because some of the members in a group have some kind of characteristic all of the have it as well. These beliefs are told to exaggerate the simple things that are going on and they are used to

Most people find stereotypes to be obnoxious, especially when they have to do with sensitive subjects like gender or race. “Stereotyping is a generalization about a group or category of people that can have a powerful influence on how we perceive others and their communication behaviors” (Floyd, 61). Because they underestimate the differences among individuals in a group, stereotyping can lead to inaccurate and offensive perceptions of other people. Although stereotypes are prevalent in almost every society, becoming aware of our perceptions of others, as well as differentiating between both positive and negative stereotypes can help us overcome those stereotypes.