Stereotypes And The Athletic Snob

A stereotype is a group of attributes given to a group of people, most often hurtful and negative and not true.

Stereotypes are used every day, by nearly every human, no matter how much effort we put into speaking objectively. Throughout the centuries, stereotypes have been made for almost every race or group of individuals. Examples of such include people with blond hair are not clever, all men don’t think before they act, women are not robust, and so on. In the book my RC class read, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, bounteous amounts of stereotypes were made about greasers that the narrator, Ponyboy, had proved to us were not accurate for every person in this group. Greasers are an association of people who lived in The North Side of town, and they were believed to be uneducated, violent, and emotionless. However, this protagonist entirely shattered

What is a stereotype? This word means the way people judge others based on their appearance, the way their family lives, their background, or the way they act. Stereotyping happens a lot in not only the television show Freaks and Geeks but also in the real world in schools across the United States. A few common stereotypes commonly portrayed in Freaks and Geeks are: geeks, freaks, and jocks. Each character from the show falls into one of these categories.

Stereotype; a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. In the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, and in the short story, “Geeks Bearing Gifts”, written by Ron Koertge, stereotypes are defied by ordinary people. In The Outsiders, Johnny Cade and Darry Curtis face many struggles throughout their lives. Their town in separated into two: the rich and dangerous Socs, and the quiet, tough Greasers. For them, living dangerously is a reality. As a result of their lifestyle, Johnny has become fearful and Darry is considered the toughest man in the gang. In “Geeks Bearing Gifts” aspiring journalist, Renee, interviews her fellow classmates who are classified as “outcasts.” After meeting several students, she realizes her assumptions were incorrect about them. After reading both of these stories, the reader learns that our thoughts about others often revolve around stereotypes and assumptions, but most of these ideas that we have about other people are proven wrong.

Stereotype, someone who is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type. This is the main component of the S.E. Hinton novel The Outsiders. The stereotypes in the novel are the Socs and the Greasers. The Socs are the rich kids who don’t have to work for anything, while the Greasers are the poorer kids who have very little. They both live in the city of Tulsa, one group on the Northside and one on the Southside. Outside of these boundaries no-one knows of them but the hatred for each other still plays on their minds.

Stereotype: “To believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same” (merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stereotype). Everyone, some way or somehow, falls under some sort of stereotype whether it is positive or negative. Throughout my life, I personally have been affected negatively by the stereotype of being a student-athlete through high school and also here at college. Therefore, in this essay, I will explain how the student-athlete stereotype may affect an individual negatively not only in academics or athletics, but also mentally. I will also prove that the stereotype is, for the most part, a false representation of student-athletes.

Stereotype: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Have you ever stereotyped someone? Something? Anything? Taking a look at a visual argument that is made up of five cartoons that have to deal with different issues. Different issues but all rely on the same thing, stereotypes. Society has a tendency to make incorrect judgments of others based on various stereotypes that have been established over time.

Basketball, football, and hockey are considered the most popular sports in America as of today. However, sports in the early 1950s were not as popular as they are now. According to “An Exercise in Subtleties and the Transmission of Racism: An Analysis of Sports Illustrated Covers” by Eric Primm, Summer DuBois, and Robert M. Regoli, they stated that American love their sport and that “each year they would spend billions of dollars on sports-related items and activities.” The media help promote the popularity of the sports in America. Consequently, sports media “plays a key role in perpetuating the types of racial stereotypes about minority athletes in sports” (Ismond, 115). The thesis of this writing project is with some racial stereotype reinforcement

A "stereotype" is a social perception of an individual in terms of group membership or physical attributes. Stereotypes are generalizations made about a group and then attributed to all members of that group.

A stereotype is “...a fixed, over generalised belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996).

To start, stereotypes are deceptive because people place others into cliques based on their appearances. People assume everyone in a clique are the same, even though their true personality may differ from that clique. The first example from The Outsiders in which somebody doesn’t fit in with the stereotype they are given is Ponyboy. Ponyboy doesn’t quite fit in with his clique, the greasers. After Ponyboy is jumped, Darry has a fight with Pony. Darry yells at Ponyboy to think on the streets and to stay alert. Darry is concerned about Ponyboy’s safety: ‘“You must think at school with all those good grades you bring home, and you’ve always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense?”’ (13). Meaning, Ponyboy isn’t like the greaser stereotype. Compared to all the other greasers, Pony is book smart and not street smart. The greasers are smart where it really matters like on the streets. They carry blades to defend themselves, travel as gangs, and know how to get themselves out of a dangerous situation, if they get stuck in one. Ponyboy, however, is book smart. He succeeds at an outstanding level at school and in his academics. Once he is on the street his intelligence doesn’t follow him. He doesn’t use his common sense and he can’t find his way out of dangerous situations. As a result of this Pony gets jumped by the Socs which

“Okay I’ll sign this paper, but this doesn’t mean you’re excused and you can’t make up the participation points you’ll miss.”

Stereotypes have been around for a long time. In S.E. Hinton’s book of The Outsiders, the setting takes place in the 1960’s on the West and East sides of town. That’s where people are stereotyped as either a Greaser or a Soc based on where they live. The setting affects the characters by developing their personality based on their status, behavior, and where they live.

According to Dictionary.com a stereotype is something conforming to a fixed or general pattern, especially an often oversimplified or biased mental picture held to characterize the typical individual of a group (dictionary.com).

When a lot of people look at me, they don’t see the real me. The way I come off is the complete opposite of what I really am. I come off as an athletic snob who doesn’t care what anyone thinks about me. But, that’s not who i am at all. I come off as a snob because I tell people exactly how I feel about them. I come off as an athletic jock just because I play sports. Many people see me many different ways, but i am a good example of not to judge a book by its cover.