How Stereotypes Influence Knowledge
Knowledge, no matter the circumstance, is divided into two types; personal and shared knowledge. Shared knowledge is common within a group of people, whereas personal knowledge is known to an individual by description or experience. One’s personal knowledge is affected by relatively constant factors in their life which instigate stereotypes, such as gender, religion, culture, etc. These factors create an influential relationship between shared and personal knowledge, therefore creating a diverse database of knowledge in the ‘knower’.
One common factor that impacts the knower’s knowledge is gender. To some extent, gender has always contributed to the stereotyping of human beings. From the minute they are born, they are treated differently and are expected to fulfill different roles within a family, community, and ultimately society depending on the family virtues and values. Therefore, parents, extended family
…show more content…
Religion exists to explain the unexplainable which we find on Earth and beyond. With various religions come various explanations to these inquiries. When one is born into a religion, they are taught and given a belief of knowing what is obvious and beyond. Being born into a specific system of faith shapes one’s personal knowledge. Miracles, for example, are taken to be true by those who are familiar with their religion, and false to those who are not. This was proved in a study conducted by the workers at The Huffington Post, where children (ages 8-10) were given biblical stories. The children who were familiar with the Bible were able to recognize them, whereas the non-religious children were not able to. Miracles, explanations, doctrines and other sources of religious information directly impact one’s personal knowledge. Religious knowledge and rituals influence choices and decisions made by people throughout their lives and through future
Throughout history, gender roles have been the foundation that determines the course of a civilization. These gender roles have undergone a change over time. It is important for every society to re-evaluate its preconceived ideas of gender and determine if that is still the norm for their society. When people think of gender roles we typically have set stereotypes in our head of what that means. Much of the time, what we believe, is not what is actually true. It is often argued what is right and what is wrong.
Family: Throughout history women and men have been stigmatized into categories based on their biological sex. Parents from day one address their child based on their physical characteristics of either a male or female. Family has a great influence because they teach their children at a young age how to properly act, if the child choses to behave not accordance with their gender role they are quickly corrected because acting out of your gender role is wrong.
(Including stereotypes), to evaluate complicated situations that called for judgments about both the inclusion of someone and the exclusion. That included information about the children 's past experiences. Other studies have stated that the parents also have a huge impact on children’s gender role stereotype. From having an absent father to having parents argue about money or their children, could have effect on how children see their own or the opposite gender. This paper will review the current literature on how the gender role stereotypes effect people.
Women are stereotyped as the cooking, cleaning, child bearing machine whose sole purpose is to take care of men and children. Women are undermined constantly because of stereotypes surrounding them such as being fragile, vein, brainless, very feminine, and submissive. Women’s stereotypes make them appear useless. Growing up as the only girl in a family of men, I
Gender and the ways gender is portrayed in society varies from culture to culture. Gender roles have changed drastically, especially during the 20th century and continue to evolve to this day. For years now there have been preconceived notions about genders and the roles each one should play in society, home, workplace, etc. Most times gender roles are associated with stereotypes and previous gender roles. Gender role plays different parts in religion, culture, society, time periods, countries, etc. Women rights and power varies in time and location and it is very interesting to look at the events, cultures, and customs that were taking place in that particular time period to get a better idea of the gender role concept.
. This is a huge problem in todays society. Gender stereotypes are a set of expectations of what a girl or a boy should act and look like. While many people tend to stay in their respective stereotype, there are still many who objectify the stereotype and are usually judged for it. This has taken away the idea of being an individual.
Typically, females are seen as weaker than males. Males are assumed to be more "heartless" and lacking in fashion sense. Women are usually thought of as the nurturer of the family whereas males are the provider. Historically, these beliefs would be fairly accurate due to the common practice of the time. For instance, being a housewife and bearing children were once the only duties socially acceptable for women to perform. However, times have changed and society continues to evolve. Today, a stay at home father is not unheard of, female athletes are quite common and having a good sense of fashion is an expectation of both genders. Gender stereotypes are quickly becoming a thing of the past as both women and men fill roles society once set aside for one gender or the
Gender has been a big issue in society. Sex is biological, and it is through sex that gender is produced (which according to West and Zimmerman, “gender, we said, was an achieved status: that which is constructed through psychological, cultural, and social mean” (West and Zimmerman 1987, 125) - in other words, it is the categorization of both sex to act in a certain and acceptable way by the society, also known as norms) and can be recreated through human interaction and social life. All of this is being constructed by our environment; Inequality is being formed through identity. Everything all begins from when we are born. In society, it is believed that boys are tough while the women are believed to be soft and nurturing. There
Stereotypes have an impact in the modern age and throughout history. It defines society and establishes many things including one’s way of life and personal reputations. They are introduced at birth through social interaction. As a result, gender roles become predominant, but also vulnerable to rebellion as people desire a change in their lives. However, a transition can be seen in gender roles as it approaches the modern day.
Each of us builds a “picture” on how we feel and look at another person, which in turn outputs an opinion or stereotype. We will call this personal construct in this paper. Personal constructs are specific descriptions of others that people assigns personally from their own experience and knowledge. Similarly Trenholm (2014) defines personal constructs as “characteristics that we habitually notice in others” (p. 47). You know the old saying, “what you don’t know, won’t hurt you”? With personal constructs, if you don’t understand your own constructs it could hurt your ability to communicate with others by being unfair. For me to understand when I’m using personal construct constructively or negatively I must understand what kind of
A stereotype is an inference that a person has certain traits that all members of the group have. It is a mindset that is based on assumptions. These structures affect how people process information and perceive others. The innate need for order leads humans to sort people into groups based on certain traits. This type of categorization is not only socially acceptable but encouraged as a way to simplify daily social interactions. While stereotyping reduces the amount of processing required during social interaction, it often leads to prejudice and misguided assumptions. Stereotypes can be based on numerous characteristics, including race, religious affiliation, and even gender. Gender stereotypes are especially prevalent and often used. Gender stereotyping includes automatically assigning certain attributes to a person based on their gender. This mentality has been prevalent in almost every era, including the 16th and 21st century. In both the 16th and 21st century, society has a huge impact on the individual by creating stereotypical gender roles and then applying pressure to conform to them.
As we have seen gender stereotypes and the subsequent gender roles which they encourage can often serve a good purpose but they do become problematic when the lines are blurred and we can no longer distinguish between nature and nurture.
Although our personal stereotypes and biases greatly impact our view of others and the world around us, is it reasonable to believe that our mental inclinations can also render substantial influence in the lives of the people we judge? Today when we hear and use the word "stereotype", it is usually within a negative context; it carries a negative charge. However, there are those who persist in asserting the positive effects of stereotypes. As was discussed earlier, stereotypes are convenient for situations where we need to execute swift judgments and lack the time to properly assimilate and process thoroughly; they are helpful in regards to self-preservation and efficient functioning. Stereotypes also allow us to fit in with the select group
Throughout history, as well as in modern society, gender roles and stereotypes are prevalent and considered somewhat mandated for a cohesive lifestyle, however, that is not the case. Gender-roles teach individuals to live in a constricted mold, hand crafted by extremists that believe all members of a specific gender should act a certain way. For example, the stereotype that all males should be tough, show little to no emotion, and men are insensitive is not always going to be true. Likewise, the stereotype that all females are going to be ladylike, sweet, and household oriented with little concern for education or careers is just as foolish of a thought. The socialization of these gender roles starts from the time parents know the sex of their
Gender stereotypes surface from an early age, from the toys we’re told to play with as children to the type of behaviors we’re encouraged to display. These stereotypes paint an over generalized picture of the population to which they pertain to. They can be very damaging to a person especially when they are imposed on people who fall outside of the norm of the stereotype. One stereotype for example, is that men do not face rape or other domestic violence.