Stereotypes Through My Asian Eyes Analysis

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.

Just like negative stereotypes, positive stereotypes can have an effect on different ethnicities, racial groups, religions, and other backgrounds. Which in certain situations they can be positive, which in-hand have positive effects, like increase the self-esteem of certain groups. For example, a positive stereotype is that Asians are intelligent. Certain examples of positive stereotypes are that African-Americans are great entertainers, Asian-Americans are smart, Latin-Americans are very family-oriented, Middle Easterners make good leaders, White Americans are kind

By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Stereotypes lead to social categorisation, which is one of the reasons for prejudice attitudes.

As a society, a majority of people use stereotypes without consciously knowing it. It categorizes people and simplifies our understanding of different groups of society and our surroundings. In this aspect it can be beneficial because being able to identify someone based on gender, ethnicity, culture, etc. you can make assumptions of customary greetings or how to approach a particular situation or custom. Also, stereotypes may help oneself identify with an in-group. In comparison, problems may arise when stereotyping individuals and groups. In extreme cases stereotyping leads to prejudice and discrimination. If we can learn anything from our history, is that stereotyping that leads to prejudice and/or discrimination often have traumatic effects

Stereotypes make us simplify our social world so it’s it becomes easier to recognize some situations. They make us understand basic groups of people to some extent of truth. “The most famous study of racial stereotyping was published by Katz and Braly in 1933, 100 university students were asked to indicate the traits most characteristic of ten different social groups. Students displayed a high level of agreement about the traits of certain racial and ethnic groups, such as Negroes (described as superstitious by 84% of the students, and as lazy by 75%), and Jews (described as shrewd by 79%).” All kinds of people of stereotypes about others.

In the end, stereotypes-- unfair beliefs that all people and things with a certain characteristic are the same-- will stay present until we work together to open our eyes to the world around us. As hard as getting rid of the stereotypes that offend people and impact lives can be-- especially when they are found everywhere from our homes to our schools-- by informing ourselves of other cultures, we can abolish them, and replace them with much needed

As he twiddles his fingers he says to himself, “what’s the answer, what’s the answer...” He looks around the math class for someone to help him. “Oh” he yells as he points toward Ling Kim and states, “You must be good at math, right? Can you help me?” Ling Kim responds with “actually I’m struggling too man.” This is an example of a stereotype (Asian who is good at math), a stereotype is a widely held but fixed categorization or image of a particular type of person or thing. When people stereotype others they confine them into smaller groups with others that are alike. Stereotypes will always affect the way we see ourselves- they make us downgrade ourselves whether it’s about capabilities, friends, or even personality. A bully is a lot alike a stereotype they “beat” you up inside and make you fear society knowing that you’re able to be controlled and judged.

Stereotypes are prevailing and oversimplified ideas of particular groups of people or certain things, and they have been around for a long time. Stereotypes are immensely detrimental to a myriad of people because they abject and discriminate them, as well as cause division and separation amongst certain communities. Breaking stereotypes is important due to the social climate that we are currently in today. Racism and discrimination are ubiquitous because people of colour are painted in a negative light due to the stereotypes they are given.

Stereotypes play a major role in the way we simplify our world, both socially and physically. When we meet a new person or are exposed to a culture for the first time, it reduces the amount of thinking we must do in order to attempt to interpret them. Stereotypes are prevalent in everyday society. Just walking on the street and coming to a conclusion about someone based on their appearance is an example of a stereotype. Stereotyping can exist on a small scale with interactions between two people and can exist on a larger scale with larger groups of people.

Stereotypes can be defined as an explained image that creates a meaning for different groups of society, and they impact our society in numerous ways (Stereotype). For example, in an interview with Guy Raz from NPR, Jamila Lyiscott says that “I’m forced to speak a certain way and denounce the other ways of navigating language that come from the cultural and racial spaces in my life” (Staff). She’s saying

According to Oxford dictionary, stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Stereotypes found in our society are based on gender, race, social class etc. It is not necessary for stereotypes to be right all the time; after all they are just generalizations made by our ancestors and as the time changes people change. The power of stereotypes can be felt when a person lives in minority. Being an Asian living in a white country, I have heard a lot of comments based on my race. From other races, social media and TV shows, I encountered 3 stereotypes this week.

“Muslims are terrorists.” “Asians can’t drive.” “Americans are lazy and fat.” A stereotype is defined as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”. We live in a world where stereotyping is a common group of offensive phrases. Stereotyping is not only limited to race and religion. There is a wide variety of different types of stereotyping. At it’s inception stereotyping begins with gender, moves to racial and progresses to self-stereotyping. Our world tends to think the different genders should have different jobs when it should not matter. Another common example that comes up a lot is self-stereotyping. People label themselves and do not see a problem with it, when in reality it is saying

Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe once said, “The whole idea of a stereotype is to simplify. Instead of going through the problem of all this great diversity- that is's this or maybe that- you have just one large statement; it is this”(Achebe). Stereotypes are generalized beliefs held about a group of people. Because of the broadness of statements of this nature, they are never completely true. Stereotypes are prevalent in today’s society, and they can have negative affects on those who are labeled.

Google definitions calls it, “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”. So, definition aside, stereotypes destroy people by giving all of them a basic template to be viewed through. Are you an asian man? stereotypes already know everything about you, what you do, what you are good at, bad at, etc. A survey conducted on Survelum.com involved 85 people of varying backgrounds and ages, stated that a majority of them believed in stereotypes, that irish people are alcoholics, black people are good at sports, asians are the smartest, etc. That can clearly be very damaging. A young Japanese boy gets a D+ on a math test, and stereotypes tell him he is the only asian kid ever to be bad at math. A black kid automatically gets picked first in basketball just because of that, he is black. And they can be a LOT worse than that. In 1968, Jane Elliott, a teacher, told her class that blue and green eyed kids were smarter, while brown eyed kids were dumb. Over a short period of time, grades for the blue and green eyed kids skyrocketed, while the grades for the brown eyed kids plummeted. That is what stereotypes and labels can do. THIS is the problem. However, every problem can be

Although prejudice and stereotype seem similar, they actually have two different meanings. While stereotyping involves the generalization of a group of people, prejudice involves negative feelings when “they” are in the presence of or even think about members of the group. “Prejudice comes from direct intergroup conflict, social learning, social categorization and other cognitive sources” (Ferguson). Not all stereotypes are negative; there are also positive and neutral stereotypes. Some stereotypes do not slander a race, culture, gender, or religion, but nonetheless generalize a group of people that may or may not be true. For example, some people say that all Asians are smart or good at math. Though people of Asian descent may often be more studious, not all Asians do equally well in school (Floyd, 62). Another common example of a positive stereotype is that all black people are good athletes, dancers, and singers. Though these are positive stereotypes, when people believe them, they don’t take into account that every person is an individual and different. A neutral stereotype