The Importance Of Stereotypes On Society

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.

Stereotypes affect the way we may view or think about ourselves. They alter the way we make decisions, and rob us of our individuality. On the website, npr.org, the article,

The term stereotype is a word or idea that a person, group of people or even a thing can exist as. Stereotypes can be good but most of the time, they are offensive. Almost everywhere one looks in life, stereotypes exist. Most of the time, stereotypes can exist while most do not realize that it does exist. Stereotypes usually judge and point out flaws of a certain individual, group or thing. Frequently, stereotypes only define that person, group or thing in the simplest form without looking into the true meaning of the subject or object. As stated in the TED talk titled, “The danger of a single story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “I've always felt that it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person. The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar” (Adichie). The film, Mean Girls demonstrates many different stereotypes about high school but also shows the effects of stereotypes on individuals proving that stereotypes are a big part of popular culture.

Stereotypes are common oversimplified beliefs based on assumptions about a specific group of individuals. They are generally biased and aren’t based on the truth and oftentimes are highly incorrect and degrading to those certain individuals. Today, we live in a society that is conditioned to make instant judgements on someone even before they speak, which should be considered as a great concern. Especially when a greater issue stems from this when we use that instant judgement after that initial meeting as a sole perspective because after that it’s no longer a stereotype but a prejudice assumption.

     Stereotypes can be found in just about every aspect of society. A person engaging in any type of social interaction is either consciously or unconsciously engaging or affected by the many ways we stereotype people. Stereotypes while usually given a negative connotation seem to be an inherent part of human nature. By grouping individuals into categories a person can feel more in control of their surrounding and of their own self as a unique individual. Every person has either participated in stereotyping or has been a target of a particular stereotype.

Being stereotypes can cause us to do many things it can also influence us in many ways. Most of the time in my opinion we are all stereotyped because of our race, gender, religion or even ethnicity. I feel stereotyping can influence us in a bad way and can cause us to do something that can harm someone. We’ve all been stereotyped at least once and I’m pretty sure they do not like the feeling of it. For example millennials were always treated better they were taught as kids that they were great and smart. Then when they grew up and got a job they were taught reality. Millennials were born into an era where technology was developed and as years went by we were born and we were already introduced and keeps progressing but the bad thing is we are

There are times, we not so open to the idea of meeting new friends and the reason for that is fear of being judge and misunderstand. Making new friends expose us to the harsh reality of life which is discrimination, stereotype and prejudice. We tend to criticize someone because of their appearances, the music they listen and what they wear, before even knowing what they have to offer to society. Every human being were place in this planet to achieve greatness, but with negativity we create by stereotype each other and by placing each individual in box either by race, or color we are making a friends, or an associates suffer. We need to realize something, we are human first and we bleed the same

In our American society, it has a lot of stereotypes that people call to define people’s skin. If you don’t believe this fact, then you had never felt the idea being called a stereotype to fit in groups that are miss-treated. In these so called “groups” can stand out a lot in the internet and American society. Within this idea, these people never get the feel of being beautiful and don’t get the freedom that America has always promised. With two amazing passages, “Mexicans Begin Jogging” and “Fish Cheeks”, has shown their struggles as a role of being different than a nude or pale beautiful

Stereotypes are something that all people utilize in life to help process information. These can serve us positively or negatively and they may be accurate or inaccurate. This is a way for us to categorize information so that we can access it more quickly and effectually.

Stereotypes are assumptions or generalizations that people think and label a particular person as belonging to a group based on how they look in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and other categories. Stereotypes are a big problem in our society because they have a negative impact and can be damaging to a person’s emotions. Thus, any stereotype on individuals can be viewed as wrong because in the end we are judging them. I was stereotype as a thief because some people assumed I was stealing. As a result, I was affected by this because if they stopped to see what I was actually doing, they would have seen I was buying a box to give someone a present.

Stereotyping has occurred since Amelia Earhart single handedly flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, since Chien-Shiung Wu, the “Queen of Nuclear Research”, contributed heavily to the process of separating uranium metal into isotopes by means of gaseous diffusion, and ever since Marilyn Monroe empowered girls all around by her courage and words of wisdom. These famous women have lived through sexist stereotyping as do women currently. Haley Bryd, a congressional reporter for Independent Journal Review, was ruthlessly kicked out of the Speaker's lobby because she was wearing a sleeveless dress in summer. She was simply crossing the hall. In the American state of North Carolina, a woman cannot withdraw consent and call subsequent actions rape. She is legally allowed to be raped. On a positive note, there are writers such as Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, and Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street, who spread awareness about this degradation. Each wordsmith illustrates that young, middle aged, and elderly women are being oppressed due to female stereotypes. While each of these characters seemingly has very little in common with the other one, both must fight against discrimination in society. The two authors use the struggles of their female characters to administer the cruel inequality of gender stereotypes to society, thus motivating feminist supporters to disrupt the societal expectations set against all women.

Many people believe that all Hispanic people in America are illegal but that is not true nearly 75% of them are perfectly legal and have the right to live in America(Wang). People get stereotyped everyday, and they should not have to worry about this. Stereotypes are labels that are unfairly placed on people, and they affect all of us.

Stereotypes are an official representation of a community. That’s an obvious lie, but stereotypes are a concept that is seen as the unofficial yet official view of a certain community. Stereotypes are a complex yet simple concept that can either reinforce or dismantle someone’s view on another individual. Specifically, cultural stereotypes that are broadcasted on a basis. In a sense, cultural stereotyping can negatively affect the individual experience by minimizing their value, which then leads to how they’re viewed by society, and how they’re treated.

Stereotypes rely on upon speculation and simplification where a stereotype is believed to be genuine for all individuals of a group concerned. For instance, women are easily portrayed as helpless and inferior compared to men.

On Tuesday June 20th, Jennifer and her sons were on their way to the next store when they heard a little boy crying. “Stop that crying right now. Only girls cry. Are you a girl now? Should I go buy you a little pink dress? Cut it out NOW!” a man yelled out. Her eyes met her son's, wide and surprised. “Mama, why did he say that? All people cry, not just girls,” said her youngest. “Is crying only for girls?” the 6-year-old said, hesitating to look at Jennifer. Stereotyping an individual is wrong because it perpetuates a divide, they affect a person on other aspects of life , and creates a negative meaning of the word “different.”