The Positive And Negative Aspects Of Stereotypes

Being Hispanic is the best thing to happen to me because I get to prove people wrong. Coming from Hispanic dissent means that I constantly have to prove that I am capable of becoming someone important. Throughout my life I’ve always had situations where I was judged because of my color or the fact that my last name was Sanchez one of the most common Mexican last names. Don’t get me wrong there might be many negative stereotypes about Hispanics but there are also many positive stereotypes like having a large, close knit family.

America is a melting pot as people from different cultures make up a vast part of American society. Nevertheless, without knowing it, humans subconsciously put those around them into different categories based upon how one may act, look or speak. This action is known as stereotyping. Stereotyping has existed for centuries and even in today's modern world. Yet, the question is being raised among people regarding its existence. Despite that most people believe it is wrong to stereotype others, many still firmly hold on to the idea that stereotyping is necessary to a certain degree. Therefore, this paper will suggest not only the danger of stereotype but also the risk of never stereotyping as well, and tell a story about a time when I actually stereotyped a person.

Did you know that when you first meet someone it takes only 7 seconds for them to form an opinion of you. Although, stereotypes are a big factor in making people perceive you in a different way. So what are stereotypes? In simple terms, Stereotypes are an unnecessary form of categorization that helps people to simplify information and to explain and justify their inappropriate actions.

Hello Maria, you are always on top of things, and I enjoy reading your posts. We seem to think similarly on almost all of the discussions, and this week our posts are almost a mirror image. However, in regard to part C, when you responded to my post you expressed a more positive perception than what I perceive. Although, I mostly agree with you, my thoughts, depending on the circumstances, are slightly more negative.

Have you ever felt belittled by a common stereotype? It has become common nature to use a stereotype as an offensive insult. To be specific, a stereotype is an adopted thought about particular types of individuals or certain ways to accomplish things. Most of the time, stereotypes do not accurately represent reality but instead opens the doors of inequality and discrimination. Stereotyping is dangerous because it often leads to school bullying attacks. This kind of outlook also makes individuals, such as the LGBT+ community, terrified to openly confess their sexual orientation. On the contrary, people who have accepted racial, gender, or sexual orientation stereotypes, are also dreadful of articulating their opinions out of dread of being called racist, sexist or homophobes. As a result of labels, I was exposed to such individuals who have subscribed to racial stereotypes.

Schemas are significant in society as they categorize a large number of people into small groups based on similar attributes. Research has defined stereotypes as being ‘shared schemas of social groups’ (G. Neil Martin, Neil R. Carlson, William Buskist, 2013, pp. 596). Although schemas can be positive, they can often lead to circumstances in which those who exhibit a certain stereotype may face instances of prejudice and discrimination. Vescio et al. (2005, as cited in Martin et al., 2013) showed that an example of a popular stereotype would be that women are weaker than men. Women who are presented with this stereotype are likely to fall victim to prejudices and discrimination frequently from the male gender.

Throughout history and in cultures across the world, men and women have been treated differently due to the teachings passed down from generation to generation. These teachings have created societies that are prejudice and unadaptable to change due to a narrow-minded way of thinking. The alteration of a mind's decision is not impossible ,however, the alteration of multiple mind’s is much harder and sometimes people do not want to challenge what they have known their whole lives. Society enforces the steadfast ways in adulthood by what is commonly known as stereotypes. Stereotypes are categories that humans put each other in based on looks, height, age or in this case, gender. Gender roles are established at a young age widely due to toys that are for one sex or the other and the religious affiliations of the parents.

Stereotypes can be defined as characteristics that people believe represents someone or something, and they impact our society in many ways (Stereotype). For example, in an interview with Guy Raz from NPR, Jamila Lyiscott says that “I think that there's a tension. I think there's a tension with fighting to not internalize some of what has been placed on you, especially during very important formative years” (Raz, Jamila). This relates stereotype because because Jamila was being stereotyped for her articulate speaking because of how she looked. This negatively impacts our society by making a person, someone they are not, this causes a person to feel worthless sometimes. In another interview with Guy Raz, Jobrani says that “I go, he's got to be my driver. Because he was standing there - like a cheap suit, thin mustache, staring at me. So I went over, excuse, me sir, are you my driver? He goes, no, sir, I own the hotel” (Raz, Maz)). This relates to stereotype because Jobrani thought because of the way the man

Martina Navratilova once said, “Labels are for clothing, labels are not for people.” Stereotypes are labels we give to people. Society thinks it’s acceptable to give others labels based on their looks, way of living, etc. We live in a world full of stereotypes, they are everywhere. We lose the opportunity to get to know someone by judging them because of a stereotype. Stereotypes are shown in many different ways, they have a negative impact on society.

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 stereotyped 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.

Barbara Kruger, an American conceptual artist, once said “All violence is the illustration of a pathetic stereotype” (All). Stereotypes are at the basis of every dispute, argument, or violence we as people are quick to judge other people even if we have never got to know the person we’re criticizing. If stereotypes continue we will become a world with separated groups of people that are at war with each other.

Stereotypes can be defined as a generalized group of people that can lead to an oversimplified image of an individual, and they impact our society in many ways (Stereotype). For example, in an interview with Guy Raz from NPR, Jamila Lyiscott says, “So it’s almost like- it’s almost like the stereotype becomes the way you start to view yourself ” (Staff). This evidence shows that Jamila’s experience proves that we are all affected by stereotypes. This tells how stereotypes impact our society by someone caring about what other people think of them. Clearly, stereotypes affect society by people’s opinions on each other.

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.

A stereotype is a fixed, overgeneralized belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996). We do this to protect ourselves, it is in our nature to associate what we have seen or heard and apply it to new situations. One advantage of a stereotype is that it enables us to respond rapidly to situations because we may have had a similar experience before.

We live in a world where everything that surrounds us will eventually affect us in one way or another. We come into this world not knowing what difficulties life will throw at us. Some people are fortunate and are born in a family where they will never know what it feels like to just have enough money to have one meal a day. However, there is one thing that no matter what social class we belong to we will not escape from and that, is being stereotyped by others. Many of us have to live with perceptions that society has put on us. Most of these perceptions are not accurate and have a negative impact on our daily lives. All of these perceptions that we now have to live with are part of being stereotyped. Society has been stereotyping and racial profiling minority groups and that has become a major issue. This is not an issue that has just arose, this issue can be traced back to the times of slavery. There are many minority groups that are targeted by society but the one that has been targeted most recently is the Hispanic race. The United States is known for being the land of opportunity. This makes people from other countries, especially those where poverty and violence is at all time high, want to move to the United States. We all know that there are millions of Hispanic people living here ,legally and illegally, and that some of them are children or young adults who were brought here to have a better opportunity of being able to have a decent life and not have to live in