Stereotyping--everyone does it. You see someone on the street who is of the Asian decent and you automatically think, "They must be super smart," or "They must be a prodigy at the piano." Honestly, that is not always true. Dating back to probably the beginning of the human race, people have automatically judged and assumed things about people without getting to know them. Stereotyping continues to exist because people think it's easier to judge someone by what is on the outside, rather than actually getting to know what's on the inside of that person. These instances can include things such as appearance, race, gender, and things even as simple as what clothes you decide to wear that morning. These specific stereotypes exist most likely because people feel as though they don't have the time to get to know someone, so they just decide to make accusations of what they see on the outside. I'm sure everyone has their own personal examples of such stereotypes, as do I. When I am in my hometown and bored, I usually decide to go to Target or the mall, so I can cure my boredom. On several occasions, I see that the staff is keeping a close eye on the teenagers of the store, including myself, because they think the teenagers in the store are more likely to shop lift than anyone else looking around. To me, this is really hurtful because I pride myself on being an honest person, and I would NEVER steal anything, but the staff in the stores don't know that. So you see, any type of stereotyping can have an affect on the person, so wouldn't it be easier just not to do it?
Stereotyping is not just only for judging a person without getting to know them, but there are times where you could find yourself stereotyping someone you are acquaintances with, someone you are very close to, or someone you've known for years. Instances of these are things such as judging someone on their religion, sexual orientation, their IQ, the talents they have, or even their family life at home. An instance of this is actually a story I heard from one of my friends, who happens to be gay. He had gotten out of work and all of a sudden, there were three built men following him to his car. They were audibly whispering things behind him such as, "Look at that fag," and "Let's teach him a lesson for being a fag." Even though my friend could hear what those guys were saying, stereotypes that are said behind people's backs are just as hurtful as things those people could hear.
The stereotypes that I don't understand the most are when people stereotype others on things that have nothing to do with them. Such instances can include something your best friends did, like getting caught drinking and driving, or something at home, such as your parents getting a divorce. There are plenty of examples of this stereotype, but there was one certain instance that I was involved in. When I was a Freshman in high school, I went to a cast party after one of our last musical performances. I was upstairs hanging out with the other Freshmen and a few Sophomores, while the Juniors and Seniors were down in the basement. I later found out that the people down in the basement were drinking, and somehow my high school found out about it. Even though I was not a part of the drinking at all, I was still questioned by my high school. The administration automatically assumed that most, or all the people at the party were involved in the drinking and made a judgement before talking to people individually. After talking to the administration, I was given no punishment because they believed me, but this is one of so many examples that involved being placed with a stereotype, even though it has nothing to do with you personally. So next time you hear about one of your friends that was busted for underage drinking with a lot of others, or that one of your friends' parents is getting divorced, think first that maybe they weren't involved, or that it wasn't their fault.
The stereotypes that I don't understand the most are when people stereotype others on things that have nothing to do with them. Such instances can include something your best friends did, like getting caught drinking and driving, or something at home, such as your parents getting a divorce. There are plenty of examples of this stereotype, but there was one certain instance that I was involved in. When I was a Freshman in high school, I went to a cast party after one of our last musical performances. I was upstairs hanging out with the other Freshmen and a few Sophomores, while the Juniors and Seniors were down in the basement. I later found out that the people down in the basement were drinking, and somehow my high school found out about it. Even though I was not a part of the drinking at all, I was still questioned by my high school. The administration automatically assumed that most, or all the people at the party were involved in the drinking and made a judgement before talking to people individually. After talking to the administration, I was given no punishment because they believed me, but this is one of so many examples that involved being placed with a stereotype, even though it has nothing to do with you personally. So next time you hear about one of your friends that was busted for underage drinking with a lot of others, or that one of your friends' parents is getting divorced, think first that maybe they weren't involved, or that it wasn't their fault.
Although you may think there is no upside to stereotypes, a Journalism student from the BHM WordPress Network says differently. The author in this article argues that stereotypes are a good thing for everyone because it will make you into a stronger and more sophisticated person. "Stereotypes are a part of high school that everyone has to deal with. They help make you into a stronger and more sophisticated person." The author prefaces this quote with a story of a boy who was in high school, and was stereotyped and judged everyday. He apparently loved music and all of the people who judged him or stereotyped him helped him to find his strength to succeed in music. The author also argues that stereotypes are a good thing because once you have been stereotyped, you'll know how much it hurts, and then you won't do it to others. "Stereotypes in the long run help people more then hurt them. If you’re stereotyped then you’ll know what it’s like to be treated badly and you won’t want to treat others that way. It ends up helping out lots of people." The author prefaces this argument with a story of an athlete in high school who is trying to get rid of the stereotype that "all athletes are jerks." The author states that this guy is trying to be nice to everyone in order to break that stereotype. As anyone can see from this article, people in our society are already trying to break stereotypes because they are hurtful and unnecessary.
Everyone is guilty of using stereotypes at one point or another; so as a society, we all need to get better at focusing on getting to know what's behind the person's race, gender, or even clothing style and look at what's really important-who they are on the inside. There are so many different reasons as to why people stereotype, so either I can sit here and list them, or we as a society can go out into the world and do something about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment