Stereotypes

To understand different examples of stereotypes, am going to define what stereotype is. Steriotype is any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Stereotypes are often confused with prejudices, because, like prejudices, a stereotype is based on a prior assumption. Stereotypes are often created about people of specific cultures or races.

Almost every culture or race has a stereotype, including Jewish people, African American people, Irish people, and Polish people, among others.

Stereotypes are not just different races and backgrounds, Gender stereotypes also exist. For example, if you say that men are better than women, you’re stereotyping all men and all women. If you say that all women like to cook, you are stereotyping women.

Sexual orientation stereotypes are also common. These stereotypes occur when you have negative views on gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals. People who have these negative views are often known as homophobic.

Stereotyping is not only hurtful, it is also wrong. Even if the stereotype is correct in some cases, constantly putting someone down based on your preconceived perceptions will not encourage them to succeed.

Stereotyping can lead to bullying form a young age. Jocks and Preps pick on the Nerds and the Geeks; Skaters pick on the Goths, so on and so forth. Stereotyping is encouraging bullying behavior that children carry into adulthood.

Stereotyping can also lead people to lives driven by hate, and can cause the victims of those stereotypes to be driven by fear. For example, many gays and lesbians are afraid to admit their sexuality in fear of being judged. It is a lose-lose situation, both for those who are doing the stereotype and those who are victims.

Even though some stereotypes are true it not most times and can be very offensive people of other cultures. I am Jamaican and I got a dollar for every time I was asked if I smoke weed I would be very happy.  When people stereotype it means that they have a limited understanding of that culture and they should know that the world has become multicultural thanks to the internet. People shouldn’t try to live up to their stereotype because of their race or gender. My advice to then is to just be yourself and ignore ignorance.