Arab American Misconceptions Essay

Living in New York City, we encounter different cultures and groups every day, however growing up all I saw was “White”. White people on the television, White people owning businesses, White people as the President, and so forth. In contrast, the “minorities” were almost always portrayed in a less valuable role, especially through the media. This was very disappointing growing up as a Latina, also known as a “minority”, making me feel as though my culture, along with others, were not as important. Although one may discriminate against your culture, does that make it right for you to do the same in return? All cultures should be seen as equal in importance, however we can see how the dominant culture negatively impacts and influences the people of the less dominant culture through media and social interactions. We can also see how the dominant culture at times takes over the less dominant.

In today’s society, individuals and groups are labeled with either positive or negative stereotypes. People encounter stereotypes everyday and everywhere. It is the picture people paint in their minds when approaching a group or individual when in fact it may be different in reality. Stereotypes affect a person’s way of living and thinking either in a negative or positive way. Stereotypes are based on truth but in an exaggerated way, while misconceptions are formed from having stereotypes. Misconceptions are beliefs that are incorrect based on untruths. Stereotypes are a widely believed image of a particular group or person. One of the many reasons why people create or have stereotypes is because of what is being portrayed on movies and shows.

Ethnic stereotypes operate in the same ways for men and women. In the reading “ Being WEIRD: How Culture Shapes the Mind,” Ethan Watters mentions how culture shapes the way of thinking and perception. “The most interesting thing about cultures…they mold out most fundamental conscious and unconscious thinking and perception.”(Watters 496). This shows how culture is not just about the materialistic things, but how it influence’s ones thinking and judgment in general. A main source that influences an individuals judgement is the media. It is exactly what happens in the reading “ Ghetto Bitches, China Dolls, and Cha Cha Divas,” were Jennifer Pozner mentions how “Other Latina models throughout the series have been called ‘fiery’ as a compliment and ‘hootchie’ as an insult.” (Pozner 361). This quote shows how racial stereotypes work. The show America’s Next Top Model releases these name calling that will later on affect that particular ethnicity.

Even though I have never been on an airplane, I consider myself an international traveler. I live in the U.S. but I also have Lebanese immigrant parents. When I was younger, I used travel back and forth across international borders to fulfill my daily routine in one city. But; I was never Arab enough to fit in with “Arab” natives, and being Arab means that I would never be considered “American” enough. Because of this, I suffered from “identity jet lag”; and I always questioned where I belonged. My first stigma to my identity wasn’t from the outside world, but from the people who looked like me; Muslim/Arab women are often discouraged from following their passions, and told to follow a more traditional role. But as I grew older, I recognized

An obstacle that my mother has faced is being Black Muslim women in America. It 's more of a problem than what reaches the surface and mainstream media. It 's rarely talked about in America. In america there are people who want to smear our entire faith and say that Islam is an inherently violent religion. These are exciting times to be an American Muslim. My mom said it was harder for her getting a job from being a black woman and her religious beliefs. Two negatives that have been around before she was boring the civil rights movement and women 's suffrage. I’m not here to talk about her being black, but being a Muslim women in america. The easy target for prejudice and violence and harsh words from uneducated people in the world and in

With existing schematization presenting a range of issues in society, Alcoff’s theory of ethnorace provides effective ways to resolve the issues present within it.

Nowadays, Asian-Americans are still the target of stereotypes against them, but those stereotypes have evolved with the time. Among those stereotypes, a stereotype pretends that Asians are so called bad drivers, and another pretends that they are all smart and good in math. The first is often due to the image medias and experience give us to Asian traffic, overall China, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and India because of the growing population and accidents. Furthermore, in Asia, traffic rules are hardly ever respected. The origin of the fact that Asians are smart and good in math can be explained by the Asian educational system which promotes sciences, math and technologies in school’s programs to create new searchers who could be useful to economic growth and scientific progress in development countries. Yet, those stereotypes are wrong concerning Asian Americans. In fact, they learn to drive according to the laws of the country they live, and do not all like school.

The stereotypes have brought negative recognition to these ethnic groups. According to an article by Simply Psychology, stereotypes can interfere when an introduction to another race occurs. An individual might sum up the person characteristic based on the stereotypes of the person’s ethnicity. An individual can assume that all Asian Americans are Chinese, and therefore can speak the Chinese’s language as well. This is a negative stereotype of an Asian American that they encounter in their own country. The article, mention that stereotypes can lead to social categorization, which leads to prejudice attitudes towards a certain race. In this case Asian Americans are seeing as bad drivers due to the shape of their eyes. They are criticized for being intelligent, but still expected to be successful in life. Young Asian Americans are seeing as hard-working, submissive, obedient and uncomplaining. In reality these stereotypes hide the truth according to an article called “Model Minority Stereotype for Asian Americans”, Asian American college students are more likely to seek medical leave, more likely to go on academic probation, and are less likely to graduate in 4

According to Lippmann, “stereotypes are ‘pictures in our heads’ that we use to apprehend the world around us” (16). Stereotypes can be formed due to effects of media, as Wood describes media as pervasive, powerful and influential (31). Hence, stereotypes can be defined as inaccurate perceptions towards a group of people or community that is strongly influenced by the media. Whether positive or negative, stereotypes are usually false as they are formed based on personal judgments, which are biased or exaggerated.

Lets imagine two different people, one is a well dressed person and the other is not a well dress person. If both are reading the newspaper, the well dress person might be judged as an intelectual while the one not well dress might be jugded as an unemployee looking for a job. If both are carrying a briefcases, the well dressed person might be jugded as a business man while the other one as a seller. If both are in the police station, society automatically thinks that the well dressed is the complainant and the other one is the offender. Why is this so? We have made a generalization on each case. These are examples of stereotypes which often results from, and leads to, prejudice. As it is shown, prejudice and stereotypes are, one of the biggest

movies like Independence Day, Casino Royale, Congo, Black Hawk Down, Blood Diamond, Rwanda etc. Another major stereotype discussed in the presentation was about the Bechdel Test. It was proposed by a feminist Alison Bechdel in the 80s. A movie is said to pass the Bechdel Test if in the movie, two or more women are shown to have a back and forth conversation about anything other than men. Surprisingly, out of 2500 movies, more than half have failed to pass it. Even the script writers do not try to pass the Bechdel Test because, well, this is what sells the movie. A lot of famous movies like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Dark Knight Rises, The Pirates of Caribbean have failed to pass this test. The stereotypes about Arabs were also discussed in detail. Arabs are shown as villains and terrorists. They are shown as barbaric, Muslims or foreigners. Arab women are depicted as belly dancers or harems under veils. This was followed by a discussion on stereotypes on Latin Americans, Blacks and Native Americans. Native Americans are a diverse culture but are still depicted as medicine men or princesses. Blacks are

When you pick a documentary, what’s the first thing you notice: color, the image and the bold letters on the cover? They are usually no more than three words just burning on the cover. But we never consider from where the author or authors came up with them, or what purpose do they hold. In the documentary Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, the title holds a significant meaning. It represents the movement of how Hollywood has portrayed Arabs through the decades. This is very important understand because it has lead society to significantly change the way it view Arabs. Nevertheless, there’s more to the documentary then just its title. The documentary attempts to show why the view of Arabs has changed, and what events have contributed to that change and how it affects Arabs today.

There are countless reported negative American stereotypes and I honestly struggled tremendously to find a stereotype that I identified with. However, I would say cultural ignorance is a negative American stereotype I can actively work to address as our class travels internationally. Researching cultural ignorance more in-depth will aid in my understanding and appreciating diverse cultural perspectives, the importance of historical knowledge, and the complexity of communication amongst different cultures as I travel to Europe.

Stereotyping is a way of categorizing certain groups of people or types of individuals with regards to gender, race, culture, religion etc. Stereotyping arises from prior assumptions due to influences by the media, history and personal experience. The statement: “To gain an understanding of the world we need to make use of stereotypes,” appears that stereotyping is required in order to really understand the world, and knowledge issues can be drawn from this statement: Does stereotyping prevent us from knowing someone truly and how are stereotypes created in the first place? One way to examine and discuss the knowledge issues is to look at different areas of knowledge, which in our case will be History and Human Science. Since the concept of stereotyping holds a broad scope, the essay will narrow down the focus to ethnic groups and their culture.

Stereotypes have been around for decades, and are still prominent today. In today’s society, everybody stereotypes one another, but will not admit that they do. Stereotypes can either be positive or negative. Usually stereotypes are used in a negative approach and can be degrading to an individual. Misconceptions are also used by individuals and can be harmful and unreasonable. Misconceptions are usually formed from having stereotypes. Everybody has a stereotype that is associated with them, whether they like it or not. Male probation officers is a group that is misunderstood to society. They have multiple stereotypes and misconceptions that are associated with them; theses associations are made up by the offenders or individuals in general. Individuals need a better understanding of male probation officers because not all of them are intimidating.