Stereotypes: The Five Fallacies About Racism

“A stereotype is an oversimplified or generalized idea about a certain group of people, often held by members of a different group.” Stereotypes typically come from those who are ignorant to topics such as gender, sexuality, race, religion, etcetera. The people imposing the cliche use stereotypes as a defense mechanism, to feel superior, safer, more comfortable. A couple examples of this are gender bias or roles and police brutality. Gender bias is a very common stereotype. From the moment we are born, we are given the assigned colors, blue for boys, pink for girls. Women are feminine, men are masculine, and if the cards are flipped then that person is deemed as queer.

Every human being belongs to a specific type of race or possibly multiple races depending on his/her background. As a population, society views their fellow citizens according to their certain race. For some, culture and traditions of their own race means everything to them and these people are proud of who they are and where they come from. However, for some races their background and pride carries burdens. Although every race is known for distinct stereotypes, a few are worse than others and usually these stereotypes are not true. African Americans have suffered through discrimination for an extremely long time and even though it is not as severe as fifty years ago, stereotypes and racism still exists today. It becomes a fact that others

Imagine being perceived in a way were almost everyone thought one lived a catastrophic life based on the school they went to. A stereotype is an image of a person or group of people that is labeled or seen in a specific way by a range of people. Although stereotypes come with some legitimacy, another way groups and individuals are judged or viewed differently is by misconceptions. False interpretations forming from misunderstood ideas or thoughts are misconceptions. Stereotypes have come from past generations which are now influenced from media such as movies, tv shows, and social networks. Students that attend continuation schools are often observed as misbehaved troubled filled students. This stereotype and many more have surrounded and

A stereotype is a fixed set of beliefs upon of a certain group of individuals who share common traits. Stereotypes can be classified into a wide range of categories such as: race, culture, ethnicity, gender, social or economic status, and religion. A stereotype has to do with a group of people rather than an individual. Most stereotypes are biased and untrue. Stereotypes often lead to prejudice, meaning that one acts a certain way due to the fixed beliefs they have toward a certain group of individuals. Although stereotypes often have a negative connotation, psychology says that we need to put people into these groups in order for our brains not to overload on information. I was recently insulted by a woman who made a very rude stereotype about Mexicans. It has definitely impacted my life and the way I view and act towards others.

All Asians are good at math, all blondes are dumb, all Muslims are terrorists - these are all common stereotypes. Without even realizing it, stereotypes have undeniably played an enormous role in individual lives. Minds seem to already set a certain image in them based on the people they encounter. People judge others by their skin tone, ethnicity, and physical appearance unconsciously, and this have been proven by many social experiments. Of course, though these stereotypes might be accurate at times, there are situations where they are completely defied. The famous author Agatha Christie recognized this pattern and applied the formulas to her novels. In Murder on the Orient Express, Christie created quite a stereotypical atmosphere -where every character is judged by their nationality, but defies those stereotypes planted on them. This theme leads to the thought of the relationship between stereotypes and racism. There is a

Oxford dictionary says stereotype is “a fixed idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or thing, but which is often not true in reality.” For example a common stereotype is that all Asians are bad drivers, this is farther from the truth, but it is a

Everyone that has ever existed has faced some kind of subjugation. Whether it be over gender, sexuality, religion, financial status, ethnicity, or color everyone is stereotyped. Some have more negative stereotypes than others, some just have ones that are neatraul. To dive down deeper into the understanding of different stereotypes, I asked a close friend some questions and compared them to the ones I face as a young woman. The answers were incredibly different, but so weren’t the effects which I expected to be the same. The friend that I interviewed was answering from the standpoint of being African-American, while I interviewed myself from the standpoint of being female and compared them. The outcome? Peculiar.

When I see this photo, not only do I see a mother and her daughter being comforted by a man, I see a mother wanting a better life for her and her daughter by migrating to the United States. Unfortunately, their dream has come to a halt. The man in the photo seems to be wearing his border patrol uniform so I am assuming she has been caught trying to find a new life for her family. It is heartbreaking to see this photo because the mother is crying and usually when I hear ‘mother’ I tend to believe they are strong, determined, happy, optimistic, and immortal but in all honesty they are struggling to keep us happy. The daughter may have also believed that but when she saw her mother

Today, we are living in a very complex social environment. In today’s society, people are stereotyped in many different ways depending which category an individual is located in. Haven’t you been stereotyped at some point in your life? Or you may have stereotyped someone without even noticing it. Stereotyping is actually more serious than we thought and it is becoming a major problem in our society today. But what is stereotyping? According to the dictionary, stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardised conception or image invested with special meaning and help in common by members of a group.” Moreover, it is considered as a form of prejudice, as people are putting labels about how a person should act or live according to their gender, nationality, religion, personality or appearance. This creates pre judgment, including misconceptions, which can develop further, leading to bigger problems and complications.

The three most prevalent races that comprise the population of my school are White, African American, and Hispanic. Whites are the predominant demographic occupying about 85% of the population, followed by African American at 13% and Hispanic at 2%. This ratio has been relatively stable for the last forty years, with a slight increase recently in the Hispanic populace. Throughout the course of our lives, we are often exposed to stereotypes that help form our opinions. In many instances these beliefs are not based on reality, but on information that has been passed down for generations. For example, many people believe African Americans rely primarily on single parent households, place little value on education, do not promote discipline and

Stereotypes are in the world all around us, in film, TV, literature and in everyday life. “A Stereotype is a conventional, formulaic and oversimplified conception, opinion, image or conforming to a set image or type” (Dictionary.com). Stereotype happens on an everyday basis, similar groups of people are categorized by such factors as race, color, what they wear, and their behavior. Stereotype are used to categorized people by such factors as race, color, what they wear and their behavior. Stereotypes chose one aspect of a person or group and link them all together. Stereotypes link one aspect of a person to one group. The Chicano and Native Americans has have been categorized by Americans based on what is seen in media and what is read in

One thing everyone needs to know is all stereotypes are all based on truths. Truths, pertaining to stereotypes, are how categorized groups used to act in a certain way in the past or how some still act that certain way currently. Truths are basically the honest look of how the group behaves. Currently people get misconceptions and stereotypes confused. Yet misconceptions are formed from stereotypes and are incorrect based on truths. Misconceptions are assumptions, or a mistaken belief, a person has because he or she is apart of the group. These misconceptions are not exaggerated and usually have no truths to it. Misconceptions and stereotypes about people also often get falsely confused with prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice is a person’s hostile opinion or feeling is based on something they have no knowledge about, thought, or reason behind it. Discrimination is the unjust treatment of a person due, the group, class, or category to which that person belongs to. So essentially a person’s adverse attitude toward someone is prejudice and a person’s biased action toward someone is discrimination. There are misinterpretations about stereotypes that make it seem as these made categorized groups as a bad thing, but there is always a little truth in every

So this is something I am really going to talk about. The word Stereotype, don’t you just love the word? If you don’t know what stereotyping is, I will tell you (THIS IS MY OWN DEFINITION). When you stereotype, you are exaggerating an idea about a certain group. This is horrible because this is saying that everyone is a certain way; and they can’t be anything else. That is putting everyone in a certain category, making people feel isolated, especially if they are young.

If we assume that the use of stereotypes helps us to gain an understanding of the world, we may establish different profiles and characterizations on certain groups of people. For example: Jews are greedy, Muslims are terrorists, black people are criminals, Americans are obese, homosexuals are weak and so on. These assumptions are typical examples and have become so common today, that people may mistake them to be correct classifications of the certain groups and types of individuals, because they have been misunderstood or generalized due to one incident as well as influenced by certain factors. For example, History has played a

Stereotypes are the ugly truth, that become exaggerated. A person becomes stereotyped by the way they act and behave a certain way. Stereotypes consist of two people or more which create a group. Everyone is categorized in groups by a stereotype that is associated with them. For instance, at a high school there are the jocks, the preps, the geeks, the poser and et cetera. Stereotypes create a widely believed mental picture of that group. For example, in About Men, Gretel Ehrlich mentions that “...he’s gruff, handsome, and physically fit on the outside…” Ehrlich’s choice of diction helps the reader develop a mental picture of