Stereotypes, What They Are, and How They Negatively Affect Our Culture
Stereotyping is when people hold one picture, of a person, or idea in their mind, of what this thing is/should be. For instance, a stereotypical man might be large, tanned, and ripped, with “manly” deodorant. The reason I put “manly” in quotation marks, is because that is a stereotype all to itself. The idea that something is manly, or feminine is ridiculous.
Personally, I think stereotyping is ridiculous, for the following reasons.
One, it’s a dumb way to think about people. Why would this slightly overweight man, be worth less, than a ripped man? Why would a beautiful woman supposedly be worth more, than a not so beautiful woman? These ideas don’t make sense.
Another interesting thing, is that the media, and pop culture are a big influence on stereotyping, and racism and such. For instance, on the cover of a new album, you will always see a handsome person. Well, unless the point is to suggest otherwise.
Moving on to a different type of stereotyping-with data compiled in 2008, which was 5 years ago, African Americans, and Hispanics, comprised of 58% of all prisoners, even though they make up one quarter of the USA’s population.
Hitler, was a stereotyper, and also very discriminating.. He had his perfect race, and then the people he prosecuted. Here is a list I found on this page.
The People Adolf Hitler Persecuted Because Of Stereotyping/Racism/Discrimination besides Jews:
-
2 Million Ethnic Poles
-
6 Million Soviet Citizens
-
2 Million Soviet POW’s
-
1.5 Million Gypsies
-
200,000 Physically and Mentally Retarded Germans.
Of course this was not just stereotyping, I think it was a combination of racism, and stereotyping. The main stereotyping here was Hitler’s “Master Race”. Someone who had blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, would be considered to be a part of the
“Master Race”. I would be one of those people, and I actually feel kind of awkward about it. I don’t think I’m better than you, if you are Hispanic, with dark hair. To wrap up, I don’t think stereotyping is legal human right, or any human right, but I do believe that, not stereotyping is a human right, even if it’s not labeled, stereotyping.
In my opinion, stereotyping could be stopped by:
1. Media not constantly portraying hot people.
2 Pop culture not being defined on how the artist/producer/generator/manufacturer/ad man looks.
Also, if people would keep a more open mind on this issue, I think it would pretty much stop. I believe that racism, and stereotyping are interlocked in some cases, and that the Holocaust was a good example of both.
A History Of Stereotypes.
As all old ideas were, stereotypes were began long ago. Take slaves for example. Another mixture of racism and stereotypes. Slaves were forced into existence because people thought blacks were bad. (The stereotype). People beat them because they thought they were black. (The racism). People just need to STOP racism and stereotypes.
Cormac.
#13stubc
#BAD13