The concept of stereotypes has in some way or another influenced our lives at some point in time. Stereotypes are judgmental assumptions made based on qualities or characteristics a person carries. It is also important to clearly understand that stereotypes have become more and more present as time passes. Negative stereotypes also spread common misconceptions that are for the most part never proven to be true. Spreading these stereotypes only causes more tension, uncomfortable situations, and of course a sense of hatred. This can only lead to more division in the world, which is pitiful because there is no real foundation for it in the first place. Regardless of the situation there are multiple ways to battle the misconceptions and lead us
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Everyone should try and understand why it is you feel the urge to say and deem someone with a negative label. We need to dig deeper and understand the reason behind why we resort to these misconceptions and start to reverse that mentality. We need to begin to train ourselves to think differently, to halt our impulsive thoughts, and to give people a chance to prove themselves. In “On Stereotypes” by Banaji and Greenwald, when Princeton students were asked to choose characteristics typical of Americans, they assumed they were expected to provide characteristics of White, male, adult Americans. The two traits that they most often selected for Americans, materialistic and ambitious” (Banaji, Greenwald 617-618). As you can see the Princeton students gave the group of White, male, adult Americans negative traits. Because stereotypes are becoming very predominant, especially in the political world, it is indispensable that we begin to educate ourselves about one another's cultures and backgrounds. We need to learn more about each other so that we can truly understand why groups of people act the way they do. We as a society need to educate ourselves to become more lenient and …show more content…
For instance, “contemporary popular culture in the United States rarely represents the poor in ways that display integrity and dignity. Instead they are portrayed through negative stereotypes. … the poor are portrayed as seeing themselves as always and only worthless”(bell hooks 485). Another example would be, my dad has been clearly judged in the past based on the fact that he does not speak English or because he has occasionally attended a family event in public in his work clothes as a field worker. People have automatically assumed that because of his job he may not be very intelligent or that he's lazy or dirty because of his clothing at the moment. Some people do not take the time or consideration to even for a minute think about what he does for a living because he has had no education here in the U.S. or that he just had a long and exhausting day of work and did not have time to go home and clean up before an event. In reality, my dad is pretty smart and really uptight about his hygiene, but sometimes the circumstances do not allow for the best first impression and some do not bother to give it some more
Everyone should try and understand why it is you feel the urge to say and deem someone with a negative label. We need to dig deeper and understand the reason behind why we resort to these misconceptions and start to reverse that mentality. We need to begin to train ourselves to think differently, to halt our impulsive thoughts, and to give people a chance to prove themselves. In “On Stereotypes” by Banaji and Greenwald, when Princeton students were asked to choose characteristics typical of Americans, they assumed they were expected to provide characteristics of White, male, adult Americans. The two traits that they most often selected for Americans, materialistic and ambitious” (Banaji, Greenwald 617-618). As you can see the Princeton students gave the group of White, male, adult Americans negative traits. Because stereotypes are becoming very predominant, especially in the political world, it is indispensable that we begin to educate ourselves about one another's cultures and backgrounds. We need to learn more about each other so that we can truly understand why groups of people act the way they do. We as a society need to educate ourselves to become more lenient and …show more content…
For instance, “contemporary popular culture in the United States rarely represents the poor in ways that display integrity and dignity. Instead they are portrayed through negative stereotypes. … the poor are portrayed as seeing themselves as always and only worthless”(bell hooks 485). Another example would be, my dad has been clearly judged in the past based on the fact that he does not speak English or because he has occasionally attended a family event in public in his work clothes as a field worker. People have automatically assumed that because of his job he may not be very intelligent or that he's lazy or dirty because of his clothing at the moment. Some people do not take the time or consideration to even for a minute think about what he does for a living because he has had no education here in the U.S. or that he just had a long and exhausting day of work and did not have time to go home and clean up before an event. In reality, my dad is pretty smart and really uptight about his hygiene, but sometimes the circumstances do not allow for the best first impression and some do not bother to give it some more