Diversity is everywhere. Most often than not, countries like the United States and Canada are considered a melting pot of various cultures. Due to these countries’ widely popular immigration programs, more and more people from different parts of the globe explore opportunities in these countries. This results in a multi-cultural community that is often subject to stereotyping. Stereotypes results from classifying groups of people into categories involving race, gender, and origin amongst other factors (Nittle, 2016). It is the oversimplification of these characteristics to try and describe or create a notion or generalization about these groups. Usually, stereotyping leads to discrimination and bias and completely disregards natural diversity within a group. An example of a stereotype is the notion about blondes and that they are dumb. Another is that all Mexicans are illegal migrants of the United States. When a stereotype is applied to a certain group of people, it leads us to assume that people within this group tend to behave a certain way (Zhang, 2009). To give an example, an Italian is often stereotyped as someone who belongs to a mafia and is therefore expected to be involved with gangs or in illegal activities. With these, one can denote that most stereotypes are assumptions that create a negative image of the group of people they describe. However, there are stereotypes that are considered positive as well. For example, Chinese people are often perceived to be good in math and have a natural knack for business, and therefore, is expected to succeed in any business undertaking. However, this “positive” kind of stereotyping can also lead to something not right. Take for example our stereotype mentioned in the last statement, that Chinese people are good in math. If ever you do come across someone who isn’t, you would have concluded that this Chinese person is just lazy since it is in his blood that he should be good in math and forego the possibility that this person might actually need help. Stereotypes, whether it may appear good or bad, are limiting and disregard individuality (Nittle, 2016).
Stereotypes are more reinforced in society than ever before. This is despite the fact that stereotyping, in general, are inaccurate perceptions or notions about something or someone. A product, in order to sell, must be advertised or marketed. There are several ways on how to do this now, traditional advertising via tri-media venues or popularized via social media, are a few examples. Stereotypes are banked on to get the brand’s message across to the mass public. This way, since stereotypes are mostly common, it is very easy for the public to understand the message. A favorite stereotype that advertisements utilize is gender stereotyping, wherein men are perceived a certain way and do particulars roles and women, another. There have actually been researches conducted to prove that stereotypes are evidently used in advertising. The study showed that women are mostly tapped to promote domestic products like household items or personal care items. In relation to this, women are most often situated in the house (domestic environment) than being in the workplace. Another would be that women make use of the products as compared to them being an authority, which men are portrayed to be. And lastly, women are most likely not to have a speaking role in the commercial or advertisement (Social Psych Online, 2015). These results depict the trend in stereotyping, at least for that which involves gender. The trend being that men and women are portrayed (and will always be, for a long time) not as equals but conforms more to what the masses perceive them to be and the roles and responsibilities that they need to take on based on the stereotypes are categorized in. However, lately, society seems to be pushing the envelope of change. In the recent remake of Ghostbusters (2016), where the major characters were cast with women, one can denote the effort to try and change stereotypes. Unfortunately, this was greeted with controversies over race and gender. Despite this, the effort has not gone unnoticed.
Communication is inherent in any society. It bridges the gap between cultures and ensures that there is harmony in our existence. Stereotyping gets the best of us when we communicate with people we do not personally know and when we communicate absent-mindedly (Zhang, 2009). Our brain tends to place these strangers in categories defined by the stereotypes present in society. As a result, we form assumptions on how the person we are talking to will behave, absentmindedly ignoring behaviors that depict otherwise, leading to an ineffective communication process (Zhang, 2009). In short, we fail to see what is in front of us and choose to acknowledge what we perceive in minds instead. In order for communication to be effective, we must bear in mind to be open and mindful always when conversing. Miscommunication due to stereotyping is very much evident in the workplace. Women are perceived to value work less than men do. In this light, as women are perceived to be as such, they tend to not have equal opportunities to express themselves, say for example, during a job interview, of their intentions to stay on for long with a company in spite of them having a family or thinking of having one in the future. The interviewer also shuts down to this possibility when a woman comes in for an interview. This now leads to a communication gap and the potential woman employee to just be content with a lower ranking position with the company (Hameed, n.d.).
In conclusion, we can note that stereotyping can lead to communication breakdown due to inaccurate assumptions we have in our minds of how that person is supposed to act or react if we do not learn to filter these assumptions and try to correct them upon realizing its inaccuracy.
Works Cited
“Culture and Gender Stereotyping in Advertisements”. Social Psych Online. Social Psych Online, 14 Aug. 2015. Web. 10 Aug. 2016.
Hameed, Muhammad Hashim. “Do Stereotypes Affect Communication?” I Believe. Ibelievepretentious.blogspot.ca., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2016.
Nittle, Nadra Kareem. “What is the Meaning of Sterotype?”. About News. Racerelations About.com, 30 June 2016. Web. 10 Aug. 2016.
Zhang, Shuli. “Stereotypes Communication.” International Education Studies 2.4 (2009): 25-27. Web. 10 Aug. 2016.
