Stereotypes are features credited to groups that may include race, age, gender, nationality or any other factors that in real sense are sweep statements of the groups involved. Stereotyping therefore becomes a claim by any individual in a view that a group shares similar offensive characteristics with another different group of a different culture. It is a generalization of an argument which in it breeds prejudice resulting into the victims feeling discriminated against.
I have encountered a variety of stereotypes and some of the stand out for me. The first one is all about race. I have always believed that all Red Indians as the ones featured in shifty films are murderous. This is because of the way they appear in these movies as bloodthirsty fellows who can only quench their thirst by frequently killing some individuals. Whenever I found myself in the lonely paths or streets late in the day with a Red Indian in the vicinity, I was always engulfed in fear of losing my life in any moment, of which I didn’t. This made me explain my phenomenal to my friends in school, who coincidentally had been embracing the same notion. So when we together spotted two Red Indians, our classmates and confronted over the issue, they seized walking in our ways and we could see how intimidated they felt. The fact that they were our classmates certified that not all Red Indians are killers and that it was a mistake to think so about them.
Another stereotype that I have experienced in my life is about gender. It has been my sincere belief that all good-looking girls are poor performers in technical courses and if any girl did, the she has to be hideous. Well, to this I felt not even a single sense of guilt because in my class, the only girl that used to perform better was not good-looking. When I shared this with my cousin who is very charming, she was greatly disappointed in me and opposed the conception, citing evidence that not all beautiful girls class underperformers. Owing to the so many substantiations from her and among other logics, I realized how untrue my argument was and how big I had made that mistake. This really affected her and for sure she lost trust in claiming how little I had thought about girls in general. I saw how bitter she was. This made me shun from the notion to be on the safer side and stopped that discrimination for it only bred a lasting downbeat impact on the girls.
My credence has also been that all fat people eat a lot, and that all they thing about for the better part of their time is food. This took me as far as calculating their daily, monthly and annual cost of food that to me I viewed that they squandered. Whenever I watch movies which have chubby characters, I often saw them being associated with food. They always carry along packets or small containers of food that they constantly ate.
So any time I saw an overweight boy pass by especially when they are headed to the candy shops, I felt obligated to shout at them to stop eating too much. I did exactly that but the outcome was not pleasing at all. The boy that I shouted at went in all tears; feeling singled out and looked down upon. He for sure avoided the shop and guilt became part of me as it was written all over my face not to hide it. As Michael I. (2010) observed in their journal, the discriminated against feel momentous effects for a long time. This regardless of the stereotype types makes them feel anxious and distressed. In conclusion, when these people are exposed to these sure discriminations and sheer prejudice, the upshot is always a lingering effect which is a baggage that in a bad way affects their lives. We should therefore stop stereotyping but learn to understand everyone in their weaknesses and strengths; this is what I have sincerely learnt and wish to apply in my life.
References
David, J. S., (2004). The Psychology of Stereotyping. The Guilford Press, A Division of Guilford publications, Inc, New York. www.guilford.com
Michael, I. & Sonia K. K., (2010). Stereotype Threat Spillover: How coping with threats to social identity affects aggression, eating, decision making, and attention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. doi:10.1037/a0018951
Neil, C. M., Charles, S., & Miles H., (1996), Stereotypes & Stereotyping. The Guilford Press, New York.
