Offensive Stereotypes Essay

When some people think of Chinese people they think of a bucktooth, squinty eyed nerdy oriental with an accent who likely eats rice, which is an offensive stereotype. This is an example of the kinds of hateful stereotypes that exist in society. In social psychology, a stereotype is an attitude that can be adopted in regard to specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things. These thoughts may influence one’s perception of reality. In my opinion, stereotypes may be split into three types; 1) race, 2) gender, and 3) appearance. We are all familiar with racism and sexism, but what about a person’s physical appearance? Some people judge you based on your looks. The amount of trouble that people and society faces as a result of stereotypes are an unfortunate affair that needs eradicating, which is the basis of Tasneem Chopra’s brilliant lecture on the TED Talks lecture.
I heard many racist examples from my high school history books or even on the screen, I remember that a long time ago Chinese people used to be called “sick man” by Western people, because Asian people are smaller and shorter than Western people and Westerners think that all the Chinese look the same. Also, looking back on American history, African-American people had no power or rights until they stood for a revolution, which resulted in civil war, and later the civil rights movement. I was under the impression that it has been so many years since racism was a problem, but I was completely wrong. Only just two weeks ago, my friend and I were having dinner in LA for her birthday, which is why we brought a cake to the restaurant. We even called early on to make sure it is ok to bring a cake from outside the restaurant, which we were told would be ok. However, once we arrived there the waitress saw the cake and told us we are not allowed to bring the cake inside. Although I cannot be sure, I strongly believe that this white waitress was having some issues with us as Asians and treated us rudely regarding the cake. Because of the bad service, we did not fully enjoy our dinner and did not order much food. Interestingly another waiter saw our cake as we were finishing up our dinner and mentioned that we should have said something to him because he would have happily made arrangements for a bigger table for us to celebrate my friend’s birthday. In reviewing the comments about this restaurant there was a particular review that stood out to me about an Asian man and his friend who experienced racism in the same location. According to his review when the restaurant employee saw that his friend could not speak English the employees made faces at one another, which made the man and his friend leave the establishment right away. I saw repeat complaints on the rudeness of the employees with many of the reviews written about this restaurant. After my own experience with my friend’s birthday, I could agree with the negative reviews I read because we also had this uncomfortable and bad experience, which I believe was racially motivated with a stereotype used against us for being Asian.
I recently watched Tasneem Chopra’s speech on TED Talks, and she was shared about her own negative experiences of stereotype. For example, she mentions that at one point after 9/11, a man yelled out to her “hey baby where’s the bomb?” to which she boldly responded gesturing it was in her purse, just to make a point back at the ignorant statement by the racist man. It appears that she was harassed due to a stereotype of what this man thought when seeing a Indian Muslim lady dressed in clothing that was similar to that of the Middle Eastern culture, which many had been feeling threatened by. Tasneem’s story reminded me of something my mother told me about that happened to her at a hotel she worked at. My mother used to work as the only female in the accounting department at her job and when she was pregnant the men, including the boss would say humiliating things to her. I am pretty sure that she was facing sexism as the only woman surrounded by men who lacked respect and used their stereotypical views to belittle her position.
Another example that I remember is an experiment that was done in order to see how people judge others based simply on appearance. In the experiment a rich kid pretended to be homeless and approaches a restaurant. He talks to the waiter that he wants to have a dinner at the restaurant, but based on the kid’s appearance of being homeless, the waiter turned the kid down and asked him to leave. Fortunately the manager showed a slight gesture of kindness by informing the kid that they would give him food but that he would not be allowed to eat inside the restaurant and would have to take it with him. When the kid responded, “I have enough money, why I am not able to eat inside?” The manager did not answer him and continued to refuse entry into the restaurant. After few hours, the kid came back again, this time he changed his dirty clothes and drive his brand new Ferrari to the restaurant. Suddenly the very same people began to treat him very differently. All the waiters and manager treated him so kindly and respectfully. The experiment surely proved that people do judge others by their appearance, which is clearly a form of stereotyping.
Generally speaking stereotypes are often offensive and negative and should be avoided. Too often stereotyping leads to behaviors that create fear in people that lead to segregation and limitations of rights. Tasneem eloquently explains her stance on what life has been like for her and her children as Muslims who are heavily stereotyped in the current anti-Islamic culture. Her example can be extended for nearly all groups who may have a particular look or cultural practice that the majority does not feel comfortable with. It is important to honor diversity and try to overcome stereotypes by acknowledging that we are all different yet equal in what we deserve as citizens of the planet.