Stereotype Paper
It has already been proven scientifically that stereotyping makes people’s life more complicated and unsatisfied (Gensler, 2001). Generally, people tend to achieve less in the situations when they feel unfair treatment based on some prejudice or stereotypes. In such cases people continue to behave in more aggressive way and be dissatisfied even when they leave the situation with unfair treatment (Kemick, 2010). I believe that because of occurrence of such situations, the problem of stereotyping should be addressed as soon as possible. I don’t think that it is possible to solve all the problems related to stereotyping at once, but certain steps are easy-to-make and can create a strong foundation for future solution. This paper is dedicated to three stereotypes that are rather popular in the modern society: that young children do not understand anything, that men cannot watch their kids as good as their wives and that women cannot be good at formal sciences.
The first stereotype that will be considered is that children, especially at the early stage of their development, cannot understand anything that parents and people tell them (“Ageism,” n.d.). Such way of treatment is a perfect variant for those parents who want to control their children. They choose the easiest way – to give commands and wait for the reaction that is the most appropriate from their point of view. It is really easier, than coming up with an explanation that will be understandable for children. But the results of such treatment of children as equals are visible for everyone. Intelligent, peaceful and happy children are brought up in a different way – with their interests taken as a priority and their individuality respected. In this way they gain trust to the world and self-confidence, which is very important in adulthood. It is much easier to live with those characteristics and to achieve a lot in life.
Another common stereotype is that women are only concerned about their physical appearance. This stereotype is mostly supported by men, especially those who think they are victims of it. Such arguments as the necessity to wait for several hours and useless waste of time are often voiced by the men, which in fact is no more than an exaggeration. I believe that this prejudice is very weak, although affects the relationships between men and women considerably. Of course, there are women who pay too much attention to their appearance, forgetting about the other qualities that have to be developed. But there are also men with the same approaches to their appearance. It is not fair to judge all women in the same way, and support this stereotype, and I am sure that if the problems it creates are solved, the relationships will be much better and happier, especially in the beginning, when the stereotype is the most powerful.
The last stereotype tells us that women cannot be good at the formal sciences. Supporters of the stereotype say that it is true, because men and women think in different ways. In this case, inability to become good programmers and mathematicians becomes a peculiarity of female way of thinking. I am sure that this stereotype is first of all supported by those women who simply do not want to be good at these sciences (in such a way it turns into a perfect excuse for their laziness) and by those men who just happen to have many women around who think in this way. In fact, the reality shows that women can be perfect at formal sciences and can become even more successful than men in these areas. It is certainly true that representatives of the two sexes perceive and treat the world in different ways, but it doesn’t really imply that it prevents women from being good at math, programming and other formal sciences.
Thus, on the basis of the discussed examples, it is possible to draw a conclusion that stereotyping is definitely a reality that makes people’s life worse. But in fact, there are situations when prejudice allows people to find excuses for their unwillingness to do something. People like to believe in such things that they want to become true (“How Pre-Existing Beliefs,” n.d.). Women who don’t want to see into math, men who don’t want to be tidy and look good, parents who don’t want to think up explanation to something – they just use stereotypes as a means of defense from the public opinion and their conscience. I believe that such realities will continue feeding stereotypes for a long time. At the same time, I believe that when each problem is analyzed separately and certain measures are taken to prevent their growing, then there is nothing impossible and our life will become happier.
References
Ageism: Discrimination Against Age. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://knol.google.com/k/ageism#
Gensler, H. (2001). Introduction to Logic. London: Routledge.
How Pre-existing Beliefs Distort Logical Reasoning. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://searchcenter.intelecomonline.net/playClipDirect.aspx?id=E22DB555B562B463C0F5EE35DE315BCB5CA9621ED0132E1823264876125E799D1789474455514F32C8FEA4B7688954B4
Kemick, A. (2010). Stereotyping Has Lasting Negative Impact. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/08/12/stereotyping-has-lasting-negative-impact.
