Stereotypes In Today's Society

Stereotype: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Stereotypes have been around forever. Whether it be the strong, muscular, handsome, men in the 1800’s. Or the popular, pretty, girls you see in school hallways today. They are all stereotypes.

National Security within the United States has been a concern since the 1930s and is only heightened during times of war. Naturally, due to the conflicts with particular countries, World War II and the Cold War created racial stereotypes. Unfortunately, those stereotypes lead to racially bias legal doctrines being created within the United States . The court was not alone in shaping these doctrines, as there was immense pressure from both public and military interests. Particular cases, during WWII and the Cold War, can give examples of how people shouldn’t be treated and how, at the time, every man and women wasn’t truly created equal within the United States, that the 14th amendment was a written law but not properly

The United States of America is a very diverse society. Today, minorities make up fifty percent of our population (US Census Bureau). However, there are still misconceptions and stereotypes about these minorities. A Pakistani man may have amazing stories and content to show but his audience may not be able to see through his accent.

Stereotypes are in the world all around us, in film, TV, literature and in everyday life. “A Stereotype is a conventional, formulaic and oversimplified conception, opinion, image or conforming to a set image or type” (Dictionary.com). Stereotype happens on an everyday basis, similar groups of people are categorized by such factors as race, color, what they wear, and their behavior. Stereotype are used to categorized people by such factors as race, color, what they wear and their behavior. Stereotypes chose one aspect of a person or group and link them all together.

A stereotype is a fixed and basic image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. A person who is often stereotyped is expected to live up to society's expectations, or so the stereotype suggests. It can be suffocating for an individual to live through preconceptions because it is not who that person is. These stereotypes cause others to dismiss that individual as a person and the qualities they have. Such stereotypes still exist now and have been impacting many people for a long time.

A stereotype is a fixed set of beliefs upon of a certain group of individuals who share common traits. Stereotypes can be classified into a wide range of categories such as: race, culture, ethnicity, gender, social or economic status, and religion. A stereotype has to do with a group of people rather than an individual. Most stereotypes are biased and untrue. Stereotypes often lead to prejudice, meaning that one acts a certain way due to the fixed beliefs they have toward a certain group of individuals.

Stereotype is an oversimplified idea or image about a certain group of people that is widely accepted by others. It is a “generalization” about a person or a group of person. A stereotype is the association of a person or a social group with a consistent set of traits. This may include both positive and negative traits. Media is criticized for creating stereotypes, but they are usually part of audience is way of thinking about the world anyway.

Stereotypes are simple images or beliefs over the attributes assigned to a particular social group, are models of behavior that become schemes deeply rooted in our mentalities to the point that we adopt them as part of human naturalness. Stereotypes can be racial, religious, sexual and social. These could be the caused of a known incident or attitude years earlier, or simply the result of frequent rumors. Stereotypes can affect different spheres of society. These assumptions can filter into many aspects of life.

According to Lippmann, “stereotypes are ‘pictures in our heads’ that we use to apprehend the world around us” (16). Stereotypes can be formed due to effects of media, as Wood describes media as pervasive, powerful and influential (31). Hence, stereotypes can be defined as inaccurate perceptions towards a group of people or community that is strongly influenced by the media. Whether positive or negative, stereotypes are usually false as they are formed based on personal judgments, which are biased or exaggerated. When stereotypes are consistently portrayed in media platforms, they subconsciously form and maintain assumed identities for the stereotyped groups.

Stereotype by literal definition is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing, which means you are prejudging somebody or thing by the way they act. A sociologist named Min-Hsuing Huang did a study to conclude if there were stereotypes

In today’s society, individuals and groups are labeled with either positive or negative stereotypes. People encounter stereotypes everyday and everywhere. It is the picture people paint in their minds when approaching a group or individual when in fact it may be different in reality. Stereotypes affect a person’s way of living and thinking either in a negative or positive way. Stereotypes are based on truth but in an exaggerated way, while misconceptions are formed from having stereotypes.

Stereotype a word that harbours judgements and ideas of how an individual or groups should act depending on factors such as social status, culture, sexual orientation and nationality. It is still used very often in today’s society but most of it consist of ideas that are proved to be false or exaggerated but nonetheless these unrealistic judgements are spread amongst society through propaganda, traditional and social media. In some circumstances, stereotypes can be extreme enough to incite prejudice, disrespect or even racism between people. Three stereotypes that I find to be to be really relevant in today’s society are directed towards the culture of Americans, Asians and Muslims. These stereotypes portray how these populaces act and what their characteristics should be or is.

Representation and stereotypes Representation within the media is to show someone or something, using a process of depicting, descripting and symbolization. Stereotypes, as described by Stuart Hall, is the “production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language which enables us to refer to either the ‘real’ world of objects, people or events, or indeed to imaginary worlds of fictional objects, people and events”. In his research Hall has suggested that there are two systems of representation, the first system regarding direct associations of events, people and objects that have certain mental representations and concepts that people have in their minds. Meaning is therefore dependent on these correlations. Hall’s second system is language.

People all over the world have different stories how they become their true selves. Many people are influenced by their surroundings. It could be filled with stereotypes, or racial mindsets. Stereotypes do not define who people are. The way people think about these things could be influenced by the environment they are in.

People get categorized by stereotypes everyday just by outward appearances or the group of people they are associated with. A stereotype is a preconceived notion about a group of people. People form fixed images of a group that are assumed that all group members act and behave is a particular way. A person essentially gets stereotyped by being “guilty by association” of a particular group. All stereotypes get based off of a bit of truths that all group members similarly have.