Essay On Stereotypes

Have you ever heard someone say that girls are not good at sports, or that Black people can run fast? These statements are prior assumptions about people called stereotypes. A stereotype is defined as “a preconceived notion, especially about a group of people” (Vocabulary.com). Most of the time, but not always, the judgement was made prior to meeting or knowing that person or group. And most of the stereotypes heard can be either positive or negative, however most are negative. Stereotypes are bad because they can be hurtful and wrong. Stereotypes can be centered on three different categories: gender, racial or culture. Growing up as a Russian-Jewish American, I experienced all the different categories of stereotypes. For example, I grew up in a predominately middle class Jewish community called West Bloomfield. Whenever I share that location with others, people automatically assume that I am rich and my parents are either doctors or lawyers. However, this stereotype is completely wrong as I am not rich, nor are my parents in those professions. This is just one example of the multiple stereotypes that I received thus far in my life. When I initially began

Many of these stereotypes are one dimensional with no complexity or cultural authenticity. In addition, many of these stereotypes are shown to be exaggerated, incorrect, and hurtful. With my personal experience, I decided to make the project more meaningful than just discovering the variety of examples shown in the media, but by discovering the ways that people are working to break them. Stereotypes have been shown to have a great influence on a person’s life as it can affect their mentality, identity and motivation. Therefore, I was interested to research whether people have taken it upon themselves to change it. I wanted to know if people have decided to take a side and go against society for a better