Regina George Stereotypes

Theater dork, nerdy kid, slut, whore, popular girl, jock, druggie, dumb blonde. Have you ever been called one of these names? These stereotypes are used to make a name for outsiders. I know many people who are overlooked and called names that do not actually define them. Teenagers are convinced that when people do things out of the ordinary such as dressing differently that they are considered “weird” or “not cool”. People can be judged on their personality, attitude and friends along with many other superficial components. Instead of putting people down who are different we should be celebrating their differences.

My friend, let’s call her Regina George. She is overlooked because she is seen to be non-athletic and stupid, but under those stereotypes she is smart, hardworking and humble. Just

because Regina is a girl it doesn’t mean she can’t play a sport that a boy plays, right?

She wants to play lacrosse and the only thing holding her back is people's opinions. Many people say that girls can’t play a sport as well as guys do but that’s just another stereotype. An Instagram post of hers said, “ I think I’m going to try lacrosse next year.” And some of the comments read: “No don’t do that”, “That’s a guy sport”, “Are you a jock now?” Regina wanted to do something out of the ordinary that not many other girls do. Not only is she unique but she is brave for wanting to do something that society says she can’t. Someone can’t think uniquely when they are following the common crowd. Outsiders are not only leaders, but they are role models for other people to be inspired by. In addition, Regina thought she had given up in the beginning of the year. In fact, not only did she want to give up on school, but she wanted to

give up on life. She tried to commit suicide this past year, But something changed her mind and her determination and resilience brought her back to where she is now. Resilience is a globally admired quality. By making mistakes and being different it can lead to growth, knowledge and other key factors of success. There are so many different types of people that we actually put them into categories to try to help us understand them. But by doing that, it blinds us from seeing the true person.Our society puts people into boxes through gossip and stereotypes when really our society shouldn’t have boxes in the first place.

Everybody has a group of friends they hang out with. This is how the stereotypes begin. Yes, everyone judges, but you can control those judgments. Stereotypes make high school boys and girls split into two categories: The nerds with glasses and braces, and the popular people with perfect hair and expensive clothes. Most television shows do this, and if you think about it, more shows do it than you realized. For example the show, “Drake and Josh”, you saw that Josh was portrayed as overweight and nerdy. Then you have Drake, who was portrayed as the stupid girl magnet. Both boys and girls fall under that stereotype. These “nerds” are normal people. They may not be social butterflies, but these are people that are waiting to be discovered. Yet again I prove that stereotypes are the reason outsiders are who they are. If everyone was treated equally and there wasn’t labels there wouldn’t be so many popularity contests. Similarly, the music video, “You belong with me” by Taylor Swift features a band geek crushing on this boy and his girlfriend is a cheerleader. This takes the usual twist and the band geek gets the boy and the reason for that was because he got to know her and realized how cool she actually was beyond the surface. Instead of being narrow-minded we need to be open to people’s differences without making superfluous assumptions. A quote from Taylor Swift says, “If you’re lucky enough to be different, don’t ever change.

I try to find the good in everyone, and to not jump to conclusions about someone’s character based on their appearance. The outside isn’t what matters it’s the inside. We need to embrace the fact that no one is the same, instead of trying so hard to live up to what society would like us to be. I think more teenagers need to realize that rumors, appearance, and lunch tables don’t define us as individuals. Think about it everyone is an outsider until you are given a label.