Stereotyping, Through the Eyes of Teenage Girls

STEREOTYPES

Through the Eyes of Teenage Girls

A ‘stereotype’ by definition is a generalized image of a person or group, which does not acknowledge individual differences and which is often prejudicial to that person or group. People in general develop stereotypes when they can’t or are hesitant to get all of the information they need to make fair judgments about a person, or a group of people. When this type of situation happens, as it most often does, the person judging misses the ‘whole picture.’ Stereotypes in many cases allow us to ‘fill in the blanks’ and come to our own conclusions. Our society is the main culprit of the creation of stereotypes, but these stereotypes often lead to unfair discrimination and persecution when the stereotype is unfavorable. Stereotyping often results from, and leads to, prejudice and bigotry. (3)

Concerning our group project we decided to narrow down this broad topic of stereotypes into specific teenage girl stereotypes. In starting we had to find out the major differences in the sexes, and how it related to stereotypes specifically. We decided to make up surveys to get answers that addressed our topic. We felt that with around 2,000 different answers we would be able to draw some kind of conclusion of the student body of girls in Souderton High School. Before we could do that though, we had to get the background information on some certain topics like how boys and girls differ in the issue of stereotypes, the consequences of stereotyping, and if stereotypes can be changed. Then we could address our specific questions like the different types of stereotypes, and the way each girl functions in her own stereotype.

To start off, teenage boys tend to be more competitive and aware of their own achievements than teenage girls. Teenage girls tend to place a higher importance on forming close and meaningful friendships than boys at that age. The differences between teenage boys and girls are influenced by traditional sex role stereotypes. Teenage girls tend to communicate more with their parents, including them in their life, while teenage boys are less likely to share their feelings and their activities. But the teenage girls who are able to communicate feelings, despite a negative self-image, are better able to withstand peer group pressure than boys are. Boys have a greater want to fit in with the others than girls do.

Through researching we found that a stereotype can have a great influence on the behavior of a certain individual in that group.