Stereotypes: False Imagining or Exaggerated Truths In Sterling’s “We See Things Differently”
In Bruce Sterling’s “We See Things Differently” contains imagery of stereotypes, he portrays stereotypes throughout this short passage using religion, sex, and race. For example, the image of the American women throughout the story is portrayed as sluts. As well as the Muslim women that being portrayed to be in bondage. These are just one of the many examples of stereotypes throughout the story. One person does not prove a stereotype of a sex, gender or religion to be true because of that person's actions or beliefs. Even though the end of the story contradicts with my statement not everyone will steal an identity to hide that fact that they are
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a terrorist. Stereotypes may vary due to the point of view of the person that's stereotyping. For example, a Muslim native will understand the stereotypes of Americans and vice versa for the Americans. I say that stereotyping people are wrong because you are judging them before even getting to know them. They could be the complete opposite of the stereotype, but since they are Muslim or a blonde you just assume negative things about them. Making stereotypes are easy when you don't have a full understanding of another person's beliefs and actions.
Some people fit the stereotypes to be true, but, I believe that one person doesn't prove a stereotype to be true. Sterling himself writes, “Like all American women, she was dressed in a way intended to provoke lust” 614. This stereotype was said by a Muslim about American women. He believes that all women dress to provoke lust. Women dress the way they want to dress for many reasons such as wanting to look good for themselves or even to be comfortable. Not all American women dress to grab the attention of men sexually. To the Muslim women, they are used to wearing full clothing and wearing the Hijab in their country. Seeing the way Americans dress to them is very shocking because of the differences in the way they dress in their countries. Sterling states, “They call the simple, modest clothing of Islam “bondage” while they spend countless hours, and millions of dollars, painting themselves” 616. This stereotype was said by an American addressed towards a Muslim woman. The bondage is referring the Hijab which is a covering for a Muslim woman's head. The Hijab is a religious clothing and has sentimental value to the woman of Islam.To an American, it's just a piece of clothing that covers their head and only some understand the meaning of the Hajib. Both of the people that made these remarks are from different countries so they don't have a full understanding of each …show more content…
other's beliefs. Bruce Sterling's portrays religion throughout his short passage “We See Things Differently”. God is the source of faith and belief for individuals. Each religion has their own beliefs and some are seen differently compared to other religions. The United States of America was founded on the belief in Christianity and God. On the other hand, Muslims base their beliefs off of Islamic religion and Allah. Sterling himself writes, “God is Great; men are mortal and err. If I have done wrong, let the judge of Men decide. Before His Will, as always, I submit” 629. The quote portrays the amount of respect and belief that the Muslims have for their god Allah. In many religions, the followers of the religion try to represent their God through themselves. Sterling states,“I have drunk wine several times, though the Koran forbids it” 628. As a follower of a religion, there is always going to be a book you refer to for scripture reading. For Christianity, it's the Bible and the Islamic religion it's the Koran. He drinks wine knowing that is against his religion but he claims his actions are all for his God. Sterling himself writes, “It is not that we value our lives lightly. But that we value God more” 629. Just like any other religion, there are different denominations that differ from the main religion. In the Muslim religion, there is a denomination called the Jihad. The Jihad is a radical group that performs suicide bombers said to be done for their God. Where you come from dictates your point of view.
The views of Americans are going to be different than the views of a Muslims because of their up comings. Sterling states, “The bus surged into motion. “It’s very clean,” I said to her. “I expected something a bit wider on a rock and roll bus” 618. The Muslim women expected to rock and roll bus to be dirty and wild because of the way they are portrayed in the media. For a visitor to a new country, they learn most of their information from the media. That's why she believed that the bus was supposed to be the way she described it. This viewpoint was from a Muslim of an American. This next quote is from the viewpoint of an American that state's, “Unemployed, obviously, and with time on their hands to cluster around that resembled hope” 618. This of view was made based on the people's clothing and the way they looked. You can't tell if someone is really unemployed by the way they dress. By not knowing how people dress for concerts and events where people want to be comfortable this assumption was made. Sterling also states, “ We see things differently,” I said. “American ruled the global media for decades” 618. This quote clearly states that the point of views can dictate your view on things that you aren't educated about. Where you come from and how much you were educated about certain topics will affect your point of
view. To conclude, In Bruce Sterling’s “We See Things Differently” contains many images of stereotypes. He portrays stereotypes throughout this short passage using religion, sex, and race. One of the topics used is God, I believe it is used because God is the source of faith and belief for individuals all over the world. He also uses point of view as another form of a stereotype. The views of Americans are going to be different than the views of a Muslims because of their up comings. Where you come from and how much you were educated about certain topics will affect your point of views on certain topics. I believe the author portrays stereotypes that are said to be true in our society today. People should not be judged by the way they look or dress. They should be judged on their character by doing this everyone is put into an equal playing field when it comes to fitting into society.
In the essays, “Turkeys in the Kitchen” by Dave Barry, and “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples, they argue the theme of gender, and racial stereotypes that have been present in our world from the very beginning. Barry suggests through a sarcastic and humors tone that gender stereotypes have been present since before the start of time; he uses a highly conversational style to prove this, as well as narrates to give the reader a better understanding of exactly what he’s talking about. Staples, on the other hand, uses a more authoritative tone to support his theme of racial stereotyping; he also uses the mode of rhetoric exemplification to his benefit, and is able to show the audience that this issue is just as important as the gender stereotypes that take place in our society still today. Barry believes that despite the fact that people are against stereotypes they still will always fall back on them; and Staples believes that people need to change themselves in order to not fit into those common stereotypes. They prove this through the history of gender discrimination in the 19th century factories, and through the 1970-1980’s and also up until today’s racial discrimination in the media. However, if we all hate stereotypes, then why do we always seem to be falling back on them?
One of the problems with this argument is that not everyone in society identifies with these stereotypes. If the audience does not find the characteristics to be true they could shut off thought, thereby defeating his purpose for writing the article. There are no statistics presented in this article. The lack of statistics or other evidence, such as results of surveys, could lead Mr. Leo’s audience to believe that these are his own perceptions. In the seventh paragraph, Leo makes references to Catholics, Asians, Republicans, and Africans.
Fatemeh Fakhraie’s essay “Scarfing it Down,” explains how Muslim women suffer because of what they wear. Fakhraie blogs about Muslim women in her website she explains; “Seeing ourselves portrayed in the media in ways that are one-dimensional and misleading." Several people judge Muslim's by their appearance because they assume they're a bad person. The author of this essay wants the reader to know that Muslim women wearing a hijab are not a threat to the world.
For instance, Staples faces many stereotypes. He is a journalist who is consistently judged due to his appearance. In paragraph 1, “As I swung onto the avenue behind her, there seemed to be a discreet, uninflammatory distance between us.” Staples creates an image by describing himself as a monster but his description is based on how the outside world see him. He considers his presence a cause for altering others emotion. According to Stereotypes by Rachel E, “In the United States, some of the longest-held and potentially most detrimental stereotypes are those about African Americans.” This relates to Staples crucial journey to greatness. Staples was perceived as a mugger, a murderer, and a rapist because of his outside image and how others viewed
Robert Heilbroner, in his essay “Don’t Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments,” justifies why the ideas stereotyped aren’t always correct. He goes on saying that stereotypes are “a kind of gossip” which makes us fit more into the life we think we need to live. He states examples of how names, nationalities an...
In the essay The Way We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson writes that “All the ‘isms’-racism, sexism, ageism, et al.-are founded on and fueled by the stereotype and the cliché, which are lies of exaggeration, omission, and ignorance. They are always dangerous. They take a single tree and make it a landscape.” This quote is important due to the fact that stereotypes play a major role in many aspects of our society. In American society we have a tendency to pass judgment on people just because of a pre-existing stereotype that our society has formed on particular groups over the years. American Society tends to create stereotypes because of the simplicity it adds to our lives, but stereotypes can cause us to oversimplify the characteristics of others, encourage prejudice, and can even create many more severe dangers.
Whenever we hear or see a person of certain racial group, we automatically have an idea of how that person can be. Sometime without realizing, as a society we have some idea of how certain groups act. It is a common thing in our society on which sometimes it can create good or bad interpretations about those ethnic or racial groups. Also, it can create tolerance or intolerance toward other groups because of different ideas or traditions. The concept of stereotypes is what we have been created in our presumptions of a person without even having an idea how they are. The film by Gregory Nava “My Family” and the book by Victor Martinez “Parrot in the Oven Mi Vida” are cleared examples of the concept of stereotypes. In addition, the film “Real
Ever pass by Muslim woman in a hijab at the mall or park and think how oppressive and restraining her culture must be? Maysan Haydar, a New York social worker who practices the Muslim tradition of veiling, believes otherwise. In her article, “Veiled Intentions: Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering,” Haydar highlights on her experiences as a Muslim living in an American culture, where showing more skin is the “norm.” Haydar speaks specifically to a crowd who unconsciously makes assumptions about certain Muslim practices, in hopes of sharing the truth behind them. Haydar suggests that, contrary to popular belief, not all Muslim women cover themselves strictly as an “oppressive” religious practice, but that some women, like herself, find
In Bruce Sterling’s “We See Things Differently” contains many images of stereotypes, some that are formed due to lack of knowledge of the other sexuality and gender. For example, the image of the American women throughout the story is portrayed as sluts. As well as the Muslim women that being portrayed to be in bondage. These are just one of the many examples of stereotypes throughout the story. Through this imagery and language the story “We See Things Differently” is critical of stereotypes throughout the story. One person does not prove a stereotype of a sex, gender or religion to be true because of that person's actions or beliefs. Even though the end of the story contradicts with my statement not everyone will steal an identity to
In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group they claim to be. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is.
As Hodson and Victoria (p.344) note, human beings are not born prejudiced. They develop prejudice through socialization process. The role of family, media, and education is crucial in the prejudice in individuals. Stereotyping involves the construction of unfounded ideas and thoughts concerning an individual. Stereotyping involves the construction of unfounded ideas and thought concerning an individual in the same social context (Farley, p.21). The development of stereotypes revolves around the association of individuals with particular labels of identity. The truth is such ideas and propositions cannot be proven in most situations (Brown, p.68). Hence, the individuals who uphold stereotypes in society become prejudiced toward the victims. The difficulty associated with changing stereotypes is connected to the length of time required for internalization. Individuals in particular classes of society are exposed to stereotypes in their social environment for a considerable amount of time. In consideration of the Emmanuel Church shooting, the perpetrator expressed stereotypical idealization of the African American community. He expressed biased attitude through the sole target of African
Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in Propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary stereotyping is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, heldby a number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behaviour and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes.
Stereotypes are a fixed image of all members of a culture, group, or race, usually based on limited and inaccurate information resulting from the minimal contact with these stereotyped groups. Stereotypes have many forms: people are stereotyped according to their religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender, color, or national origins. This kind of intolerance is focused on the easily observable characteristics of groups of people. In general, stereotypes reduce individuals to a rigid and inflexible image that doesn't account for the multi-dimensional nature of human beings. One example of stereotypes is the categorization of the Jews in the Elizabethan era.
299). The study consisted of having in-depth personal interviews to share their experiences of being a Muslim American woman (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 300). Veiling to these women was a way of freedom while also having a Muslim identity (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 301). It was also a source of behavior control, to not be sexually objectified, a way of commanding respect from others and even a source of checking their own behavior (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 301). One of the women interviewed said, veiling to her was a way to feel connected to other Muslim woman who veil (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 302). Veiling can be a way to feel connected to your religion and God as well as being connected to those who practice the same faith, it can be considered an act of membership. Many of the women interviewed noted they have been removed from planes, been treated unfairly, and have had strangers shout at them all for just being Muslim and being more visibly recognized from veiling (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 303). This is an example of how media can affect the general population. When the media only shows radicals and compares all Muslims to being terrorist or dangerous they are actually putting Muslim people at risk of being assaulted in public. Muslim woman in particular are more at risk for being assaulted as they are more identifiable. So while veiling can be a source of empowerment and freedom for women it is a double-edged sword because it also puts them at further risk of being
Most people find stereotypes to be obnoxious, especially when they have to do with sensitive subjects like gender or race. “Stereotyping is a generalization about a group or category of people that can have a powerful influence on how we perceive others and their communication behaviors” (Floyd, 61). Because they underestimate the differences among individuals in a group, stereotyping can lead to inaccurate and offensive perceptions of other people. Although stereotypes are prevalent in almost every society, becoming aware of our perceptions of others, as well as differentiating between both positive and negative stereotypes can help us overcome those stereotypes.