The Causes of Stereotypes

In the modern era, stereotypes seem to be the ways people justify and simplify the society. Actually, “[s]tereotypes are one way in which we ‘define’ the world in order to see it” (Heilbroner 373). People often prejudge people or objects with grouping them into the categories or styles they know, and then treat the types with their experiences or just follow what other people usually do, without truly understand what and why. Thus, all that caused miscommunication, argument or losing opportunities to broaden the life experience. Stereotypes are usually formed based on an individual’s appearance, race, and gender that would put labels on people.

The appearance of a person in general is one of the most important causes of stereotypes. People usually tend to stereotype a person from what they see and think. In Brent Staples’s “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” he experienced a certain stereotype from a white woman because of his appearance. He explained, “To her, the youngish black man—a broad six feet two inches with a bread and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket—seemed menacing close” (Staples 343). That white woman labeled Staples as a dangerous person who might hurt her, so she ran away as soon as she could. In other words, people usually define “‘suspicious characters’” as “‘swarthy’ or ‘dark and foreign-looking’” (Heilbroner 372). Moreover, “[m]ixed cultural signals have perpetuated certain stereotypes” (Ortiz Cofer 378). Ortiz Cofer experienced the typical stereotype as a Hispanic woman in the United States. For instance, the Latin women are usually viewed as the “‘hot tamale’” by using the words like “‘sizzling’” or “‘smoldering’” for definitions...

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...r object is unique and special; therefore, the big picture is what we should always look at. Avoiding stereotypes is more rewarding, which will make us to live our life much easier.

Works Cited

Egger, Dave. Zeitoun. San Francisco: McSweeney’s Books, 2009. Print.

Heilbroner, Robert L. "Don't Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgement." We Are America: A Thematic Reader and Guide To Writing. 6th ed. Ed. Anna Joy. Boston: Wadsworth, 2008. 372-375. Print.

Ortiz Cofer, Judith. "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María." We Are America: A Thematic Reader and Guide To Writing. 6th ed. Ed. Anna Joy. Boston: Wadsworth, 2008. 376-380. Print.

Staples, Brent. "Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space." We Are America: A Thematic Reader and Guide To Writing. 6th ed. Ed. Anna Joy. Boston: Wadsworth, 2008. 343-346. Print.