As Paul once said, “We all use stereotypes, all the time, without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality, and the enemy is us.” Everywhere you go you will see stereotypes, it's as if stereotypes are the new latest trend but this trend never goes away. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you are doing, you will always be judged by someone. You are probably judging my essay right now, perhaps it’s because it doesn’t have a title? See you might not have noticed that, but there are other people who will. If you are the type of person who just can’t admit that you judge others, then you shall keep reading. Stereotypes are a big role in our everyday lives. Most of the time you don’t even notice them around you and that’s the sad part. …show more content…
Which to a male is very beneficial because most stories end up with a girl or women in need of some type of help. It can be the littlest help too. As the article, “Fairy Tales and Gender Stereotypes” states, “Do we really want to teach young children that women are weak and vulnerable and only succeed when a man intervenes?” This is true, we want the best for our children and sometimes fables like these don’t always help. We always try to teach young students or children to learn how to be independent. Samara green, from the article, “Fairy Tales and Gender Stereotypes” states “In the Sleeping Beauty, who awakens Aurora from her wretched curse and saves the day? Prince Phillip.” Some of these fairy tales make it seem as if girls can’t do things on their own. There is nothing wrong with getting help from time to time, but does it always have to be a …show more content…
This is where first impressions come into the situation. First impressions are very important to me because I don’t want to be judged. People label you just by hearing or seeing your name. From the article, “What’s in a (Muslim) Name?” states, “Somewhere along the way, I picked up the habit of identifying people’s origins by their names.” Dilaria Hafiz says, “I picked up the habit” It has become a habit for her to classify people just by their names. Why I say classify because she is technically categorizing people. That’s what some of us do we automatically categorize someone. If they are smart and dress in non-branded clothes they are supposedly nerds or if you are on the football team, you are considered a flirt like any other guy. Why do we label each other so much? This is a question I even ponder
Fairy tales not only impacts women negatively but ultimately impact men negatively as well. Dworkin notes that the prince that must save the princess is given astronomically superb qualities that regular men, that everyday men are unable to posses. Surely men can possess some of the qualities that a prince has but no man can have all these qualities. Men attempt to do so but in end, they “use airplanes”. Airplanes would a be much faster and convenient substitute to a white horse that must be trained and groomed to be ridden on. Dworkin would eventually state:
This book was written much earlier than Dworkin’s book, when this was acceptable behavior for a woman. Heckel uses these examples successfully in his article because they support his ideas and topic. Both sources provide two different views other than Heckel to make the article convey its purpose successfully. In the fairytales, women are dependent on their princes to come and rescue them. However, as time passed, women and fairytale princesses changed their dependent ways and started becoming
This female inferiority idea has been imbedded in the world for many years. Fairy tales are a very good example of how this notion has been present in the United States. The themes that exist in these stories normally deal with masculine heroes who come to the aid of young women who are seemingly helpless. After they are saved by these male heroes they become obedient docile beings. These old fairy tales are part of the beginning of this inferiority idea.
Stereotypes are a reality that we all must face in today's society. Regardless of what your ethnic background or culture may be. You have been probably been discriminated against, or treated differently, at some point in your life because of a stereotype that was long ago applied to your culture. For some, I perceive it may be worse than others. For example, all Hispanics are in this country illegally or all African Americans are criminals that cannot keep a job. We know these things are not true, but it doesn't keep some people from calling a Mexican a wetback or stop them from calling the police when they see a black man out walking at nigh,t now does it? So why do people think like this? The answer, in short, is stereotypes. In "The Myth of the Latin Woman," Judith Ortiz Cofer states that her personal goal in her public life is to "try to replace the old pervasive stereotypes and myths about Latinas with a much more interesting set of realities" (Cofer 812). By using the rhetoric appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos she causes us all to stop and think before we make assumptions based on stereotypes.
Have you ever been judged for being around a certain type of group of people? If you have then congratulations, you are part of the many stereotypes created by society, and you probably have classified other people into these stereotypes as well. There are stereotypes and misconceptions, a stereotypes is used to categorize a group of people, a widely believed mental picture of the group, although the truth can be exaggerated. For example, grouping a race, gender, or sexuality together without knowing them and judging them is being stereotypical. Now misconceptions are formed from having stereotypes, they are views that are incorrect based on opinions that were wrong. Although it might sound like prejudice or discrimination, they are formed
“People are much deeper than stereotypes. That’s the first place our minds go. Then you get to know them and you hear their stories, and you say, ‘I’d have never guessed.’” Says Carson Kressley. Carsons words speak true. We judge people, we stereotype them, because we don’t know them, but does that really make it ok? The answer is no. If you stereotype someone, then you’re just labeling them and what right do you have to be able to do that? You don’t know that person so why should you have a say on what that person is like? Stereotyping has been around for countless of years and sometimes you don’t realize you’re actually doing it, but if you really make the time to get to know the person you just judged I guarantee you that you were most likely wrong about them.
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 it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is being perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate. Some hardly even apply to the particular group people it claims to. It is true that how people are perceived has a big impact on how other individuals interact with them; however, people are not perceiving these groups correctly.
In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that females are supposed to be docile, dependent on the male persona and willing to sacrifice themselves. In many cases, when strong female characters are presented they are always contradicting in these characteristics, thus labeled as villainous. Such is the case of the Cinderella’s stepsisters in Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the stepmother in the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White.” These female characters face judgment and disapproval when they commit the same acts as male characters. With such messages rooted in our beloved fairy tales it is no wonder that society is rampant with these ideals about women and disapprove of women when they try to break free of this mold.
Shrek, an enormous, disgusting green ogre falling in love with a beautiful princess (later turning into a nasty ogre) is a perfect example of a stereotypical fairytale, right? Well in the movie Shrek, the voice over in the trailer talks about a “hero” attempting to rescue a “fair princess” with the help of “his trusty companion." Besides the fact that the hero is a voluptuous green ogre and the companion is a donkey, everything fits in normally to the definition of a traditional fairytale (Diaz). Also according to Mary Kunimitsu, in fantasy films “There may be characters with magical or supernatural abilities such as witches, wizards, superheroes, mythical creatures, talking animals, and ghosts” (Kunimitsu). In Shrek, there are many of these different characters. Therefore, by explanation, a traditional fairytale with the beautiful princess getting saved by the prince and falling in love is exactly what happens in the movie Shrek, just with a twist. The voice over in the trailer for Shrek states it perfectly as he says “Shrek is a highly irreverent take on the classic fairytale” (Adamson). As an untraditional fairytale, and a parody, the movie Shrek poses the breaking of stereotypes of gender and film fairytales all the while keeping the criteria of a fairytale.
Fairy Tales have been around for generations and generations. Our parents have told us these stories and we will eventually pass them down to ours. In this time of age the most common fairytales are Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and The Beast and many more. Children idolize their favorite character and pretend to be them by mimicking everything they do in the stories. The character’s behavior is what is viewed as appropriate in society. These fairy tales show a girl and a boy fall in love and live “happily ever after”. The tales in many people’s eyes resemble a dream life that they would want to have of their own. However, have you ever really looked at what makes up a fairy tale? Many things are unrealistic but the most unflattering aspect of these tales is how women are depicted in them. Fairy tales give an unrealistic view to how women should look and behave in real life.
Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is “Cinderella”. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella “There are some 700 versions of Cinderella”.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under some criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society.
Are Fairy Tales Really the Cause of Passivity in Females? In her publication “Onceuponatime: The Roles” Andrea Dworkin addresses the concrete roles given to specific genders in fairytales that stem from patriarchal societies. Dworkin states that genders are born into a world that predisposes their destiny, a world in which we are forced to conform to sex roles.
Fairytales have been around as long as man can remember. Fairytales are told not just for entertainment but try to instill morals and build character. The cultural norms represented in fairytales play a large part in the socialization processes of the child who reads them. Contained within these cultural norms are the beliefs about gender roles that are held by society. The characters in the stories help children to determine what behaviors, traits, or roles are acceptable for children of certain genders. In Angela Carter’s book, The Bloody Chambers, one sees major themes being used to influence people. One of these themes is objectification of women. In every one of Carter’s stories women are objectified. These stories portray women as weak, submissive, dependent, and self-sacrificing while men are powerful, active and dominant. As long as women are primarily bought and sold and are willing to be bought and sold, women will always be looked at as only objects. When looking at the stories, The Bloody chambers, The Courtship of Mr.Lyon, and The Tigers Bride, women are seen being objectified by men. Carter doesn’t give men all the blame, she also shows man as being objectifies in Lady in the house of Love.
Stereotypes are deeply embedded in every society in numerous ways. The dictionary definition of a stereotype is “one that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.” Stereotyping or Labeling is a technique that “attempts to arouse prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign as something the target audience fears, hates, loathes, or finds undesirable.” These stereotypes become so cliché that they begin to form daily thoughts and views and one is unable to look beyond them. They then become dominant ideologies that are impossible to remove. These stereotypes are inevitable since they have been a key player in the propaganda that the west promotes to other cultures and societies.
Women have been viewed as the weaker vessel compared to their stronger male counterparts since the beginning of time. From ancient mythology to popular modern media, women are easily portrayed as the damsel in distress, unable to take care of herself and constantly in the desperate need of being rescued. Women who stand up against this belief and make effort to support themselves were usually deemed fools, prostitutes, or worse, witches. While there have been mentions of strong-bred women in history such as Margaret of Anjou and Eleanor of Aquitaine, it has not become common theme until more modern times. The archetype of the damsel in distress is still a popular trend in media, but in society, women are now considered equal to men and no longer need to be rescued from circumstances.