Persuasive Essay: Why Is Stereotyping Are Wrong?

People may say that there is no time or place where holding a stereotype or stereotyping is permissible. I would disagree with that statement by saying yes, some stereotyping is wrong but not all forms are. In this essay I will be delving into the social aspect of stereotyping and touching on how not all forms of social stereotyping are harmful and show how in some cases they are even justifiable. People might confuse the terms stereotyping and generalizations to convey a similar meaning even though there is a large distinction. A generalization is a loose framework for describing a group, whereas a stereotype is any thought or behavior widely held about specific types of individuals that is intended to represent the behavior of the entire

The wrong in stereotyping comes when our judgements and preconceived ideas about individuals guides our encounters with those individuals in a negative way. For example, we look at the well-known stereotype, “Blondes lack intelligence”. This type of idea leads to an unfair implication on a wide range of individuals that is used to judge instead of describing based on our experiences. On the other hand, there are examples where we encounter a stereotype that is not initially viewed as negative but rather positive. One of the more common examples of this is the notion that “Asians are good at math”. Now you may be thinking isn’t is a respectable thing to be viewed a smart? Yes, yes, it is, but where this type of stereotype trends towards negativity is when it feels more like a judgement than a description of a person. To convey that example, say you put yourself into the shoes of a person of Asian descent, who happens to be below average when it comes to mathematics. Knowing of this stereotype wouldn’t you feel less

They can be understood as both moral or corrupt, but the judgement of that comes from knowing the situation and the affect the of the stereotype on the stereotyped. I would say in general that placing stereotypes is not the right thing to do, but it is in our nature and our brains are hard wired to formulate ideas about individuals based on the sensory details we receive. Not all stereotypes are out to hurt people. We have seen they are more commonly used as shortcuts in our brain when we don’t fully analyze or lack information in certain situations or brief encounters. To help combat stereotypes and the biases that accompany them, we can expose ourselves to different experiences to help gain knowledge and understanding of those who are different from you to help mitigate or