The Pros And Cons Of Stereotypes In A Raisin In The Sun

744 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Misconception of stereotypes

“We all use stereotype all the time without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality and the enemy is us.” (Paul 1998). Stereotype is a label that people put upon others. There are many types of stereotypes but the most common stereotypes are racial and homosexual. Because I am an African American young lady, I know what it feels like to be stereotyped. Everyone in today’s society has either stereotype or been stereotyped. Being that stereotype is something that has happened to everyone in America; America is not the only country that has severe cases of stereotypes. Labels are not only placed on people of a certain color or homosexuality but they are individual placed on people. For example, Muslims that have come to America is stereotyped to be a terrorist. This can or cannot be true. Stereotype and stereotyping is a very important subject because most of the times the way people perceive other people or groups are totally wrong from who and what they actually are. In “A Raisin in the Sun,” there are many different stereotypes …show more content…

The way the Younger family ecomoncally degenerates in the movies is the stereotypical way of African American in today’s society, the same goes with their education and dreams. The Younger family is finically unstable which in turns put a strain on the family’s relationship with one another and also it puts them in an inner conflict with themselves. These stereotypes suggest that African American will subsequently live in poverty, be uneducated, and if they just so happen to have dreams, they will eventually die away. The essential goal for the Younger family is to live happy, but because of these stereotypes and personally issues, they are not happy with themselves and can not be a happy

Show More
Related

  • Stereotyping in The Way We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyday we experience stereotyping in one way or another. Over the years stereotyping has become such a large part of our society that it is a vital part of our everyday communication. It has caused many of us to not really think about who a person really is, or what they are about, but to accept instead a certain stereotype that has already been created by our society and given to an individual. Stephanie Ericsson makes an excellent point in her essay when she says “they take a single tree, and make it into a landscape.” The statement she was trying to make by saying this is that many times, a stereotype is made by an individual because of something done by one particular person in a certain group, but is then given to the whole group as a result. Our society has given a stereotype to practically every form of human being out there. Some examples of this are the blond that is said to be dumb, the kid with glasse...

    Read More

  • How is Racism used in A Raisin in the Sun

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    How is Racism in A Raisin in the Sun. In the book there is a lot of racism that made them people separate from each other. Their was nothing that made the people be together but work. This was a big problem and still is because people treat others by their race. Racism will always exist wile people think in different ways it may change in one of the days if people change their minds. Racism isn’t only about black people but even people from different continents or with different religions. In the book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry’s the Youngers suffered from many thing. The thing that will be mentioned are how are black people treated what things did they suffer from and how was their society like.

    Read More

  • The Dangers Of Stereotypes In Spare Parts By Joshua Ravis

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    What Is a Stereotype? The definition of a stereotype is any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Stereotypes are often created about people of specific cultures or races. Stereotyping is a big problem, and everyone can be affected by it. There are many ways to stereotype a person such as, all white Americans are obese, lazy, and dumb, men who spend too much time on the computer or read are geeks, that all Mexicans are lazy and came into America illegally, all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists, or that all Americans are generally considered to be friendly, generous, and tolerant. All of these examples of stereotyping are found in the novel, Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream by Joshua Davis, published on December 2, 2014. This is a nonfiction/documentary book that follows the true story of how four undocumented teens from Mexico, leaving in Arizona, are joined by two teachers who were able to beat some of the best engineering schools

    Read More

  • Stereotyping And Discrimination In Boyz N The Hood, Furious Styles

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    A stereotype is an exaggerated generalization used to describe a group of people. Discrimination is the unequal treatment of different categories of people. An example of a stereotype would be the generalization that a majority of African American youth are gangbangers or criminals. An example of discrimination would be the mocking of an Asian student’s accent each time they spoke in class. Stereotyping and discrimination still take place today whether in minority communities or in the communities of those who hold the majority, though these incidents are not as prevalent in non minority

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In Society In The Book 'The Outsiders' By S. E. Hinton

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is impossible not to judge someone without meeting them in society. This is well shown in the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, a novel about a group of boys with their own problems not including their social class being Greasers. The other class, the Socs oppose Greasers. Socs jump Greasers in their free time which then causes the Greasers to retaliate. Some personal origins are dead family members, starvation, no education, and poor households. In conclusion one theme is proven through the statement keep judgement to a minimal because you do not know the problems of others. This creates two sub themes, never succumb to stereotypes and society will wrongly, consistently generalize a group.

    Read More

  • Challenging Stereotypes in To Kill A Mocking Bird

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is a dark and beautiful night in downtown New York City. A young couple are strolling around town minding their own business. Suddenly, they feel tiny drops of water drizzling from the sky. It starts to rain. They make their way to an alley since it would be a much faster route. They come to a halt as they see three homeless black males sitting against the brick walls- right in their path. Their faces show anger and despair. The couple hesitate- not knowing what to do. Should they go back? Or should they go through? It’s as if their fear is instinctive as they stumble a bit, then freeze… Everyday, in the world, there are many times where situations like the one above occur. They affect all people and is a social part of life- stereotypes. In the situation above, it brings up controversial ideas that are very real in our society. They deal with racism, prejudice, discrimination, and with the most relevant being stereotypes. According to Merriam-Webster, stereotypes are “...conforming to a fixed pattern...an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgement” (Merriam-Webster, Stereotype). They make people hold in mixed feelings when interacting with specific types of people since it all depends on the person. This causes people to have narrow minds, have negative attitudes, and hurt others. Why do we have these mindsets? Will they change? No one really knows. What we do know is that times have certainly changed than say the 1930s. In the book, “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the topic of racism and stereotypes is greatly explored through the eyes of young Scout Finch, the protagonist, who is oblivious to the cruel world she lives in. Throughout the book, we can see that stereotypes are destructive to s...

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In The Breakfast Club

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film being analysed is the Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes. Trapped in Saturday detention are 5 stereotyped teens. Claire, the princess, Andrew, the jock, John, the criminal, Brian, the brain, and Allison, the basket case. At 7 am, they had nothing to say, but by 4 pm; they had uncovered everything to each other. The students bond together when faced with the their principal, and realise that they have more in common than they think, including a hatred for adult society. They begin to see each other as equal people and even though they were stereotyped they would always be The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club highlights a variety of pressures that are placed upon teenagers through out high school. One of the most challenging aspects of screenwriting is creating characters that an audience can identify with, relate to, and be entertained by.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stereotypes are created in today’s society for people who are deemed as different, not dominant, or unprivileged. Those who do not fall into a stereotype are often seen as privileged. One of the largest, and longest lived stereotype is race, specifically those who are African American. It is seen as a privilege to be viewed and treated as a white person, while those who fall into any other race are viewed and treated as being different. Recently, I have become very aware of difficulties facing the minorities. Before I witnessed an incident, I had been blind to the fact that there are privileges and so many stereotypes in today’s society. This blindness that I was experiencing, however, “is an aspect of privilege itself, … ‘the luxury of obliviousness’”

    Read More

  • Stereotypes in Things Fall Apart and The Lover

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Oxford Dictionary, stereotype is a preconceived and oversimplified idea of the characteristics which typify a person or situation (Oxford). But in reality it is more like a subtle form of bias, such as those based on people's gender, race or occupation. For example, Americans are generally considered to be arrogant and materialistic while Asians, on the other hand, are expected to be shrewd but reserved. Obviously, not all Americans are arrogant and not all Asians are shrewd. So, if one just assumes what a person is like and don't look at each person as an individual, he or she is likely to make errors in estimates of a person's character. Such biases are easily ignored, yet are a fact of life. These biases can affect how people see others, as well as themselves, which may lead to unexpected consequences. Thus, stereotyping can influence the communication and understanding between people, usually in a negative way. To examine the side effect brought by stereotyping, I will go through Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Duras’ The Lover and analyze the roles played by stereotype. The protagonists of both books are set in a background, to which they do not originally belong or where is colonized by foreign invaders. Therefore, stereotype becomes a mutual theme and plays an important role in these two books.

    Read More

  • Stereotyping of Car Club Members

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone has heard the saying don’t judge a book by a cover. Sadly every minute of the day someone gets judged because of assumptions that are not correct. These assumptions overtime eventually lead to stereotypes. A stereotype is an image or idea of a particular type of person. Stereotyping a person is seen in many differents aspects such as race, groups, beliefs, appearance, etc. An individual may ask why people are stereotyped or stereotype. In reality stereotyping helps people categorize the different type of people. It narrows down the options of who one might want to associate with. Stereotyping can have its negatives, it makes people ignore how others really are. It may lead to a person not wanting to hang out with another person because of the stereotype that persons group has. Everyday the general public use cars for the means of transportation. But what about when people use their car for more than transportation, car enthusiasts often modify their cars to their likings. Enthusiasts often join car clubs to share their common interests with other car enthusiasts. Often the people in car clubs have a stereotype of being juvenile, racing a lot, low-life bums, and ghetto when actually most do not have those characteristics.

    Read More

  • The Negative Stereotypes In The Outsiders

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    Identity is a substantial component of a person, it’s something that determines who they are and help establish themselves with people who you find enjoyable and shares similar interests. It could bring people together, and provide a sense of belonging and unity. However, there are times where these people who are within certain cliques are perceived more negatively or believe that all people within that group perpetually have a certain set of traits. In most cases, these negative perceptions lead to discrimination and conflict, and obscures the positive and more genuine traits of an individual. In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, there is a group of poor and lower-middle class teens who are labeled as greasers. This group of wild teenagers

    Read More

  • Language, Gender, and Culture in Society

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes and The Merchant of Venice

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Family Relationships in Morrison's The Bluest Eye

    1780 Words  | 4 Pages

    A main theme in this novel is the influence of family relationships in the quest for individual identity. Our family or lack thereof, as children, ultimately influences the way we feel as adults, about ourselves and about others. The effects on us mold our personalities and as a result influence our identities. This story shows us the efforts of struggling black families who transmit patterns and problems that have a negative impact on their family relationships. These patterns continue to go unresolved and are eventually inherited by their children who will also accept this way of life as this vicious circle continues.

    Read More

  • Racial Disccrimination in a Raisin in the Sun

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    The late 1950s was filled with racial discriminations. There was still sections living as well as public signs of Colored and Whites. Blacks and Whites were not for any change or at least not yet. A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, tells a story of a black family that is struggling to gain a middle class acceptance in Chicago. The family of five, one child and four adults live in a tiny apartment that is located in a very poor area. Dreams of owning a business and having money to accomplish goals is two key parts played out throughout the whole play. Walter Younger is determined to have his own business and he will go to ends met to see that dream come true. Financial bridges are crossed and obstacles arise when Walter makes a bad decision regarding money that could have help the family and not only himself, if he would have thought smarter. His pride and dignity are tested throughout the story and he is forced to setup for his family. The Raisin in the Sun helps readers to understand history of racial discrimination and how racial discrimination has an effect on the people in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well as how that has an effect on the characters within the play.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Stereotypes In A Raisin In The Sun

Open Document