The Importance Of Stereotypes In Society

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Stereotypes are ideals and images that we grow up into based on the things we see, hear, and read. Stereotypes can be described as prejudging “people before we ever lay eyes on them” (Heilbroner) and putting individuals in groups based on similar characteristics. The structure of our society its based on human values, cultures, and norms and how it affects the way we socialize with one another. Cultures are values and beliefs we all grow into; yet, not all of us have the same values and norms which tends to create stereotypes and categorize specific groups from the whole societal structure. The propaganda that is used is frequently fed by government to influence people 's perceptions, normally negative, to generalize a group. Female portrayals …show more content…

Flor, is portrayed as a family-oriented poor Latina, who is culture-oriented, and single mother, who doesn 't speak English. Her daughter Cristina, translates everything for her. The language barrier brings discomfort, yet Flor begins to understand and communicate with the Americans in order to understand through body movements and face expressions. Both Flor and her daughter, Cristina, have typical Latina bodies; slim, nice curves and a pretty face. Yet she comes across the typical fat-girl stereotype of how her boss, Deborah, feels about her own teenage daughter. For example, Deborah has a teenage daughter who is a stereotypical overweight girl and she always finds ways of telling her that she is too fat and needs to loose weight. Flor was able to grasp what was happening, as soon as Deborah was telling her daughter in English and the way her daughter reacted to it. This gave Flor the strength to overcome her language barrier and learn English to be able to help her and talk to her boss. Overall, the movie gives the viewer the impression that all Latinas don 't speak English and they are the Americans ' maids. Even though, movies are funny in some ways and teachable, they are also useable to exploit stereotypes and most times use them as jokes to entertain our

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