If I’m Asian I must be short, right?

1689 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes and effects of stereotypes

People often subject others to a variety of stereotypes, accusing them of being a certain way without regard to what kind of person they actually are. Stereotypes are one or many generalizations of a group of people, whether negative or positive, founded on the basis that a majority of them share said characteristic (McLeod). Though people have come to realize the dastardly consequences of labeling, stereotypes have persisted in our culture, unrelentingly. Why? Stereotypes, whether racial, gender-based, religion-based, age-based, etc., continually permeate our society because it is difficult to undermine the psychological aspects of stereotyping, because of the media, and because it’s easier for people to cope with certain situations when they can generalize a group of people.

The process of stereotyping a person is a cognitive, psychological process. People are given certain information and their mind processes it, imbuing it deep inside the mental crevices of the brain. After the mind processes the first bits of information, it begins to develop a response. After a few occurrences with a specific peoples group that behave in similar ways, the brain begins to associate this behavior with that group of people. It then becomes second nature, a subconscious response, for the brain to stereotype a group of people based on previous encounters (“The Cognitive Roots of Stereotyping”). Although people, well a majority of people, recognize the errors of stereotyping sometimes they cannot help it. It’s not always a conscious decision to view a group of people a certain way, actually a majority of the time it’s probably actually an innocent mistake.

Stereotypes range from milder ones to more caustic and biting ones that undoubtedly offen...

... middle of paper ...

...e a people’s group; it allows them to bypass all of the strenuous research and analysis necessary to develop an even remotely accurate portrayal of the group of people they are encountering.

Works Cited

Cloud, John. "How Stereotypes Defeat the Stereotyped - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

"The Cognitive Roots of Stereotyping." Adam.oliner.net. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

Mcleod, Saul. "Stereotypes." Psychology Articles for A-level and Degree Study. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

"Q and A on Cultural Issues: Stereotypes, Causes of Violence and Affluenza in American Culture." Counseling Services – Marriage, Family, Substance Abuse Counselors | Counseling. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

"Stereotypes and Prejudices." Holocaust Cybrary Remembering the Stories of the Survivors - Remember.org. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Stereotyping in The Way We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay The Way We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson writes that “All the ‘isms’-racism, sexism, ageism, et al.-are founded on and fueled by the stereotype and the cliché, which are lies of exaggeration, omission, and ignorance. They are always dangerous. They take a single tree and make it a landscape.” This quote is important due to the fact that stereotypes play a major role in many aspects of our society. In American society we have a tendency to pass judgment on people just because of a pre-existing stereotype that our society has formed on particular groups over the years. American Society tends to create stereotypes because of the simplicity it adds to our lives, but stereotypes can cause us to oversimplify the characteristics of others, encourage prejudice, and can even create many more severe dangers.

    Read More

  • Black Women's Bodies

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    The human race is comprised of a plethora of shapes, sizes, colors, and figures. Some of these images are regarded as ‘distorted’ in dominant culture, but these distortions are what makes every person unique and should be celebrated. Stereotypes, whether positive or negative, take these ‘distortions’ and assign behavioral attributes to them. This assumes that all persons who meet a certain set of physical requirements behave in a similar way. Due to the diversity of the human race, this outcome is highly improbable. Despite this, stereotypes are often used to describe a group of people, usually amplifying a negative trait that may not b...

    Read More

  • Asian American Stereotypes Essay

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    A stereotype can have multiple meanings, but one of the most prevailing definitions is that it assumes that groups are representable through a consolidated

    Read More

  • Racial Stereotypes on Television

    1870 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Web. 15 Jan. 2015. Izumi, Yutaka and Frank Hammonds. " Changing Ethnic/Racial Stereotypes: The Roles of Individuals and Groups."

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In 'Divergent' By Veronica Roth

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    To start off, stereotypes are a part of our everyday life. We hear stereotypes every day and everywhere we go. Sometimes we can find ourselves in a situation where people make stereotypes for a large group of people. Every person no matter what is labelled

    Read More

  • The Causes of Stereotypes

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Robert Heilbroner's Take on Stereotype

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Heilbroner, in his essay “Don’t Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments,” justifies why the ideas stereotyped aren’t always correct. He goes on saying that stereotypes are “a kind of gossip” which makes us fit more into the life we think we need to live. He states examples of how names, nationalities an...

    Read More

  • Stereotyping

    2855 Words  | 6 Pages

    The first characteristic of stereotyping is over-generalisation. A number of studies conducted found that different combinations of traits were associated with groups of different ethnic and national origin (Katz and Braly, 1933). However, stereotyping does not imply that all members of a group are judged in these ways, just that a typical member of a group can be categorised in such judgements, that they possess the characteristics of the group. Still, when we talk of a group, we do so by imagining a member of that group.

    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

  • Language, Gender, and Culture in Society

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 they claim to be. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is.

    Read More

  • Race, Ethnicity, and Hate Crimes

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Stereotypes unreliable, exaggerated generalizations about all members of a group that do not take individual differences into account” (Schaefer 40). Stereotypes can be positive, but are usually associated with negative beliefs or actions such as racial profiling.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In the Media

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in Propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary stereotyping is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, heldby a number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behaviour and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes.

    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 resulted from the minimal contact with this stereotyped groups. stereotypes have many forms; people are stereotyped according to their religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender, coulor, 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 Elizabethan era. In fact, Elizabethan era was an age of prejudice, discrimination, and religious persecution particularly against minorities. Jewish people were one of those minorities who was suffering and struggling for survival. This racist attitude was rife not only in England but also across Europe. "Christians tended to see the Jews as an alien people whose repudiation of the Christ had condemned them to a perpetual migration. Jews were denied citizenship and its rights in much of Europe and forced to wear distinctive clothing to identify themselves in public (the yellow star, or badges of shame). There were forced expulsions of the Jews from several regions across Europe." (1). Jews were even believed to worship the devil.

    Read More

  • Dichotomy The Devil Essay

    1626 Words  | 4 Pages

    Stereotypes are assumptions that are made about an entire group of people based on observations of a few; they act as scapegoats for prejudice behaviour and ideologies.

    Read More

  • Cultural and Racial Stereotyping

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most people find stereotypes to be obnoxious, especially when they have to do with sensitive subjects like gender or race. “Stereotyping is a generalization about a group or category of people that can have a powerful influence on how we perceive others and their communication behaviors” (Floyd, 61). Because they underestimate the differences among individuals in a group, stereotyping can lead to inaccurate and offensive perceptions of other people. Although stereotypes are prevalent in almost every society, becoming aware of our perceptions of others, as well as differentiating between both positive and negative stereotypes can help us overcome those stereotypes.

    Read More

More about If I’m Asian I must be short, right?

Open Document