Stereotypes Have Existed Since Time Immemorial. They Research Paper

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Stereotypes have existed since time immemorial. They are as old as human culture itself and are beliefs and ideas that a certain group of people hold for those who differ from themselves. A stereotype can exist in a simple word for example "nerd" or in a collection of words and images which are evoked when others hold similar opinions. Stereotypes can be positive, however, most of the times they are associated with negative connotations and make one group of person feel superior and above another group. Stereotypes are oversimplifications and are usually based on behavioural aspects or on the way people physically appear. (Stangor, 2000)

In today's society it is almost impossible to escape stereotypes. The media, entertainment, sports and politics all bring to light stereotypes and because of this the lives of many are affected. According to several studies people who feel they are being stereotyped tend to perform poorly and it does not just affect a person or a group at the time they are being associated with it but it has a persistent, lingering affect. (Stangor, 2000)

Stereotypes exist based on gender, culture, ethnicity, race, religion, groups of individuals and sexual orientation. An example of stereotyping would be when a person says that all women like to cook. In this case we are stereotyping women and thus on the basis of gender. Or when saying Arab Muslims are terrorists we are stereotyping every Arab Muslim on the basis of their culture and religion not realizing that every individual who belongs to that particular group does not have to be that way. (Macrae, Stangor & Hewstone, 1996)

I was once invited to a party which was hosted by a wealthy couple.

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There were all kinds of people at the party but there were two men who particularly grabbed my attention. They had both entered the party at around the same time. One was well dressed, young- probably in his mid-30's and seemed to be well educated with a stable job. The other man who was around the same age looked a bit shabby and wasn't as meticulously dressed as the other gentleman. As soon as I saw the two men I had made my judgements and assumptions about their personalities based on previous stereotypes. As the night went on I noticed that people had started to gather around the handsome primly dressed man and begun conversations with him. However, only after a short time they seemed to lose attention and parted ways with him. At the same time a crowd was forming near the other man and seemed to be more interested in what he had to say. This left me surprised and I asked a friendly woman nearby what was going on. She explained to me how everyone had fallen prey to a stereotype and that the shabby man was in fact very intellectual as opposed to the other man who just appeared that way.

The stereotype in the above case is that all individuals who are nicely dressed are the ones who are intellectual and have good jobs while those who do not look as appealing as the other are not socially acceptable and cannot communicate well with others and have decent jobs. Media today portrays individuals in much the same way. The hero in a movie in….....

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