Stereotypes, And Why I Hate Them

RioDragon

RioDragon

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I'm tired of seeing people playing stereotypes. People always hate to be associated with them, yet they never make a effort to break free of those stereotypes. I live in the south, and, in the south, I see the stereotypical rap wannabes, emos, country bumpkins, ditzy blondes, etc...

I'm not saying I dislike these people, I just feel like people should be themselves, and accept others despite not fitting in a stereotypical niche.
 
You see, if you didn't stereotype them yourself, you wouldn't see that image. Although, admittedly, it is quite difficult not to do that - I, myself, am very guilty of stereotyping people when I walk down the street. I disguist myself when I sit down for five minutes and think about it - but, at the end of the day, I'm just part of this society, which is, stereotypically, a horrible place to live.

Word-play +1.
 
yeah, it can be pretty hard not to judge others, clothing and so forth, but i know what you mean LupineVoid. some just make it blatantly obvious that they are trying to be someone they wouldn't be if they didn't see it on tv or somewhere else.

but, it is their choice to do this and so, if that's what they want, then that's ok by me. i am not going to follow that line of thinking.
 
K_Unit said:
yeah, it can be pretty hard not to judge others, clothing and so forth, but i know what you mean LupineVoid. some just make it blatantly obvious that they are trying to be someone they wouldn't be if they didn't see it on tv or somewhere else.

but, it is their choice to do this and so, if that's what they want, then that's ok by me. i am not going to follow that line of thinking.
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I don't judge people too much unless I have already talked with them myself... But people always judge me like saying that I'm a geek because I make good grades, I'm emo or goth just because I like to wear a black jacket, I'm anti-social just because I do my work before I speak, etc... But they never look at all the aspects and put it together that I'm just me, only my close friends and girlfriend do that.

It also annoys me that there's still racial tension in America. One of my friends (the same one who loans me FFVII from time to time) has a brother who got kicked out of their house because he didn't believe in his grandfather's view that interracial marriage is wrong. Also, people claim that I am racist because I hate the stereotypes that mainstream rap set, when, on the contrary, I have about six African-American friends.

I know I stereotype too, it's just one big, fat, evil, oxymoron.
 
It's impossible to escape making an immediate judgement on someone, no matter how much we protest it, I believe. When I see a beggar on the streets, I automatically judge him and decide that he is in desperate need of help. When I interview applicants for a job, I judge each of them on how the perform during the interview. When a new teacher joins the school, I judge them on how well they make a first impression.

What we have to do is stick to these judgements, but not let them hinder us from being human beings. While we can get an immediate impression from someone, we can still change that, right?
 
but people do go by the sterotype. I went by the Emo one for years...but most of the time i had no idea i was. till my friends told me. and i changed and haven't been that way in 7 months (thanks LupineVoid) and people still call me Emo..even my MOM!! so i just go alone with it. People will not change their view unless you show them that they are wrong. and i have tried but only my close friends and boyfriend know the true side of it. I think it is wrong to be judged for how you dress,what you do in life,what color you skin is, or your reiligon. I hated being judged by how i "vented" my anger and depression. I was called emo because i used to (USED TO..ok people) cut and didn't like to be around people. I asked for help and all people would say was "you're emo" and laugh. So i transformed into the sterotype to fit in and not be different. Now,even when people no longer see the scars and see me smiling,they don't care and still say "she's emo". No one understands that it is a important issue and that calling people that then laughing at them can do damage. I know i went off what i was saying but..i don't care. I am just expressing my views and...the world is a cruel place and no matter what happends people are going to put us in little group and keep us there. So there is really no way around it.
 
What is a stereotype? I googled and got this response.

random website said:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial]Stereotype: A fixed, commonly held notion or image of a person or group, based on an oversimplification of some observed or imagined trait of behaviour or appearance.
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I have been stereotyped many times, because of image, what I listen to. I try not to stereotype people, but prefer to see them as unique individuals.
[/FONT][/FONT]
 
Lady Cazzeh said:
What is a stereotype? I googled and got this response.



I have been stereotyped many times, because of image, what I listen to. I try not to stereotype people, but prefer to see them as unique individuals.
[/color][/size][/color][/font][/size][/font][/color]
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that is a good point..and everyone should try that
 
Is it stereotyping if someone (me for exaple) says something generalising a group that I'm part of, for exaple if I say something like "We men are competitive" could it be considerate stereotype, as it implies that all men are competitive and this is not true, but is also true that most men are indeed competitive people so,

And even if it is sterotyping how could it be a bad thing?
 
it's kinda sterotyping...but it is also somthing else i don't know the word for. Lol.. but it is bad because not all men are competive so you can classafie them all as such
 
We as human beings will always judge. It's what makes us efficient. We observe, analyze, judge, execute. It's like saying all lions are dangerous. That's stereo-typing in a way.

Especially in this rush society. We don't have time to learn who people are. We barely communicate with people we see everyday. Think about how many people you come across. It's insane. And just about everyone we analyze and judge. I don't think you can get away from that.

On the other hand, I'm not providing an excuse for racism or other harmful ways of thinking. that's different.
 
It's hard not to make a snap judgment, good or bad, when I've only talked to someone for about five minutes. The critical element isn't whether you see someone walking down the street and think, "She's wearing a lot of black. She probably likes heavy metal." The critical element is whether or not you let that assumption affect how you treat her, or if you'll take a shot at being friends with her.

I think the important thing is to give everyone an equal shot at expressing themselves clearly and accurately, instead of letting that first judgment (could be right, could be wrong) become my real perception of that person.
 
Ive always been labeled, aminly due to my clothing and Im sick of it. I get called emo because I wear stripes hoodies or a star hoodie and sneakers and I have glasses. I was wearing that stuff before it became emo! I wear what I find most comfortable and Im sick of people sterotyping me. Oh you dress like an emo/mosher, therefore you must slit your wrists/listen to grundge music.
Back the hell off!
End rant!
 
You can only stereotype when you generalise, that is, see people as individual personalities and you wont have to worry about what label you're giving their dress sense. Albeit it's impossible to meet everyone and find out their persona; you can generalise everyone based on your new found friend (whatever their nationality, sexuality, skin colour or creed) and live a much simpler life. Expecting too much of people is a cancer in its own right.
 
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Epistemologically an abstract concept has infinite concrete representations. Is this a stereotype? Maybe.

What about the kind of people who listen to a kind of music? Psychologically it's true, you can tell a great deal about a person from their music choices. Is this stereotyping? I think your answer will depend on whether you think psychology is a science or not.

Aesthetically it's reasonable to say that people who fantasize ie listen to music where women are degraded and humiliated as nothing but pieces of meat to pleasure a man are not people I want to meat in a dark ally somewhere.
 
First and foremost, how do you define a stereotype?

If you say that stereotypes= inaccurate generalisations, then I have to agree with your point. However, human beings are naturally judgemental, and we need to remember that. It does make sense to categorize people andput them into little small boxes based on a couple of simple criteria, and never take them out of those boxes. It is also unfair and idiotic.

As far as psychology goes... all of it is such a mess and so much is left at teh discretion of the practitian that There is far too much room for error and personal bias IMHO.
 
The problem with stereotypes, is that they can never be right, it wouldn't matter what you say about any group, people is simply not alike, they don't think in the same way, so there is no real way to say "them" and "we" without being partially wrong and stereotaping, but is this really that bad? I've been criticized for stereotiping before, but it is really hard not to do it went wen't you have to talk about a group of people, even if what you are saying is true for most of them
 
QuickSilverD said:
The problem with stereotypes, is that they can never be right, it wouldn't matter what you say about any group, people is simply not alike, they don't think in the same way, so there is no real way to say "them" and "we" without being partially wrong and stereotaping, but is this really that bad? I've been criticized for stereotiping before, but it is really hard not to do it went wen't you have to talk about a group of people, even if what you are saying is true for most of them
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Stereotying is bad, but it prevents me from usng my own head and that is good?

How about you don't say "them"? How about just judging peole by their own merits? How about just taking them for who they are and treating them as full human beings?
 
I actually find that stereotypiing works... You don't know the inner mechanics of a person, but at first glance I am usually right about what kind of people they are.

But that is only at a superficial level.
 
QuickSilverD said:
The problem with stereotypes, is that they can never be right, it wouldn't matter what you say about any group, people is simply not alike, they don't think in the same way, so there is no real way to say "them" and "we" without being partially wrong and stereotaping, but is this really that bad? I've been criticized for stereotiping before, but it is really hard not to do it went wen't you have to talk about a group of people, even if what you are saying is true for most of them
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Reliably predictable group dynamics sez UR WREWNG! WREWNG!!!111 Stereotypes are more or less real depending on the value a given group places on individualism. Mexicans, for instance. It makes sense that someone willing to abandon his family for months at a time to work his butt off in America after stealing his way across a heavily fortified desert is going to have an awesome work ethic, and they reliably do. Sure, it's funny that there's twenty of them packed into one truck, but they're going to work goddammit.

This has of course racist overtones. As such it's important to remember that accusations of racism should not interfere with the pursuit of scientific truth. White people enslaving black people does not change factual truth, nor does it alter fundamental group dynamics.
 
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