In the Eyes of Society

In our ever advancing society, everyone has a place where they belong. With humanity’s obsessive need of categorizing and placing everything and everyone into a specific group, each and every one of us is or eventually will be branded with a label we may never be capable of shaking off. What is this? It is the dreaded stereotyping above none else. We have all fallen victim to stereotyping unceasingly, and unconsciously, we reciprocate this sometimes hurtful act as we judge others for their appearance and not who they are underneath.

Think of all the different times a stereotype is thrown out into an open crowd. Look into the eyes of the victims as they shake it off with a laugh. We fix and overgeneralize a particular group or class of people quite naturally because this act helps us to respond quickly to situations in which we have had similar experiences before. It’s an easier way to associate with a stranger because stereotyping will save us time from getting to know an individual better. While this may be true, we are turning a blind eye towards the uniqueness of individuals. How many times have you been stereotyped negatively?

By stereotyping others, we are assuming that they along with the group or class of people they belong with all have that specific trait, and this will often lead to prejudice attitudes and unfair treatment towards individuals. Stereotyping may not always be negative such as how “judges are always respectable and proper,” but these are only the few out of hundreds different classifications we give to each other. Have you heard of any of these?

– Asians where glasses, are smart, are short and have slit eyes

– Arabs and Muslims are terrorists

– Russians and their vodka

– Nerds look dorky, are unsociable and have no friends

– The Irish are drunks

– All Italians love pasta and pizza

– The French are romantic, carry baguettes and where berets

– Germans are Nazis

– Be a man; don’t cry

– Women aren’t as smart

– Girls are not good at sports

– Americans are obese and stupid

– Blondes are stupid

– Teenagers are rebels

– Punks always get in trouble

– A feminine man is gay and a masculine woman is lesbian

These classifications are often untrue and mean. Will it be possible for people to stop judging?