Stereotyping…Aren’t we all different?

Hey!  So, I was recently having a conversation with a friend that lead me to feel like stereotyping is still very common in today’s society. To me there is nothing more irritating than having someone automatically stereotype me based on characteristics like being female or being black. Aren’t we all our own people? Aren’t we all individuals that make our own decisions?  Don’t we all have our own opinions that separate us from another person? How then can we classify a group of people that bare the same characteristics as the same?  We all are different people, we look differently, we act differently and we think differently, no two people are the same. The way I see it regardless of race, sex or class we all have the ability to make our own decisions and no one characteristic that we possess should determine who we are as people.

I recently read a module about minority groups in media and this conversation lead me to revisit the topic. Now most of what I read about in my module discussed race and racial inequalities but the way I see it stereotyping is still stereotyping regardless of whether it is against race or gender. It seems the media has a large role in enforcing stereotypes and ‘polluting the cultural pool’ with various ideas or images about a particular group. But of course not all media organizations have the same values. While some enforce prejudicial views others may challenge stereotypes and try to prevent them. But looking at the media today, this does not seems like a common practice. In today’s media I have noticed stereotypes, not just in minority groups but a variety other races, religions and genders. The media being the ‘all-powerful’ has a large effect on the thought patterns of the people in a society which results in various stereotypes based on a single characteristic.

It is my belief that if the media enforced better gender beliefs and race equality. There could be less discrimination and stereotyping and that each person would instead be judged based on their personalities and behaviours and not on their gender or race.

Nikita