Stereotypes- Definitional Essa Essay - 751 Words

Dumb jocks;, Women dont belong in a professional setting, they belong in the kitchen;, He must be a Jew, just look at his nose.; Our society is based solely on face values where we tend to place someone in a category because of his or her actions. Prejudicial notations used to define members of a social or ethnic group are called stereotypes. We stereotype various groups of people, but none like women, different ethnic groups, and athletes. We typically stereotype women on the job. Women normally are associated with jobs such as nurses, secretaries, and tailors. These are jobs in which most people would label as a tender loving care job, which requires a womans touch. Women are rarely associated with the titles of a Doctor,†¦show more content†¦The most common stereotypes are those that are aimed towards different racial or ethnic groups. We often stereotype young black males as being involved in a gang because of the use of ghetto; slang terms and the particular style and presentation of their clothes. The media constantly portrays most gang activity as a result from the inner city black community; however, they seldom discuss white and Asian gang activity. We also believe that most of the African Americans make up the largest group of people on welfare, when in reality; it is whites that are the largest group requiring public assistance. Caucasian athletes have stereotyped blacks as being a superior athlete a nd competitor. African Americans supposedly can jump higher and run faster then their fellow athletes. The viewing public would agree with the previous statement, because it seems like it is true when watching sporting competitions on television, but it is, nonetheless due to stereotypes. Professional Basketball, Football, and Baseball players have been the victims of some harsh stereotypes in the past few years. Hearing the public stereotype professional athletes as being dumb is not uncommon. It is a misconception, to many people, that athletes are uneducated. The majority of professional athletes have been educated at well-known colleges and universities, before they ever made it into the professional teams. A popular misconception is that the