America’s democratic idea of individualism for ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’ is an inaccurate stereotype. Can we really be who we are if we are constantly judged by our looks and expected to act a certain way? The reality of stereotypes in America ring true to some people, but not everyone. There is a choice citizens must make to either fit into their hackneyed judgements or to erase them from our society. These stereotypes portray inaccurate ideas of how we relate to one another and how we value ourselves.
Materialism and extreme capitalism are the main stereotypes about America from the outside. These stereotypes are sometimes true, and it is the American society to blame. For example, one of the most popular stereotypes is that Americans eat an excess amount of fast food, and are obese. With 33.8% of the population obese, of all the countries of the developed world, the United States has the highest rate of obesity. This is well reflected by the popular “fat American” stereotype that citizens continue to keep.
Perhaps the most popular stereotype of Americans is that of economic materialism. They may be seen as caring about nothing but money, judging everything by its economic value, and scorning those of lower socioeconomic status. Americans even use this stereotype as well as many others in the jokes they make and to humor their friends. The worst part about this whole thing are the racist, sexist, cruel and overall false assumptions Americans create about other Americans. Hollywood and the propaganda is responsible for the core of it.
The media uses stereotypes as a shorthand method of defining characters in ways that are easy for people to identify and categorize. Racial stereotypes are the most common all over the world, but mainly in America. The show Suite Life of Zac and Cody was one of the first shows to show a smart blonde and a dumb asian. What these stereotypes all have in common is that they reduce to a one-sided, superficial and exaggerated depiction the real variety, depth and complexity of a people. It is true that the media today is more sensitive to issues of culture and gender than it once was, but the perpetuation of common misconceptions in America about many groups of people still continues.
The next big thing would have to be stereotypes within gender roles. This classifies as double standards. A division of gender roles is deeply rooted in the social archetypes. It is known that the beginning of these gender roles came from the standard stereotypes about the family. It is typical for the man to be the working, assertive and independent father and the woman to be the stay at home mother, who is responsible for raising children and doing housework. But today, the family model is based rather on a partnership than on patriarchy and women have more rights and possibilities. This is all due to the feminist environment. Women’s liberation movement fought for the rights of women and for redefining traditional gender roles. “They claimed, that there should be no distinction between typical masculine and feminine occupations, and that traits of character should not be ascribed once and for all to one gender. Although females and males are still not equal, the differences between gender are not so vast anymore.” But to say the least, many social institutions, again being the mass media, still use gender stereotypes, basing on the assumption, that they are well known to everyone and help the receivers to understand the content of the message.
The psychological effect of negative stereotypes causes those who are being stereotyped to internalize the stereotypes. “This internalization damages character by causing low self-esteem, low expectations, low motivation, self-doubt, etc. And in turn this damage contributes to a host of bad outcomes, such as high unemployment, poor marriage success, low educational achievement, and criminality.” This is not a good thing because as Americans we are supposed to be free. Free to think, speak, love, and conquer ourselves. How are we supposed to do that with the media telling us how wrong we are everyday, or how we don’t look/act like the stereotype we’re supposed to.
Sometimes, people stereotype others without even realizing it. One way people can reveal stereotypes is by taking a test that was designed to show personal stereotypes. (implicit.harvard.edu)
The next step is to acknowledge that it is okay to have judgements, because we all do. Admitting to your stereotyping is the beginning of changing the way you think about these things. It will not happen all at once or overnight, it will take time but changing is possible.
Another way to break stereotypes is exposing yourself to things you usually would not. Change can be a good thing. When you step outside of your comfort zone you get to experience things that you normally would not, things that may change your mind about a certain group of people or things. There is no last step, this process is a life long self awareness idea, but you should always be raising awareness about biases. People that stay silent are worse than people that encourage the stereotypes. It may feel awkward at first but since this is America and we do in fact have the right to speak our mind, call people out on stereotyping. If you want to change, you will. That’s the subtle beauty of America, we only have the freedom if we take it.
Materialism and extreme capitalism are the main stereotypes about America from the outside. These stereotypes are sometimes true, and it is the American society to blame. For example, one of the most popular stereotypes is that Americans eat an excess amount of fast food, and are obese. With 33.8% of the population obese, of all the countries of the developed world, the United States has the highest rate of obesity. This is well reflected by the popular “fat American” stereotype that citizens continue to keep.
Perhaps the most popular stereotype of Americans is that of economic materialism. They may be seen as caring about nothing but money, judging everything by its economic value, and scorning those of lower socioeconomic status. Americans even use this stereotype as well as many others in the jokes they make and to humor their friends. The worst part about this whole thing are the racist, sexist, cruel and overall false assumptions Americans create about other Americans. Hollywood and the propaganda is responsible for the core of it.
The media uses stereotypes as a shorthand method of defining characters in ways that are easy for people to identify and categorize. Racial stereotypes are the most common all over the world, but mainly in America. The show Suite Life of Zac and Cody was one of the first shows to show a smart blonde and a dumb asian. What these stereotypes all have in common is that they reduce to a one-sided, superficial and exaggerated depiction the real variety, depth and complexity of a people. It is true that the media today is more sensitive to issues of culture and gender than it once was, but the perpetuation of common misconceptions in America about many groups of people still continues.
The next big thing would have to be stereotypes within gender roles. This classifies as double standards. A division of gender roles is deeply rooted in the social archetypes. It is known that the beginning of these gender roles came from the standard stereotypes about the family. It is typical for the man to be the working, assertive and independent father and the woman to be the stay at home mother, who is responsible for raising children and doing housework. But today, the family model is based rather on a partnership than on patriarchy and women have more rights and possibilities. This is all due to the feminist environment. Women’s liberation movement fought for the rights of women and for redefining traditional gender roles. “They claimed, that there should be no distinction between typical masculine and feminine occupations, and that traits of character should not be ascribed once and for all to one gender. Although females and males are still not equal, the differences between gender are not so vast anymore.” But to say the least, many social institutions, again being the mass media, still use gender stereotypes, basing on the assumption, that they are well known to everyone and help the receivers to understand the content of the message.
The psychological effect of negative stereotypes causes those who are being stereotyped to internalize the stereotypes. “This internalization damages character by causing low self-esteem, low expectations, low motivation, self-doubt, etc. And in turn this damage contributes to a host of bad outcomes, such as high unemployment, poor marriage success, low educational achievement, and criminality.” This is not a good thing because as Americans we are supposed to be free. Free to think, speak, love, and conquer ourselves. How are we supposed to do that with the media telling us how wrong we are everyday, or how we don’t look/act like the stereotype we’re supposed to.
Sometimes, people stereotype others without even realizing it. One way people can reveal stereotypes is by taking a test that was designed to show personal stereotypes. (implicit.harvard.edu)
The next step is to acknowledge that it is okay to have judgements, because we all do. Admitting to your stereotyping is the beginning of changing the way you think about these things. It will not happen all at once or overnight, it will take time but changing is possible.
Another way to break stereotypes is exposing yourself to things you usually would not. Change can be a good thing. When you step outside of your comfort zone you get to experience things that you normally would not, things that may change your mind about a certain group of people or things. There is no last step, this process is a life long self awareness idea, but you should always be raising awareness about biases. People that stay silent are worse than people that encourage the stereotypes. It may feel awkward at first but since this is America and we do in fact have the right to speak our mind, call people out on stereotyping. If you want to change, you will. That’s the subtle beauty of America, we only have the freedom if we take it.