There are many stereotypical people out there. I personally admit I can be stereotypical most of the time. However, stereotypes are not always right. I heard many stereotypes out there. For example: immigrants are stupid and teenagers are all low-life losers. Why do we all have to be stereotypes? Why can't we just accept not everyone is going to be the same way as we predict they're going to be? I mean, we definitely wouldn't like people stereotyping us. If we're muslim, we're terrorists; if we're Christians we're Jesus freaks; if we're white we're racists; if we're black we're gangsters.

Why can't this stop now? Why can't we stop stereotyping people and just accept and get to know who they are without having the wrong conception of them?

Give me your honest opinion about this issue which I think is important in this world.

Hmm. i think if people got a problem being stereotyped, they should try not to fit in it. then they can simply say that that's not them.

This is really hard since everyone or most are juz assuming bout the person... this is a serious thng that i dont think can be erased out of our system so easily... its all in our mind...
all im saying is that we should get to know the person better before assuming what or who they are... ^^ that way life will ease a bit..

1. 911 did the major terrorist one, this fueled the anger on muslims which is understandable. plus the muslims believe that they should do everything to stop christianity at all costs. (this is there religion)

2. We whites are not racist, its the fact that alot of coloured people hang around street corners which means you would be scarded just to walk down your street. Alot of whites don't say jack but would probley look at a coloured person just because there in a white community so they stand out. the coloured man would probley think hes being racist and would hit him for just looking at him. (This would answer the fact of gangsters and racist question.)

3. UKs laws really do suck because they say you can't be racist ok i understand that. i'll walk down my street and i'll get coloured people calling me a white nigger and i would be like thats a fucking racist comment since i'm white and i do not like it! The funny thing is i would not be able to do shit about it because the racist law would only apply to me saying it to a coloured person.

I, actually, don't really mind the stereotypes. If you don't want to be grouped with other people, don't do what they do, just be yourself. And if someone does happen to be stereotypical of you, don't listen to them. You shouldn't be living your life for other people as it is.

I really hate stereotypes about the South. . . that crap on family guy about living in a shack, wearing beaten-up farm clothes, and toting shotguns. . . yeah, completely false

second. . . i dont know ANYONE here who has a southern accent. . . hell ive even been up north and when they find im from the south they're like "you dont have an accent though"

and the media makes it worse by picking people with the worst accents to appear on tv. . .

stereotypes should end

I've always hated stereotypes of all kinds, especially ones alluding to race because I know first hand how it feels to be judged everywhere you go just by the color of your skin, or even because of my religious beliefs. People look at those things and its as if they have a mental checklist of all the things they expect me to say or do, based on previous encounters (or no encounters all, just someone else's opinion or their own delusions).

Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to dispel them. Not all of them, anyway. For one thing, we all have our own prejudices. It's simply in our nature to look at others differently, to group people according to one thing or another. This isn't a good thing, no, but we all do it unconciously whether we care to admit that or not. The only thing we can do is stop ourselves when we make generalizations, and as always, treat people based on who they are, not what they look like or where they're from.

I dont mind being stereotyped at all (since the stereotype is that we're good looking :D).

I can admit i still "believe" in some stereotypes, but its natural. We try to fill something we dont really know anything about and we come up with stories or ideas for how it/them should be. Its the same with death, we dont know what will happend but religion gives us something to believe in.

I really did not answer the question i was pretty much just speaking my mind. I think people should not make stereotype people because i had a few friends who are kewl I.E Lee was a coloured kid and he totally was kewl and he did not hang around in gangs so hes not classed as a gangsta.

We give people stereotypes because most of them are true, like i said about muslims they pretty much are terrorists because they were tought all there life to be.

Hmm, we could all be optimistic and wish that one day stereotypes will come to an end, but realistically, everyone will judge others, will label others if we like it or not. It will not come to an end, because - to put it simply - it's somewhat human nature to do these things in today's society. This does not justify the action but it will always be there and sadly, there isn't much we could do about it.

i said about muslims they pretty much are terrorists because they were tought all there life to be.

Actually not really. Terrorist are just a VERY small percentage compared to the Muslims in the whole entire world. Wha, there's - let's say - 2.5 million people who are Muslims and your telling me all of them are trained to be terrorists their whole life? Highly unlikely.

I think people who always think Stereotyping is a horrible thing to do are ignorant. Stereotyping is noting more then people using their perception to understand their surroundings better. Lets say a caucasian is walking into a well known Hispanic gang territory at night and they see a few young Hispanic people standing around and he thinks they look like stereotypical gang members and they think to themselves, "I prolly want to avoid them, they might be up to no good. I'll just go the long way". This person might have just saved themselves from being jumped or mugged because they stereotyped people they had a good feeling were prolly up to no good. I'm not saying they would have got mugged no matter what, or that all Hispanic people are bad people and are waiting in dark alleys to jump you, but if you are in a situation like the above it is possible.

There is noting wrong with judging a book by it's cover, we have eye's for a reason. The thing is though, you have to understand the possibility that the stereotype is wrong, but most of the time, you can get a general idea of a person from looking at them.

And acting on stereotypes in a negative way can be a really bad thing to do. An example would be something like, "all poor people are just lazy, I think the government should cut back on food stamps and the such, they just need to get off their goddamn lazy ass's and get jobs"..

I don't think people need to stop stereotyping, I just think they need to stop being stupid.

So.. in the end, IMO, people can use stereotyping in a good way, or a bad way. It depends on the person, oh and most stereotyps are overexadurated and most people understand/know that they are overexadurated, well anyone that has half a brain. People know that not all Muslims are terrorits and that most people that live in the shouth don't live in huts and have sex with their sisters, but... some Muslims are terrorist and some people in the south do live in huts and they do have sex with their sisters.


And Sephirothdl, you should stop talking, it's just making you look really stupid.

I don't mind stereotypes. I'd much rather be a guy who uses stereotypes rather than be a hypocrite. I use them all the time and could care less if people use it on me. I've had people call me Jacky Chan just because they saw me dancing and doing acrobatic moves, or have some people ask me if I eat dog or cat.

But hey, I use them too. Stereotypes have some truth in them, otherwise they wouldn't have existed in the first place.
Sure it isn't fair for people to label people based on appearances and first glances, but there are a GOOD NUMBER OF PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ARE JUST THAT CRAPPY ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY FIT THOSE NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES.

Don't like stereotypes? Find those stereotypical people and do something about it. In the meantime, I'll just point out their flaws and forget trying to change their entire nature. I think it's a little bit easier to acheive cold fusion.


EDIT: Regarding the stereotypes of the people from the South, I've had my share of them. I've lived in South Carolina for more 3/4 of my life and some of the stereotypes are true. It all depends on where you come from. I have friends whose parents are redneck as all hell. I never met anyone who "has sex with their sister" but I'm sure I wouldn't have met them anyway. They wouldn't be living around me and they sure as hell wouldn't step foot into "civilization." (Ooops, my bad, I just made a stereotypical remark. My bad!) Southern people DO have accents (I have a slight accent), there ARE people who still beleive that the South won the Civil War, and there ARE people who drive beat up trucks and wear overalls all the damn time. They are farmers after all. Some of them are nice though. All in all, everything that's been said about the South, minus the sex jokes, have some truth in them.

Stereotyping is basically just another form of segregation. Which is wrong and has been abolished. (to an extent anyway) So I think that stereotyping should stopped. Simply because of the reason that it is most often used to hurt someone or pick on them. Sure everyone once in awhile it is used in a good light. However, that normally isn't the case. I personally do most things in my life according to a checks and balance system of morals. So if something leans more to bad side of morality then I try to avoid it. I think that principle applies globally to stereotyping though since I know lots of people have been hurt by stereotyping but I don't see many people being uplifted by it.

Southern people DO have accents (I have a slight accent), there ARE people who still beleive that the South won the Civil War

normally the only people who have accents in this city are the lower class citizens. . . everyone else has just normal speech

its odd cause my parents and i dont have an accent, yet everyone else in our entire family does. . . i wonder how that happened

some people seriously think the south won the civil war?! wow. . . they should have gone to school

so with the combination of no accent and dislike for BBQ, everyone at school cant believe i was actually born here

Interesting intellectual note:

We had a discussion in one of my psych lecture classes once on stereotypes. The reason that they exist is actually a very practical mental function. Your brain needs these categories to put people into at first so it basically has a template to work from. That way when you meet someone, your brain has a starting point from which to create/add/alter data about that person. It makes things easier on the brain than just starting off from scratch. I hope that made sense. It's been a couple of years since I took that class.

That being said, many people do take stereotypes to an extreme, but it is something that we all do despite our insistence against that fact, and it's a simple fact of life. I don't think putting people into a stereotype is bad AS LONG AS that stereotype does not make you think badly of that person or reflect badly on that person as a human, and as long as that stereotype is willing to change. I see a person wearing a goth clothing style and a build a stereotype in my head of what music they will probably listen to, what hobbies they will have. (BTW, I am a close friend with many goths, and am a bit of one myself, so please don't take this the wrong way if you do belong to that subculture). That does not mean I think they are a bad person, or a satan worshipper, or suicidal, or any of the other silly assumptions people make. It just gives me a starting point. I may find out that they are a huge Britney Spears fan, or that they are an avid tennis player, and my brain's model of that person in my head will alter slightly with each bit of info I find out about them. Stereotypes aren't bad as long as they're handled the right way, as long as they don't cause you to write off someone based on appearance/race/gender/orientation/religion, etc.

I hope none of that came off the wrong way. I am actually one of the most open-minded people I know, so I hope that comes through in this post.

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