6. Stereotyping in different cultures

Definition:

A fixed impression which may have little basis in fact, but is nevertheless perpetuated by persons unwilling to look more deeply into the matter.

This means that a person has an opinion about someone before they have even met them. For example, an Asian student walks in to the room and aromatically assumes they are a genius.

Here are some different stereotypes of some cultures in America:

African American: There are 100s of stereotypes that African American have placed on them by not just other cultures but specific work forces as well, one being the police. Many people think that African Americans are just burglars and delinquents. This can make it very hard for African American students that are trying to just make it through school and get a good education. Another well-known stereotype is that African Americans are good at sports. This can be very true for some, but that is the case for all cultures.

Asians: The main stereotypes for Asians are that they are extremely intelligent. In many cases this can be true, but there are many other cultures that have students that excel to the genius level also. Whenever a person sees someone that is of Asian descent they expect them to be very smart, but if their grades and achievements aren’t up to that person’s standard then they are look down upon. This could give that person a very low self-esteem because they don’t think they are good enough in the eyes of others.

Middle Eastern: Because of the attacks on the United States in 2001 most people look at Middle Easterners as scary and harmful people. They think just because they have dark skin and dark hair that they are going to bomb something. This can be very hard for Middle Eastern students in today’s society because other students might be afraid of them because of what their parents have told them. This can cause those students to not have any friends and be very lonely.

Hispanic: There are many different stereotypes that are portrayed against the Hispanic culture. When other cultures see a Hispanic person in America they automatically assume that they are there illegally. This could be very hurtful to students whose parent are here legally and worked very hard to become a US citizen.

Caucasian: Many Caucasians have stereotypes not only put on them by other cultures, but also by others that are Caucasian themselves. There is the rich and snooty, the jocks, the dumb blond, the cheerleader, and many more. All of these can be hurtful because even thought people are in those groups doesn’t mean that those stereotypes actually portray them personally. There are also other cultures that put stereotypes on Caucasians, like all white people are raciest. This can be a problem at school because it it can be hard for others to make friends outside of their culture.

The different national or cultural stereotypical assumptions can be described as follows: Simple auto-stereotype: In our opinion we [my nationality] are . . . Projected auto-stereotype: We think that they [inhabitants of the foreign country] consider us to be . . . Projected hetero-stereotype: We feel that they [the inhabitant of the foreign country] think that they are . . . Simple hetero-stereotype: We think that they are . . .

For instance, a Finn may feel that 'the Finns' are hard-working/diligent and honest, but at the same time they think that 'the Swedes' consider 'the Finns' to be drunks, backward and simple, and that 'the Swedes' consider themselves to be more educated and 'better people', whereas for 'the Finn', they are boastful and cold!