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Stereotyping

Stereotype is a word or a phrase which is generally used to relate all the members of asset or a group. Most of the types it is used in a negative sense. It is used to categorize the persons we deal with. Sociologists believe that almost everyone categorizes the other and mental categorizing is a reality.

There are many different groups of people who are being casted as being stereotyped everyday in our society. Politicians, tattooed persons, feminists and senior citizens are a few groups of people commonly facing stereotypical generalizations. It is very easy to see how these four basic groups, with whom we have interaction on almost a daily basis, are being stereotyped everyday. In some cases, this can lead to formation of unfavorable opinions which almost equals discrimination.

Politicians are an abused lot in our society. They are termed as cheaters, liars, corrupted persons and as one of those people who will say and do anything to get the votes. Also, we are made to believe that once they win, they completely forget all their campaigning promises.

The tattooed persons are no different, although, they are stereotyped on a completely different basis. They are labeled as freaks, considered to be weird, scary, punks and even criminals. Tattooed persons can be found everywhere. There are people who have just a few tattoos and then there are others who have tattoos all over their body.

There is another group who are stereotyped as being feminists. They are seen as women who are gay and hate men. It is considered that they hate men because of their thinking that women are supposed to be in their kitchen all the time and serve their men.

Last, but certainly not the least, are the senior citizens. There are some senior citizens who think they are still young and can do the things as they used to do when they were younger. However, senior citizens are considered by everyone to be very weak and slow. They are also thought to be senile, and as ones who are glued to their ways and are unwilling to accept the changes happening around them.

It is quite impractical to think that any of these factions will cite the same pictures to all the persons and that each group creates a different stereotype. All politicians are not the same. They can produce both good and bad stereotypes. Whether they are good or bad depends on the individual person. Tattooed persons can produce a negative stereotype, and this can be bad. A positive stereotype is created by feminists if we consider that women work just as hard as men. Senior citizens can produce both, positive and negative, stereotype; positive as they are informative and negative as they tend to be stubborn and hard-headed.

There is a negative impact on the public because of the stereotypes. The rhetoric, which surrounds them, has in general, a negative function, even if it is used in a positive way. Even when this is refuted, it means little as there is a long standing queue of negative stereotype. The dispute is affected by the manner in which people think and store negative information and pictures. Another factor which affects is the order in which premises are initiated. These two factors often demean the integrity of the writer or speaker.

If we look back at the four groups of stereotypes which we considered, we can safely say that politicians are typically portrayed as dishonest, hypocrites, self-serving and as con artists. Feminists are thought be women who are man-haters, tree huggers and gay. Being forgettable, bad drivers are how the senior citizens are perceived. Tattooed people are seen as rebels, gang-bangers and sadists. All these groups of people are considered to be stereotypes because the thinking of these groups is based on very little or no evidence at all.

The negativity of stereotyping has crept into the society with the help of media. When we see the picture of a dangerous criminal with tattoos all over his body, we automatically link the images together. Similarly, when we are watching the news about drivers who are senior citizens and accidents, or legislation for change in the driver’s licenses, we immediately fuse the two together.

The rhetoric applied to stereotyping is also widely prevalent. We commonly use the phrase, “Elderly people are bad drivers”. This is a stereotype statement as there are many senior citizens who drive well. Rhetorical statements are also used for politicians like “Politicians are sleazy” or “Politicians are corrupt”. Similarly, words like freaks and punks are applied to describe tattooed persons and rhetoric like unwomanly or lesbian are used to describe feminists.

References:-

1. The Effect of Rhetoric and Stereotyping, retrieved on 4th May 2009 from

2. Persuasion through Rhetorics, retrieved on 4th May 2009 from

3. Stereotype: America and its people, retrieved on 4th May 4, 2009 from

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