Types of Stereotypes

Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations that people make about the character and personality of others. We are susceptible to stereotyping others because it not only make the things easier for us to understand, but also work as a mental shortcut and rough guide that tells us how to react to certain people and things. In the article Types of Stereotypes, Dalrymple discusses the issues of stereotype using the case of George Zimmerman as a launching point to present the readers with some insightful perspectives.  Most of the claims he made are interesting and reasonable, however, one of which appears to be controversial, being that “many people, perhaps even most, people want to be stereotyped.”

In the shooting case, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was accused by his detractors of attempted murder (having acted upon stereotype) of a young black man, Trayvon Martin. The case and its verdict stirred a national controversy where people, especially blacks and whites, had different opinions and views toward the issue caused by deeply rooted stereotypes in their minds. Dalrymple gave the example of different comments people posted on social media. A person with cyber name “Yowolowo” thought the Zimmerman’s shooting was unjustified and caused the loss of a young life, while another person whose cyber name was “White Hunter” believed Zimmerman was innocent and the shooting was out of self-defence. In this example, it is clearly seen that the cyber names of both the commenters reflect their stances on the case since “White Hunter” is obviously the defender of Zimmerman and “Yowolowo” is (an African name) the supporter of Martin. In other words, these two people choose their distinct cyber names because they wished to appear to be stereotypical.

Dalrymple later talked about the importance of clothes as second nature, and there is a direct relationship between a people’s dressing habits and the desire of being stereotyped. For instance, males wearing hoodies and low-slung trousers are usually the ones who want others to perceive them as defiant, insolent and uninhibited. Moreover, individuals who have tattoos wish to appear to others as more aggressive, fearless and unapproachable. Thus, outward appearance can work as a tool for people to express and present their inner identity and personality that cannot be spoken by words to other people. These people are the ones who manipulate to let others stereotype them in a way they wished to be perceived and evaluated.

However, Dalrymple failed to consider the issue of stereotyping with a bigger scope, that he overlooks the fact that there are many people, in contrary to wanting to be stereotyped, they dislike or even hate to be stereotyped.  My personal experience can serve as an example to strengthen this point. When I first came to the U.S, I faced a great difficulty with learning English, therefore I worked painstakingly in order to communicate fluently with others and to catch up with my school work. All the hard work paid off eventually and I was ranked first in my class throughout middle and high school years. I was happy with my achievement, but at the same time I found myself vulnerable to the stereotypes because of it. There have been numerous times when I heard the comments from my classmates such as “All Asians are nerds” and “She is smart because she is a Chinese”. Words can’t describe how discontent I felt at that time because they focused superficially on my race and overlooked all the efforts I made in order to achieve my goals. 

Because stereotyping creates labels about how a person should act or live based on his or her gender, race, religion, sexuality, among others, many people become victims of stereotyping. Many of the stereotypes are one-sided and inaccurate, and they can sometimes be displeasing. Negative stereotypes such as Blacks are poor, Mexicans are ignorant and loud, women are not as smart as men, are offensive. On the other hand, those seemingly positive stereotypes such as all Asians are good in Math, all whites are wealthy, all Blacks are good in sports are just as damaging as the negative ones because they are restrictive and set the bar unrealistically high. Those individuals who don’t fit the stereotypes will feel awkward and even ashamed for not possessing the qualities that they are supposed to have. Therefore it is clear to see that those people would not like being stereotyped since stereotypes have created a distortion of how they should be.

People tend to think that stereotypes are problematic in our complex world since they can lead to prejudice and false evaluations. However, as Dalrymple claimed, stereotypes are not all unreasonable since they would not exist unless there were some basis. There are some reasons for people wanting to be stereotyped, especially when it can be worked as a way of self-expression. On the other hand, there are definitely some other reasons why people hate stereotypes, one of which include the possibility of generalizing people into a simplistic and false version. Therefore, whether or not people like stereotypes and to what extent is stereotype a wrong thing really depends on proactivity or passivity, which means whether he or she wants or is forced of being stereotyped. The main difference is that the former will not think being stereotyped as necessarily a bad and wrong thing as it is to the latter.

After examining the issue of stereotype with a wider scope by taking into consideration of the diversity in people as well as different scenarios, it would be more realistic and accurate to state that the presence of individuals who wish to stand out from the crowd by being stereotypical cannot be overlooked; likewise, it is also undeniable that there are other people who resent being stereotyped due to its inaccuracy and many byproducts it brings such as prejudgement, prejudice, misconception and self-deprecation.  

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