Stereotypes

Can we live in a world where stereotypes don’t exist? A world where everyone looks at each other and says, “Wow, I do not see anything wrong with you,” or “I have nothing to say about the way you look.” Honestly, I cannot see this ever happening. It's in the human nature to be stereotypical toward each other, and as much as we could possibly try not to be, it will always be there.

We have all been in a situation where we judge others just by the way they look or the way they act. We automatically jump to conclusions about them instead of taking our time to really understand whom they really are. We are so used to being stereotypical and labeling everything, that we do not even realize when we’re doing it anymore. It's like if all these stereotypes just come naturally to us without even trying. I think it’s interesting that even though we think that stereotypes are not good, we still do it. For example, whenever someone sees an Asian person, they automatically think that they must be really smart, and that they could pretty much solve everything. Even though it’s saying something good about this person, it’s still considered a stereotype, and we don’t even notice that. Another example of a stereotype would be whenever someone sees a white guy wearing brand clothes, they immediately say, “oh, here’s another rich, disrespectful daddy’s boy.” We automatically think something bad about this guy just by how he looks and what he wears. My point here is that we do this just because we have a certain image of others, and we don’t realize when we’re doing it anymore.

Is it possible to not be stereotypical for at least one day? Yeah, it could be possible, if you're by yourself in a dark room, and have nothing around you. But even then, I still think it would be really hard. Why do I think this? We have a certain image or expectation about different people, places, or even things, and they are really hard to change. Not only that, but we have a tendency of doing this without even realizing.

I believe that to Gallop, ethically treating other people when it comes to stereotyping, meant that one should be open minded. For example, an American is reading a book written by a Mexican author. The reader might immediately think that the book isn't good enough, and not take it as valuable. I think Gallop didn't see this as something ethical. Instead of this, he wanted the reader to be more understanding, and give the writer an opportunity to prove what he is capable of doing.

Stereotypes are around us day and night, and we wouldn’t be able to avoid them. Being stereotypical is in the human nature, and it would be really hard for us to stop. We are so used to labeling others, and we don’t even notice because it has become a normal thing for us to do. This is because we have grown up with a certain image of things, and we expect so much from them, so we wouldn’t be able to avoid them.