Why Are Stereotypes Dangerous and What Can Be Done to Reduce Them Essay Example for Free

Why Are Stereotypes Dangerous and What Can Be Done to Reduce Them Essay Very often, in our everyday life, we tend to make certain generalizations about things and people around us. This is because we are constantly exposed to heaps of information, and in order to cope with the complexity of the world around us, we need to generalize and categorize. [1] Sometimes we do this on purpose, with some intention. However, very often we do this subconsciously, unaware of what we are doing. Many people generalize on others according to their clothes, profession, origin, way of speaking, and many other, outer markers. This sort of thinking could be very dangerous, and it can lead us to creating stereotypes. Stereotype is a term which most people â€Å"avoid† in our time, and many of us usually deny using them at all. However, we have to admit that stereotypes are present in every segment of our lives, on television, in newspapers, books, and even in cartoons. It is obvious that stereotypes are something we cannot escape from. They can sometimes even help us, if used as a first step towards learning more about other people and cultures, as long as we are aware of their existence. [2] However, if taken to be completely true, stereotypes can be very dangerous, and can lead to prejudice, discrimination, persecution and even genocide. 3] This is the point when, apparently â€Å"hurtles† remarks and conclusions about other people, based on their appearance, way of speaking, job or nationality, become very serious. This is when people, led by some preconceived, over-generalized, and exaggerated images, start having certain expectations and assumptions about the others (prejudice), start acting and treating them in a cruel way (discrimination), or, in the worst cases, grow into something so dangerous as violation and killing of the stereotyped groups (persecution, genocide). In order for this not to happen, stereotypes should be reduced as much as possible. One of the possible ways of doing this is making people aware of the seriousness of using stereotypes, by propagating this idea through the media, introducing it in the education system, and by making people aware that every â€Å"group† is a group of different people, a group of individuals. Prejudice One of the possible dangers of using stereotypes is the fact that they can serve as bases for prejudice. Prejudice can be defined as an unfavorable opinion formed against a person or group, based on stereotypes. 4] This is dangerous because it leads us to having certain expectations about people in advance. We make our own conclusions, our own visions of those people. This can prevent us from â€Å"going further,† from exploring and getting to know more about the people we are stereotyping. One of the most common distributors of prejudice are national stereotypes. National stereotypes are usually created among groups of people who are â€Å"not so fond† of each other, and obviously, they are in most cases negative. For example, in our country, it is a common belief that all Americans are evil. This is because we have had many unpleasant situations, related to war and recent political clashes, where the Americans were â€Å"to blame. † However, this does not mean that all Americans are evil, and that all of them are war-mongers. However, many of us would not do anything to prove this to be true. There are many examples of national stereotypes found in films, and they can be a very powerful distributor of prejudice and ill-formed images of other nations. They are dangerous because they can influence viewers behavior and attitudes towards the stereotyped nations, since most people take everything broadcast on television for granted. For example, in many American Western movies, Native American people are stereotyped as savages. At first, they were noble savages, but when they became an obstacle for the Whites, they started to be stereotyped as wild, primitive, uncivilized, dangerous people who sadistically kill the Whites. These stereotypical portrayals of the Natives gave way to thinking that all Natives were cruel savages and villains. However, people who ever had any interest in American history know that the situation was quite the opposite. In a similar way, African American people sometimes happen to be the thugs- drug dealers, or even the murderers in the American films. In a recent American film Lakeview Terrace, a couple of young Americans move to a new town, where they are tortured by their next door neighbor, who is accidentally or not- Black. Although this is said not to be done on purpose, people who watch this sort of movies can subconsciously form negative attitudes towards African American people. Led by this wrong image propagated on television, people can subconsciously create negative opinion about them. For example, a person walking through a park at night, on encountering a group of Blacks, will probably not feel the same as if, for example, they came across a group of Whites. [5] Another example of national stereotypes that is a common basis for prejudice is the world-wide known English stereotype, a reserved, cold, stiff-upper-lips. [6] These typical English characteristics became so widely present in the media, that most people apply them as real English characteristics. This, of course, is not true, simply because all people are different, and we cannot apply one characteristic to a group, without considering it as a group of individuals. However, people usually believe in everything they hear or see on TV, and consequently form some kind of expectations and prejudice against the people they do not actually know. To prove this to be true, some of my colleagues and me had some people from our environment interviewed on this topic. It is interesting that most of them had similar answers, and almost everyone said the English were reserved, snobbish, and even evil. Americans were fat and stupid, self-centered. Although none of them would admit to be stereotyping, they all somehow knew this was true. Many of them, when asked if they would ever live in these countries responded negativelly, because the people were bad. Thus they had some prejudices formed against these people, and did not want to do anything to help them understand and appreciate the other culture. Discrimination When the stereotypes we have formed last for too long in our minds, they can grow and develop into something more serious than prejudice. This is when we start acting and treating other people in a different, often bad and inhumane way. [7] This is another possible danger of using stereotypes, which is called discrimination. There are many different types of discrimination, based on appearance, age, nationality, sex, etc. One of the most common forms of discrimination is based on a well known stereotype found in many movies, magazines, and even in cartoons. It is the stereotype of a dumb blonde. [8] It is an image of a girl who is physically attractive, but lacks brains. This stereotype is so powerful, that very often all blonde girls are considered to be stupid, and are not taken seriously, which in some cases can affect their lives, especially when it comes to their intellectual abilities. In one of the famous Hollywood movies starring Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde, the main character suffers the consequences of being blonde. Namely, the girl in the film enrolls in Harvard, but is immediatelly looked down on by h er colleagues, and considered to be stupid and superficial just because of her looks. However, at the end of the movie, she manages to graduate from Harvard, and proves the stereotype to be false. Although this fim is often considered to be teen-oriented and not very serious, it tells a story that can happen in real life, and it sends a message to people that stereotypes can lead to discrimination and affect peoples lives. Additionally to this, some national stereotypes can serve as a starting point for discrimination, too. In our country, Gypsies are often looked down on, and are stereotyped as dirty, uneducated, loud, and very often as thieves. Although many of us would decisively deny to be stereotyping Gypsies as such, reality is very cruel for them, and they are often victims of discrimination and even persecution. Beside this racial discrimination, in some cultures discrimination is based on the stereotypical portrayal of women as the ‘weaker sex,’ incapable of doing any kind of normal work but everyday chores. In cultures like these, (Indian, Egyptian, etc. ) women are discriminated against and their basic human rights are violated. In a recent documentary on ‘National Geographic,’[9] an American was obliged to leave his country, and go to Saudi Arabia to work. There he faced many differences between his and the Arabian culture. He was amazed by the fact that his girlfriend, who applied for a job of a photographer, was turned down with no obvious reason. However, later in the documentary, it was revealed by an Arabic woman that in their country, this was ‘not a job for a woman. ’ In their country, women are not supposed to be seen out very often, especially without their husbands, and they are supposed to take care of their home and children. This, of course, was a shock for the American, and he said he could not believe that things like this happened in 21st century. However, this proves again that stereotypes are dangerous and that they can lead to discrimination, in this case of women as a weaker sex, incapable of doing any proper job. Additionally, discrimination that results from stereotyping can even be more dangerous, if we do not take into consideration people’s feelings. Very often, especially in the age of adolescence, young people tend to stereotype their overweight friends as if they belonged to some different group of people. Although the young ones do not think about the effect of their stereotyping, it can be very painful and can cause harmful effects on the stereotyped group. Moreover, discrimination of the overweight can even be done by the teachers, the adults. For example, when I was in high school, at one of our physical education classes, we were supposed to compete in high jump. Just before the competition, the teacher told one of my friends that he did not have to take part in this, because he was aware he could not jump (he was a bit overweight). The fact that this was said in front of the whole class made him feel even more miserable. This is an example of discriminating overweight people, by stereotyping them as unable to perform things as well as the others. Situations like these can be very dangerous, and can have horrible effects on an individual, such as emotional stress and low self-esteem. [10] One of the most widely present forms of discrimination based on stereotypes is sexual discrimination. Even though we live in modern times, the issue of homosexuality is still considered to be something unacceptable, and people belonging to this ‘group’ are considered to be weird and are often stereotyped negatively. This varies from country to country, but they are generally stereotyped as effeminate, incapable of doing any serious jobs (except for fashion related ones), and many people feel some kind of inexplicable scorn towards them. This especially is the case in our country, where homosexuality is still a taboo, and where homosexuals are considered less than humans. Except for the emotional pain, these people are often turned down at a job interview, or are fired if their sexual orientation is revealed. A famous Hollywood actress, Ellen DeGeneres, in one of the shows that has been on TV recently, said that when she openly admitted she was gay, her TV show, which was at its peak at the moment, was suddenly cancelled. ‘The network executives blamed low ratings, but the reason was quite obvious,’ said the actress, alluding to her public reveal of being homosexual. This discrimination of homosexuals is an issue that has been discussed many times in the media. In a recent episode of ‘Oprah Winfrey Show,’ the topic of the day was the discrimination of homosexuals. People from all over the world were telling their sad stories, and there was even a girl from Brazil who talked about her terrible experience, when a group of angry youths attacked her, and raped her, causing her both physical and emotional injuries, just because she admitted she was homosexual. This leads us to the final and most terrible effects of stereotyping- persecution and genocide.

Fight Club and I Essay -- Fight Club Novel Essays

Fight Club and I "What you see at fight club is a generation of men raised by women . . .. I'm a thirty-year-old boy, and I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer I need." These words are from Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club. Tyler Durden is the alter ego, and only known name of the fictional narrator of the novel. Tyler suffers from Dissociative Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Primary Insomnia, and probably a host of other disorders that I am not qualified to properly diagnose. "Women have caused me nothing but trouble for twenty-one years. That's it, I'm swearing off women . . . at least for a little while." These words were spoken by me, about two months ago. I am Aaron Mobley, a very real former U.S. Marine. I suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and abnormally high testosterone levels (yes, this was all medically verified). So what do Tyler and I have in common besides similar views on relationships? Quite a bit, actually. Tyler was raised by his mother. His father abandoned them early in his life and only had sporadic contact with his son. I, too, was raised by my mother. She divorced my father early in my life, and he made little effort to further his involvement in my life from that point forward. " If you're male . . . your father is your model for God. And if you never know your father, if your father bails out or dies or is never at home, what do you believe about God?" Also from Fight Club. As you can see, I really connected with this novel. Let's start with the most obvious similarity: antisocial personality disorder, or APD. APD is, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a pervasive pa... ...t. Grand Slam, baby! That 2-1 count had me worried for a second there. This essay is entitled "To my Father." It should read "To my Fathers," because it's for all of them. It's for the one who didn't give a shit. It's for all the ones who would've cared if they'd known. It's for the one that made me what I am today. And most of all it's for me, the only man I've ever had around to fall back on when things got too rough. It is 6:30 in the morning, and my paper is done. Works Cited Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 1994. Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 1996. Twaite, James A., et al. Children of Divorce: Adjustment, Parental Conflict, Custody, Remarriage, and Recommendations for Clinicians. Northvale: Jason Aaronson, Inc., 1998.

Gorgias, Socrates, and Justice :: Philosophy Philosophical Justice Morals Essays

Gorgias, Socrates, and Justice When a person’s back is against the wall and the stakes are the highest, how should they handle the pressure? When the lines between right and wrong become so blurred, how is one to know what is the ethical choice in the matter? Imagine being accused of first degree murder, a crime in which you did not commit. However, the evidence against you is stacked so high, it seems you do not have a chance. Your lawyer says he could have you acquitted, but in order to do so he must engage in some unethical courtroom tricks. So with your life on the line, what is the right thing to do? Do you keep the lawyer or should you stand by the truth? I believe the nice thing for everyone to say is that they would stand by the truth. That would be if we, as a society, could really believe that the truth always wins out. However, realistically we know that bad things happen to good people and not always does good triumph over evil. I know that for myself I honestly think that being trapped like that, I would stick with the lawyer. For me being in that situation, I would be too scared to take the chance that the lawyer with the good, honest tactics could get me off. I would be too scared to not go with what seems to be a good thing. My attitude would probably be that since I am being falsely accused in the first place, then it would be fine to use whatever means necessary to have me acquitted. In this situation, I believe that Gorgias would have the same opinion as I would. Gorgias would have rather stayed with the same lawyer, because he would have more belief in the power of oratory. He believed that through oratory anyone or anything could be convinced even though that person might not be a professional on the subject he was expounding on. Through oratory, Gorgias believed that a person gains his personal freedom. In a courtroom, oratory could be used to convince the jury system of anything. Oratory, Gorgias believed, had the total power to persuade. Gorgias thought that oratory had the ability â€Å"to persuade the jurors in the court, the members of the council, and the citizens attending the assembly - in short, to win over any and every form of public meeting of the citizen body.

Mario’s family Essay

Mario’s family happens to be in the lower bracket of society. As Mario got home one night, Gloria, his wife, asked for money, which they needed to feed their daughter. Mario told her that he doesn’t have money. Gloria didn’t believe him, and asked him to tell the truth. Mario told his wife the truth – he was fired from his job. The reason is because of an apple. He stole an apple for his daughter because he thought that she would like it – this part shows his love for his daughter. He left with Pablo, his old crime buddy, even if Gloria pleaded very hard for him not to go with the man. Another summary of The World Is An Apple When Mario got home. Gloria saw Mario and she was asking for some money to feed there children to Mario. Mario said that he have no money because he did something. Gloria didn’t believe on what Mario said and said to tell the truth. When Mario answered it, Gloria was shocked on what she heard because Mario lost his job. Gloria asked Mario if how he lost his job and Mario answered it and Gloria was shocked again because Mario said that he lost his job because of an apple. Gloria said that how can he loose his job by just taking one not a dozen not a crate but one apple and Mario answered that he just saw it rolling and he found himself putting it in his bag because Tita would love to have it, and Mario told Gloria that there’s no need to worry because he found a new job. Suddenly Pablo was there ruining the whole conversation and asked them if how is there daughter doing and he’ll loan a few pesos to help there daughter and Gloria said that no thank you because Mario stopped depending on Pablo. Pablo said that Mario’s new job was with Pablo and when Gloria heard it he told Mario that it’s a bad doing and risky. But Mario didn’t listen and walks away with Pablo and told Gloria not to worry because he will come back early morning and don’t wait for him. Gloria cries and shouting Mario, while Tita was crying also because he heard the conversation.

Ponitillism from Birth to Adul essays

Ponitillism from Birth to Adul essays Pointillism has truly been the beginning of a new error within time itself. Its creation came from an offshoot of Impressionism, and is usually classified as a form of Post-Impressionism. It is very similar to Divisionism, but where Divisionism is concerned with the color theory, Pointillism is focused more so on the specific style of the brushwork in which was used to apply the paint. While being A style of painting in which non-primary colors are generated, not by mixing of pigments in the palette nor by using pigments directly, but by the visual mixing of points from primary colors placed in close proximity to each other. (Wikipedia.org) While George Seurat was credited for the birth of Pointillism, he used a normal scientific approach to his paintings abstruse color theories recedes somewhat. Seurat seemed to accept being known as a technician of art, and in doing so he borrowed from science the signs of its authority, including regularity and clarity of pattern. In doing so Seurat began to paint with a technique in which dots of unmixed color are juxtaposed onto the canvas. In doing this the dots blended together and created tones from when you would look at it from a distance. This means that with the same set of primaries, pointillist generated a different range of colors... (Wikipedia.org) Seurat also found that certain color combinations produced certain feelings, bright, warm colors made the viewers happy. While dark, cool colors can cause feelings of depression. In The Slid Show, Seurat used colors to create a melancholy, detached mood. The painting is brownish monochrome made up of green, yellow, orange, a nd blue dots and simplified, stylized shapes. Those shapes that can be read as figures are flat, vertical, two dimensional silhouettes. Seurats simplified, minimal forms can be seen as setting the stage for much of the twentieth centurys abstract art. Because of this the individual o...

Company Law Problem Question The WritePass Journal

Company Law Problem Question Company Law Problem Question ] Drury, R. (1986) The Relative Nature of a Shareholder’s Right to Enforce the Company Contract. The Cambridge Law Journal, vol 45, issue 2, pp. 219 246 Sealy, L. Wothington. S. (2008) Cases Materials in Company Law. (9Ed) Oxford: Oxford University Press

Choose a public policy in Hong Kong Essays

Choose a public policy in Hong Kong Essays Choose a public policy in Hong Kong Essay Choose a public policy in Hong Kong Essay Incremental decision making model has contributed much to our understanding of how policies are made and implemented. The purpose of this paper is to address the decision making model applied in Hong Kong by illustrating the environmental policies that have been made in the last two decades. Environmental policy was chosen in this paper because it has again become a popular point of discussion in Hong Kong due to the massive concern by the Chief Executive in his policy address. Besides, there are few controversial issues in recent years that aroused public concern and discussion too, such as the building of Disneyland, the development of Sha Lo Tung and the Western Railway Project by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC). This essay mainly comprised of three parts. First, I will mention the main features and characteristics of the incremental decision making model. Secondly, I will briefly discuss the environmental policies in Hong Kong in the last two decades, especially the Ordinances imposed by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). Finally, I will analyze how the environmental policies have been made in the period and if they can be explained by the incremental decision making model. The main argument of this paper is that the incremental model is the most appropriate one in explaining the Hong Kong government in making environmental policies. Incrementalism Levine (1990, p. 82) suggests, incrementalism is the prevailing mode of describing and explaining decision-making in some government. Their public decision making seems as muddling through rather than as a comprehensive search for the best policy possible. So incrementalism basically refers to the decision makers take what they are currently doing as given, and make small, incremental, marginal adjustments in their current behaviors. Lindblom (Levine, 1990, p. 83) argued that public decisions are best made in small steps, as Human intelligence and decision making capacity are limited; the world and its policy problems are complex. Collins (1995, p. 79) added, instead of specifying objectives and specifying what policies would fulfill these objectives, the decision maker reaches decisions by comparing specific policies and the extent to which these policies will help in achieving the aims. The alternative strategy of small steps away from the status quo is called disjointed incrementalism, which involves examining policies which differ slightly from each other. There is a general consensus that disjointed incrementalism is a good description of how decisions are actually made in organisations. Incrementalism is a good description of how policies are actually made and a good example of how policies should be made. In fact, the central features of incrementalism can be outlined in four points. First, there is limited number of alternatives are considered, only marginally different from the status quo and from each other. Second, policy problems can never be solved once and for all, but through a series of trial-and-error modifications. Third, it is characterized by consensual which all policy makers agree upon after negotiation and compromise. Fourth, most policies are remedial in nature. Policy makers are reactive in only responding to problems already occurred, not to pursue any desirable societal value. In short, incremental policy-making is a process of mutual adjustment among a multiplicity of actors having different self-interests and divergent conceptions of the public interest (Hayes 1992, 13). According to the model, decision-making produces policies that depart ever so slightly from previous ones (Lindblom 1979, 517). Hence, this type of decision-making is incremental in nature. Therefore, it can be predicted that better policy will be resulted if decision makers launch only small departures from existing policies, assess how well those small departures work, and then make any additional adjustments that are necessary or desirable. According to Levine (1990, p. 83), decision making is by successive limited comparisons rather than by large leaps into the unknown and perhaps unknowable. The approach helps to avoid major expensive errors and permits erroneous decisions to be revised. Moreover, Levine (1990, p. 83) further suggested that incremental decisions aimed to minimize costs rather than maximize benefits. If a policy problem is difficult to understand and policy makers lack any firm knowledge about the root causes of it, searching for perfect policy (rational approach) seems to be illogical and impossible. Background of the Environmental Policy in Hong Kong Pollution has been concerned very much by the government in recent decades and it has been commonly regarded as the major environmental problem in Hong Kong. Therefore, several Ordinances that have been imposed in order to tackle the problem. However, these Ordinances are mainly focus on four types of pollution: water pollution, noise pollution, air pollution and waste pollution. (i) Water Pollution Control Ordinance All discharges, other than domestic sewage to a foul sewer or unpolluted water to a storm drain, must be covered by an effluent discharge licence. The licence specifies the permitted physical, chemical and microbial quality of the effluent and the general guidelines are that the effluent does not damage sewers or pollute inland or inshore marine waters (EPD, 2003). (ii) Noise Pollution Control Ordinance Neighbourhood noise and noise from construction, industrial and commercial activities are controlled by the Noise Control Ordinance. Neighbourhood noise in the context of providing quick relief to the public is generally controlled by the police (EPD, 2003). (iii) Air Pollution Control Ordinance Air pollution was already a concern in the early 1970s when the Government began monitoring sulphur dioxide levels. In the light of this, Air Pollution Control (Fuel Restriction) Regulation introduced in 1990. This monitoring, which has expanded over the years to cover seven major pollutants and provide daily information and forecasts, provided evidence of a worsening problem (EPD, 2003). (iv) Waste Control Ordinance It regulates the dumping of waste in public places or on Government land, or on private premises without the consent of the owner or occupier. Apart from this general provision, there are Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) General Regulations; Waste Disposal (Livestock Waste) Regulations; and Import and Export of Waste Control (EPD, 2003). Environmental Policy-making since 1980s Nowadays, the pollution problem still exist in Hong Kong, though the government has put extensive attention and resources it. Since 1980s, nevertheless, the major sources of pollution in Hong Kong are not only from households or factories, but also attributed to the developments and construction projects carried out by both the private developers and government itself. In fact, environmental degradation is not just an incidental and unwanted result of some minor deficiencies in the economic process. Rather, its roots may go as deep as the decision-making mechanisms at work within the economic process and the social and political forces that operates on it. Undoubtedly, some development proposals and projects could bring significant benefits to the Hong Kong community. However, they also have the potential to cause environmental damage unless they adopt environmentally sound design and implementation practice. Instead of looking for a perfect policy or full solution to the environmental problems, the Hong Kong government may alleviate the problem on a step-by-step basis by using the following two means.