Ph103 Week 1 Stereotypes Research Paper

Stereotype
Shatara Williams
PHI103: Informal Logic Instructor: Mindy Hamilton
September 23, 2013

STEREOTYPE
Introduction:
Stereotyping is not something that has started overnight; it has been going on for many years now. Everyone has had someone who has stereotyped them in some way at least once in their lifetime. Stereotypes could consist of race, gender, sexual orientation, and social class. The individuals who stereotype other individuals usually go by what others say about a certain race, gender, sexual orientation, and social class. Over the years there have been many stereotypes against certain groups of people. The main stereotypes have been about race and sexual orientation. Most people who stereotype
others believe that if one person does something bad then everyone in the group is bad which is not always true. This paper will discuss three stereotypes that I have encountered and effects that it has on others, explain a stereotype and what type of argument that is used to support it, and identify any mistakes that was found in the argument.
Three stereotypes that I have encountered and the effects that it has on others The three stereotypes that I have encountered would be being an African American, woman, and being young mom.
I have encountered these stereotypes several times in my life and most of them time the outcome is not good. Being an African American I experience this type of stereotype on a daily basis, when I go into clothing or a store I get followed around the store like I’m going to steal something. I look around at the store to see if any other customer is being followed around but they are not, I’m the only one who is being followed around the store. Most workers who work in a clothing store or a store in general are being told to follow the minority customers around the store because they believe that all minorities steal which is not true. I am a minority and I do not steal, just because most minority steal does not mean all of them steal. Being woman males think that we cannot do the things that they do and that we should stay home to raise children, cook, and clean. When I was in the Army National Guard my first unit had an even mixture of males and
females.
Well my unit had to deactivate so we had to find another unit and the unit I went to was 95% male and 5% female.
Before I got there the unit was all male except for the Commander who was a female. The males did not like that they had to have females in there unit, they thought that we were weak and that we could not do our share of the work. We showed them that we are hard workers and we could hold our own. Being a young mom I have encountered several different stereotypes. Most people thought that I did not know how to take care of my son. People thought that most young moms are lazy and let their children run wild. When I had my son I took him and my little cousin to Wal-Mart and a lady made a comment to her husband that it was a shame that all these young girls are having babies back to back at a young age and not married. I was so upset but I did not let it bother me anymore because I was married and only one of the babies was mine.
Previous reports have shown that people have functioned inadequately in certain situations that they feel they are being stereotyped. (Kemick, 2013) Research studies out of the University of Toronto shows that prejudice has a long lasting negative influence of those who encounter it. (Kemick, 2013) Some people are more likely to become aggressive after they encountered a prejudice in a certain setting. (Kemick, 2013) Some people also had difficulty making good and lucid choices. (Kemick,
2013) Explain a stereotype and what type of argument that is used to support it Stereotype refers mostly to a set of clear cut opinions or schemes about affiliates of real or known groups. (Ehrlich, 1951)I was working at Denny’s a couple of years ago and one of my coworkers who is a Mexican American she was next in line get a table to wait on, she was just about to seat the couple but they would not move, so I said sir and ma’am would you please follow your server to your to your table. The couple said no we will wait I said ok, when another one of coworkers who was Caucasian came out of the kitchen the couple said that they would like for her to be their server, and I said ok. When the server took them to their table, the couple started talking about how they did not want any Mexicans or blacks serving them, because all Mexicans cannot speak English and they smell and all blacks are loud and ghetto. The server told the couple that she would be right back, she went to alert the manager about what the couple said, and the manager told them that they had to leave because racism was not allowed here. The stereotype was about minorities, and the argument that would be used to fit this would be hasty generalization. Hasty generalization is committed when the conclusion is founded on inadequate information: an overview is made to fast. (Mosser, 2011) I have not found any mistakes in this type of argument.
Conclusion:
Stereotyping has been going has been going on for many years, and this is something I do not see going away anytime soon. Stereotyping individuals based on what others have done is wrong. In a way its like people are being punished for a crime that they did not commit. Stereotyping is unfair and it hurts individual’s feelings, and cause people to look at others in a different way.

References

Ehrlich, H. J. (1951, March). Social Forces. Retrieved from Stereotyping And Negro-Jewish Stereotypes: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2572414
Kemick, A. (2013, September 12). News Science. Retrieved from Stereotyping Has Lasting Negative Impact: http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/08/12/stereotyping-has-lasting-negative-impact
Mosser, K. (2011). An Introduction to Logic. San Diego, CA:: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.