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Social Discrimination, Identity, and Stereotyping

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Social Discrimination, Identity, and Stereotyping
Social Discrimination, Identity, and Stereotyping

Introduction
The Problem with society is that we cannot accept that we are all different. Many people have seen others as different from themselves but feel that they are in the majority of people that are alike. This can be called social discrimination. Stereotypes are prevalent in society. Stereotypes are inevitable and unpreventable. As we accept that we are always under scrutiny in others eyes we begin to examine ourselves. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of stereotyping and discover how they lead to greater social identity. Once they learn their identity they find themselves stereotyping themselves and others.
A stereotype is a preconceived, oversimplified, exaggerated, and often demeaning assumption of the characteristics that an individual has due to his or her membership in a specific group. We develop stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all of the information we would need to make fair judgments about people or situations. In the absence of the "total picture," stereotypes in many cases allow us to "fill in the blanks." Our society often creates and initiate stereotypes, but these stereotypes often lead to unfair discrimination and persecution when the stereotype is not liked. When people are stereotyped they are judged and treated unfairly. Often when stereotyping happens negative discrimination tends to follow. This may often include isolation and lack of respect given to the stereotyped subject. Short examples of stereotypes would be how we shy away from people with a history of mental illness, because we are afraid they may harm us. Women and minorities are often excluded from high executive positions in the business and political world. Many clubs have restrictive membership policies which do not permit Jews, African-Americans, women, and others to join. Those are some examples of stereotyping and discrimination right



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