Stereotypes and Prejudice

Part I

Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each:

• Race • Ethnicity • Religion • Gender • Sexual orientation • Age • Disability

|Category |Stereotype 1 |Stereotype 2 |Stereotype 3 |
|Age |Our older generation (think |Teenagers are linked to crime, |The middle age generation is seen |
| |grandparents) are seen as fragile |drugs, alcohol and sex. Can be |as having mid life crisis, or a |
| |and senile, not physically able to|seen as ignorant, and the reason |9-5 boring job, with 2.5 kids and |
| |do anything. |our society is failing. |a house. |
|Race |Black – seen as “ghetto”, drug |Asain – seen as overly |White – rude, arrogant, |
| |dealers, or having a lot of |intelligent, high motivational |homophobic, or anti |
| |children, living on welfare. |drive, doctors, or the inability |religious/overly religious. |
| | |to drive. | |
|Sexual Orientation |Gay men are overly flamboyant, or |Gay women, or lesbians are butch, |Pansexuals (bi sexuals) are more |
| |“girlie”, with a best friend |and hate men. |sexually active, and are not able |
| |attitude and a high sense of | |to hold a stable relationship due |
| |fashion. | |to their sexuality. |

Part II

Answer each question in 50 to 100 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use.

What are the positive aspects of stereotypes, if any? The only positive aspect of a stereotype that I can think of, is that stereotypes are able to help us quickly judge something. In some cases, we are able to quickly judge if we are in danger or not, by judging the people and area around us.

What are the negative aspects of stereotypes? There are many negative aspects to stereotypes. One of the many negative aspects, are that stereotpyes can oppress people into thinking they should act a certain way due to their skin color, or culture. Feelings get hurt, and prejudice is always present in the face of stereotyping.

Part III

Answer each question in 50 to 150 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use.

Define stereotypes and prejudice. What is the difference between stereotyping and prejudice? Use examples to illustrate the differences. Stereotype – conforming to a pattern. Prejudice – a prejudice is a preconceived judgement.

The difference between a stereotype is that a stereotype is based off something that has a pattern that tends to repeat itself, and a prejudice is a preconceived judgement. For example, after 9/11 people who looked to be from the Middle East were prejudiced against in every establishment. An example of a stereotype would be that gay men have a great sense of style, or are flamboyant.

What is the relationship between stereotyping and prejudice?

Stereotyping and prejudice may be different, but they compliment each other in the fact that people are judged before we get to know them.

What can be done to prevent prejudice from occurring?

There are many things we can do to prevent prejudice. One is simply keeping an open mind when having an encounter with anyone we meet. Just because someone is a certain age, or has a certain skin color does not mean they are predisposed to act a certain way. We can keep our children from being prejudiced as they grow older, by teaching them that prejudice is wrong, and changing attitudes about other cultures and ethnicity’s attributes. Preparing tomorrows future is one of our best assets.