Stereotypes And Stereotypes Essay

On a daily basis, individuals talk about preconceived notions around whom others are, why some things are one way, or what some people do. Many of these statements can be considered stereotypes or misconceptions. The only reason people may believe such words can be because of the unreasonable number of times the statements have been repeated. While some of what is said is true, or stereotypes, others are actually misconceptions which are considered stereotypes, but they are in fact incorrect statements. For example, when an individual thinks about cancer, often times he/she may think about losing hair, about depression, or about death. What one does not understand is that even though cancer is connected to all of these in one way or another, there is much more to the story. With stereotypes and misconceptions, people connect a small part of a concept
However, misconceptions, while similar to stereotypes are different because stereotypes have some truths behind them, but misconceptions are basically opinions. When it comes to stereotyping, people believe that a certain thing is true about all people in a group. But, even though some parts of the story can be supported, other parts are full of exaggeration. In a way, individuals give others certain stereotypes because he/she truly believe someone is a certain way or because it makes one feel better about themself. This is similar to Gretel Ehrlich’s take on these categorizations when she describes the stereotypes and misconceptions about cowboys. Ehrlich believes that people do not see the true character of others, for example cowboys, because it gives them something to hope for. It gives individuals a piece of mind to know that in this world, there exists people who are keeping everyone else safe (1). Although her article is kind of a positive when it comes to this topic, other times, these words can