Causes Of Stereotyping

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S tereotypes are perceptive frameworks made up of knowledge and beliefs about specific social groups suggesting all members of these group possess certain traits. (Judd, Ryan, & Park, 1991) In accordion with the Webster’s Dictionary (Webster, 1999), Stereotyping is defined as a fixed standardized notion or conception of an individual or a group of individuals, held in common by a number of people. Stereotypes are commonly formed based on a person’s gender, looks and race which is prejudging the person and labeling the person without really knowing the individual. As people usually have a habit of stereotyping a person from what they see and think, the appearance or look of the individual is the most common cause of stereotyping. For instance, …show more content…

A male model is shown as a real “gentleman” with class, who is athletic, good looking and successful with a beautiful woman or women by his side with the latest smartphone in hand along with owning a branded car. Men are very rarely in commercials about housecleaning and if they are, they appear as the experts who advise women the correct way of cleaning the toilet. Interestingly, some researchers have observed trends over time and one study (Mager & Helgeson, 2011) analyzed thousands of ads over a 50 year span and found that over time, role portals of men and women has become more equal. This could be because of the non-schematic ideas used to promote products. In this, women are presented as fiercely independent with no care about social expectations whilst men are shown cooking and washing.
The second form of stereotyping in the media is racial stereotyping. The Oxford Dictionary (Simpson & Weine., 1989) states that racism is the “prejudice, discrimination or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.” The classification system which racialized different groups by sorting them based on skin colour and prominent features has been in repetition since early …show more content…

Stereotyping has existed in the society for a long time and probably will exist for a long time to come. It is the society itself which should stop the stereotyping by controlling the mass media instead of letting it control the public. Some common place stereotypes are virtually taboo today due to the change in the society’s view and more will be taboo tomorrow if the society wills it. However, in order to achieve this, people have to avoid the skeptical manipulation through education and learning more about the world along with the