The Pros And Cons Of Stereotypes In American Society

You make assumptions of people as soon as you see them. Do you ever look at someone and make assumptions right away about that person without knowing them? Stereotypes occur without you realizing it. Stereotype is “to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same” (“Stereotype” Merriam-webster.com). I believe everywhere in our American society we either stereotype or witness stereotyping because it has become a natural instinct. Psychologists say we categorize -- or stereotype -- by age and race and gender, because our brains are wired to do so automatically (Stossel and Kendall para. 4).

The idea of stereotyping spread throughout America in the 20th century. At the end of the 1940s, all the trends

Chisholm says how from her experiences she came to realize that she had two drawbacks: one was being black, and the other was being a female (Chisholm 262). To Chisholm, both handicaps [black and female] mean a disadvantage in a society full of prejudice people. Chisholm’s primary focus is on female stereotypes in the workplace however; she also states how women are always expected to be less in many areas such as “the happy homemaker and the contented darky…” (Chisholm 263). She recognizes that women in America have been brainwashed into believing their role as women is being “second-class citizens” (Chisholm

Americans let higher authorities such as religion, government, and culture brainwash people into believing that gender stereotypes are fine, which had made for many years women not mind their inferior social status. According to Margo Monteith, Ph.D., by the age of five, children have already learned stereotypes by the early culture messages and "children don't have a choice about accepting or rejecting these conceptions, since they're acquired well before they have the cognitive abilities or experiences to form their own beliefs" (Paul para. 19). In addition, religion and higher authorities also set the expected behavior and attitudes based on gender. Altogether, these higher authorities can to promote stereotypes by “peer pressure, mass media, the actual balance of power in society” (Paul para.