Stereotypes, whether they are ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ often hurt people. Positive stereotypes can hurt and embarrass those that don’t meet or live-up to such generalizations, and cause some people outside the generalized group to perhaps give up trying to show or relate to the ‘positive’ trait or stereotyped feature. Negative stereotypes hurt, by obviously judging someone based on the actions or talk of others, and putting a whole group of very diverse people into one compact and narrow block. Negative stereotypes also have many harmful consequences which affect the lives of many innocent people, as will be mentioned later. However, both kinds of stereotypes are nothing to base judgement upon, since even if some were slightly ‘true’, people are always changing and so are their characteristics. Stereotypes are often a result and made from political propaganda in the first place, as can be seen through the posters, news, writings and rhetoric during periods of war or political tension.

But what makes so many people often repeat anti-stereotyping sayings to the meanings of ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ and ‘Judge people by their actions’ and still fall into the injustice of stereotyping others by making the mistake of over-generalizing?

Well, for one thing, it’s much easier for people to classify others, and it’s through this act of classifying others that a hierarchy of certain values and beliefs is built. One where, generally speaking (since most stereotyping is negative) the person puts themselves into a higher class than those they classify. Sometimes this classification happens unconsciously as a result of various media rhetoric, movies and prejudices that come across in daily interactions with others, and sometimes this classification happens with full-awareness and is made to seem correct by the person. Yet, no one can ever have a comprehensive view of a certain people, and it’s wrong to do so, since people by their very nature are diverse and different, especially in today’s fast-changing world.

Yet, prejudices are so easy to form and so commonplace, how can a person know whether they have crossed the line? A clear indication of crossing the line is if when meeting a person, a stereotypical feature is put forefront in the thoughts and expected. Rather, every new acquaintance should be new and fresh and based on a neutral standpoint. Thinking about or expecting certain stereotypical generalizations should be avoided as much as is possible. Since doing so is unjust and prevents neutral, fair and fruitful interactions with others.

To show the extent of just how unfair and unjust it is to stereotype, here are some examples of how stereotypes have hurt and wronged others.

Throughout history, there have always been a targeted group of people selected for concentrated or highlighted stereotyping, which is often negative. Some of these stereotypes still exist to some extent today in various parts of the world, and are lodged firmly in the minds of various people. It’s often the case that such stereotypes are and were often spoken of in the news and in movies – which sometimes serve to reinforce, depict or even create the stereotypes in the first place.  For example, during World War II and the Vietnam War, it was Asians, who were depicted as the ‘baddies’ and were given the stereotype of ‘cheap labor’. There was an anti-Asian sentiment in news coverage, and movies and many were beaten in the street and used in horrible ways. Then there was the depiction of African Americans as ‘drug-dealers’, ‘gangsters’ or ‘criminals’ or ‘violence-prone’. Both stereotypes had the negative effect of many innocent African Americans and Asians being turned down for job interviews, suspiciously checked and arrested by police and even being charged for crimes like murder or rape for which they didn’t commit. Such negative unjust outcomes were the effects of prejudice and stereotypes made popular to lodge in the minds of many by mediums of media and movies.

Popular and reinforced stereotypes often have a political background or agenda, and as such, many negative effects follow as a result, including biased school curriculum’s, a media that demeans the group – making a simple everyday act of watching or listening to the news an upsetting and hurtful one for the stereotyped group. With regards to the last effect, a present example is the negative stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists and Arabs as an angry aggressive mob of people. After the horrible event of September 11, many Muslims were spat at, targets for hit and runs crimes and discriminated against in colleges, work places and other institutions. Such actions are inhumane, wrong and oppressive, yet some felt justified from their stereotypes by the prejudice they held that everyone in this group were somehow ‘terrorists’, even though many Muslims died during the destruction, and they are obviously not all ‘terrorists’, just as every Norwegian is not a terrorist.  

Even during these modern times of today, it’s surprising how prejudice views and open –over-generalizations of people are reinforced in popular media, without much of any reproach at all! One wonders at the progressiveness of times today, if things such as propaganda against a certain group of people are constantly reinforced and depicted by the news and movies. It’s not nice, fair or humane to bundle a group of nationalities, followers of a religion, or a particular color of skin to a particular stereotype, since doing so is very un-progressive.

Stereotyping in reality is an abuse of human rights; it is a dehumanization process that more often shows negative consequences. People are dynamic, diverse and different and change with the times. It’s not fair to presume a prejudiced view about a person before meeting them, and over-generalizing a group oppresses them. The other side of oppression to do with stereotyping is that it can affect how some people from the stereotyped group act. When a people are regarded a certain way, and this is a popularly held belief, such people generally succumb to what everyone thinks of them – which is dangerous, since it prevents individuality and a person is affected by the negative assumptions of others. It’s best to stay clear of any generalizations and to acknowledge that people even from the same group differ greatly. One way to overcome stereotypes and making such mistakes is not to take generalizations as facts. Rather, take things as they come and strive to be neutral and fair – that’s the way of the progressive and open-minded human of today.