How do stereotypes originate?

[Bini]

I don't intend to offend. Just looking for discussion. We agree that stereotyping an entire group of people based on one label is unfair, despite there always being exceptions. But how do stereotypes originate? Is it that an overwhelming number of people reflect said label? Or is it an off-base label created by haters? Is it a result of individual experiences that casts a single label on an entire group of people? The following are statements that I have openly heard. I'm not interested in dissecting each one. My question about "How do stereotypes originate" is asked generally and not specific to one of the below.

Women are bad drivers

• Teen parents are uneducated

• Mexicans are lazy

• Black males are thugs

• Muslims are terrorists

• The rich are selfish

• Gay men are flamboyant

• Gay women are butch

• Fat people eat a lot

• Once a cheater, always a cheater

My brief thoughts on the above statements are views from personal experiences. I consider myself a good driver but my husband is better at parallel parking than I am. Having had friends that were teen parents, about half never graduated high school and about the other half remain high school graduates. My husband owns a construction company - Mexicans are not lazy. I don't claim to know the statistics but I have heard that young black males occupy most of our prisons in the United States, however, I don't believe that all young black males out there are destined to rob a bank or shoot someone. I grew up with many Muslim friends back in the UK and Asia, major emphasis on friends, they're good people. Rich people are selfish, just as much as poor people are, and everyone else in between. Hollywood and the media does a great job of painting this flamboyant/butch portrait for homosexuals, and from my experience, it's inaccurate. I would say that most overweight people are overweight because of excess food consumption and lack of exercise but not everyone. From experience, once a cheater, always a cheater, rings very very true for me.

So, how do stereotypes originate?

[Soulsearcher]

I tend to think stereotypes originate from who draws the focus and who we choose to focus on. It's sad but i think the majority of people tend to see the bad easier than the good. One of the things i've learned in customer service is that you do one little thing wrong and you'll get a complaint all the way to the top of the company. You do everything right and you won't usually even get a thank you. It seems to be human nature to focus on the bad and different and to point it out loudly. Also it seems people tend to repeat what we hear with out too much digging, it's easier to believe if we think it sounds ok and then pass it on.

From your list do you think there are people from those groups that fit the stereotypes? off course there are, but not all, and i did like how you went through each one and gave your view, it showed one persons take on them and it most cases showed where a few of them might come from for that person or why they might bother that person.

[pam]

Personally I think at some small point in history, each of these might have had a small ring of truth to them. But due to ignorance or even a lack of interraction with some, stereotypes are born and they are perpectuated.

I think so much has to do with ignorance.

[Jennarator]

I think Pam is correct, to an extent. I think that a few people can ruin it for everyone. Like if you know a person with no common sense, and they happen to be blonde then you think they fit the stereotype. Yet Mexicans have a rep for being lazy and they are the hard workers that work the potato fields.......so that makes no sense. In San Diego, Filipinos have the rep for being the bad drivers, I am sure it stemmed from someone that happen to be a bad driver and a Filipino. I really think the stereotypes came from someone that called someone a name with a "hate" twist to it to give the name more emphasis. Then these names stuck. We don't notice those that don't fit the sterotype, just those that do. So we think everyone fits it. Okay, I can't write this to make it sound clear, I hope you get what I am saying......

[pam]

It made sense to me Jenn.

[Bini]

I think Pam is correct, to an extent. I think that a few people can ruin it for everyone. Like if you know a person with no common sense, and they happen to be blonde then you think they fit the stereotype. Yet Mexicans have a rep for being lazy and they are the hard workers that work the potato fields.......so that makes no sense. In San Diego, Filipinos have the rep for being the bad drivers, I am sure it stemmed from someone that happen to be a bad driver and a Filipino. I really think the stereotypes came from someone that called someone a name with a "hate" twist to it to give the name more emphasis. Then these names stuck. We don't notice those that don't fit the sterotype, just those that do. So we think everyone fits it. Okay, I can't write this to make it sound clear, I hope you get what I am saying......

I dunno about San Diego but in the Philippines, yeh, they're maniacs! Hehe.

But in all seriousness, the drivers over there are aggressive and potentially dangerous. There's like literally no rules on the road, people do whatever they want, and if you're a jeepney - you win, and if you're a pedestrian or tricycle - you lose. Of course, that's a general statement.. ..

[pam]

I thought those in Hong Kong, when I was there, were horrible drivers..but the more I thought about it the more I thought these drivers are amazing. To get through that much traffic..I don't think I could have done it successfully on my own.

And then in Mexico, I just held my breath through the entire taxi ride.

[prisonchaplain]

Sometimes we need to make quick decisions. We categorize based upon what we have heard and what we think we know. On a broad scale this can become racist, sexist, elitism, etc. On an individual decision we sometimes need to use our best guess to assess and then make the call. Some believe government needs to intervene to avoid unfairness. Others believe individuals should be given great lee way, because personal freedom is as important as group fairness. It's a dance that never seems to end.

[Hala401]

There are those who would like to portray themselves as champions of America, but in my estimation are consumed and driven by their own fear and less honorable motives. Humans generally are at times like a flock of sheep, and the Bible says so. :)

So after 9/11, suddenly all Muslims were terrorists. No one mentioned that certain cities in America were key to our Auto making industry, and some of these cities have a very high percentage of Muslims in their population. No one mentioned that almost 10% of those who died in the twin towers were Muslim.

In my <7 years as a Muslim, the women I encountered just wanted to worship Allah SWT, raise their children and do what ever they could to have a better life. Most of the Muslims I knew were immigrants to America. Sadly, I did encounter a few people who seemed quite hateful and were bent on perverting the meaning of Holy Jihad.

In WWII, the internment of Japanese immigrants is an embarassment to our government, when fear mongers were able to do unreasonable things.

I believe our human brains try to reduce complex situations down to their lowest common denominator and sometimes that means classifying things in one group in a way that is unfair.

[prisonchaplain]

Hala, you may appreciate this gem, spoken at a public forum with over 3000 in attendance, by the superintendant of public schools in our area, "I don't see any difference between Al Qaida and the Christian Coalition." -- Fall 2002

All Muslims are not terrorists, and neither do conservative Christians desire to set up a Christian theocracy. Here we are, nearly 10 years later, and the stereotypes seem only to have intensified.

[Hala401]

Hala, you may appreciate this gem, spoken at a public forum with over 3000 in attendance, by the superintendant of public schools in our area, "I don't see any difference between Al Qaida and the Christian Coalition." -- Fall 2002

All Muslims are not terrorists, and neither do conservative Christians desire to set up a Christian theocracy. Here we are, nearly 10 years later, and the stereotypes seem only to have intensified.

I can appreciate you pain. I was part of that crowd in the 70's, 80's, and 90's, and I have to say that just trying to follow the words of Jesus Christ often got me labelled as soft on sin. Remember when Hagee said all Muslims were going to hell?

I remember the lies that my Baptist friends told about Mormons; that they were a cult, worshipped the devil. I remember them being on a peck about gays and lesbians. They were talking about the love of Jesus Christ, and in almost the same breath saying they were going to hell. The look on their faces was frightening to me. How can a man say he loves the sinner, with his face twisted in hate and rage?

I found the same sorts of issues with Muslims. How the Sunni hate the Shia. How the Kurds hate them both, and how the Christians in Iraq fear them all. I still do not know why I did not just turn my back on faith.

Now, today, I will turn and confront any Mormon that I see involved in that sort of thing. And I only do so while being mindful and trembling in fear of my own bent nature.

[prisonchaplain]

"Hate the sin, love the sinner." This old counsel is so wise, so easy to understand, so very difficult to balance and practice.

[Hala401]

"Hate the sin, love the sinner." This old counsel is so wise, so easy to understand, so very difficult to balance and practice.

Sometimes I get tired, and wonder why I just don't walk away from religion entirely. Something in me prevents that, and I feel driven by love and gratitude for what Heavenly Father has promised.

[Seminarysnoozer]

I believe our human brains try to reduce complex situations down to their lowest common denominator and sometimes that means classifying things in one group in a way that is unfair.

Yes, unfair or not that is how the brain works. We remember things based on their associations with similar things. Like finding the right place to put a library book on the shelf, it should be placed next to other books of similar types so that it can be more easily accessed when needed.

The gist of the topic becomes how it is filed in our memory and this is even more true for emotional based memories. We tend to forget the details and remember the gist of the memory and that is how stereotypes are formed. It is how our corrupted, sometimes problem producing brain is wired.

"Neurobiological studies demonstrate the amygdala's role in emotional memory, and psychological studies suggest a particular pattern: enhanced memory for the gist but not the details of complex stimuli."

[Hala401]

Yes, unfair or not that is how the brain works. We remember things based on their associations with similar things. Like finding the right place to put a library book on the shelf, it should be placed next to other books of similar types so that it can be more easily accessed when needed.

The gist of the topic becomes how it is filed in our memory and this is even more true for emotional based memories. We tend to forget the details and remember the gist of the memory and that is how stereotypes are formed. It is how our corrupted, sometimes problem producing brain is wired.

"Neurobiological studies demonstrate the amygdala's role in emotional memory, and psychological studies suggest a particular pattern: enhanced memory for the gist but not the details of complex stimuli."

It is interesting, because once I was cast out of the Evangelical fold, over a period of time I found my thinking changing about one issue or another. When that happened, I often realised that I had been programmed to think a certain way. As time went on, I found myself experiencing the same programming with the Muslims, but this time resisted it and thought very critically about things, though I still loved Allah SWT and believed in the Prophet. Over time programming came in upon me completely unaware.

Then came the Mormons, it I experienced a real tearing in my soul, being subtly pushed to abandon my Hijab and modest clothing. Being around men was so threatening to me, I at first refused to do it. At times, I wondered what would be left of me if yet another group remade me to their satisfaction? There was subtle presure to use my birth name, which I hate, instead of Khadijah. And several times I nearly fled from those who were remaking me despite my protests.

I am a member now, but I am still working out those above issues, and have not gotten there yet. It feels like their comfort was more important than mine and some were insenstive.

I have a calling and a couple other functions to perform and hope that Heavenly Father will eventually give me peace.

[Vort]

At first they all went with the same basic plan: two tracks, a right and a left, one for each ear. But quad sound was introduced, Dolby technology was widely licensed, and Bose speakers were a real advance. Walkmans and, later, mp3 players were complete game-changers, not least because of the widespread introduction of earbuds. Noise cancellation technology added yet another important wrinkle. Ultimately, we ended up with the multiplicity of types we see now.

[Bini]

Vort, that totally went whoosh over my head! But I get it now :] LOL