I personally hate stereotypes.

I dislike the fact that people think I should act one

way because of my sex, personality, or nationality. I hate that people think I should
like sports because I am a man. I hate that people think I should be priest because
of my personality. I hate all of this because people are creating a concept of me
based in what they see, but not in who I really am.
Stereotypes are a big problem in our society. It puts labels about how a person
should act or live according to their sex, race, personality, and other facts. This
could affect individuals who perhaps like different things or do different activities,
but feel ashamed of doing so because of stereotypes. Stereotypes like all men like
sports or women are not as strong as men, are among the most common in our
society. Stereotypes have created a distortion of how every individual should be.
We as part of the generation Y should know how these stereotypes could affect us
as individuals. We should learn not to judge and prejudge about people because of
what we think they should be like, and should change our point of view about the
stereotypes that are deeply rooted in our society.
The negatives effects that stereotyping causes in people are many. Some of the
negatives effects are harm, poor performance in different activities, and even
health problems. According to the article Long-term Effects of Stereotyping
published in psychcentral.com, Rick Nauert argues how people can be affected by
stereotypes even after being exposed to them. Nauert based his arguments based
on a study of the University of Toronto that shows how people get hurt because of
stereotypes, and how it could affect their performance in different task. People are
more likely to be aggressive after theyve faced prejudice in a given situation. They
are more likely to exhibit a lack of self-control. They have trouble making good,
rational decisions. And they are more likely to over-indulge on unhealthy foods
says Michael Inzlicht, who led the research. This demonstrates how individuals are
affected in a negative way because of negative stereotypes.
But not only bad stereotypes cause negative effects in individuals. Good
stereotypes can also be harmful and cause new problems. They are even worse
because people are not aware they are causing harm. In the article Why
stereotypes are bad even when theyre good, published in the website

guardian.co.uk, Oliver Burkeman explain how good stereotypes could create

another problems such as sexism and racism. This can be harmful to many
individuals. Burkeman argument is based in a study by the Duke University that
discovered that positive stereotypes can be harmful in different situations without
people realizing they are doing so. In this study the participants were exposed to
fake articles related to black people. The first article was positive and showed that
black people are better at sports. In this first article the participants didnt realize
this was a stereotype. Next the participants were exposed to a negative article
about that black people are more prone to violence. When asked to estimate the
probability that a hypothetical series of people with typically African-American
names might commit a crime, people exposed to the positive stereotype rated that
possibility as higher than did those exposed to a negative one. The positive
stereotype (good at athletics) apparently led to stronger negative beliefs about
black people than the negative one (prone to violence) (Burkeman). This
demonstrates how good and bad stereotypes are equally bad because it causes
prejudgment and leads to bigger problems.
Stereotypes create a misconception of how people are and how they live in other
cultures, religions, or countries. This misconception could cause problems such as
discrimination. This is a big problem in our multicultural society. In the talk The
danger of a single story, published in TED.com, Chimamanda Adichie argues that
knowing a single story of a person or a country can cause misunderstanding and
create stereotypes. She uses the example of when she first came to the US to
study. She says that a woman felt sorry about her because she came from Africa,
and even ask her if she could listen her tribal music. Chimamanda tells us how she
felt struck by this because she is member of a middle class family in Nigeria and
she doesnt listen to tribal music. This demonstrates how people are influenced by
a single story of a country or a person, and are no aware of many other stories that
could change the perception of them. Now, what if my roommate knew about my
friend Fumi Onda, a fearless woman who hosts a TV show in Lagos, and is
determined to tell the stories that we prefer to forget? What if my roommate knew
about the heart procedure that was performed in the Lagos hospital last week?
What if my roommate knew about contemporary Nigerian music, talented people
singing in English and Pidgin, and Igbo and Yoruba and Ijo, mixing influences from

Jay-Z to Fela to Bob Marley to their grandfathers. What if my roommate knew

about the female lawyer who recently went to court in Nigeria to challenge a
ridiculous law that required women to get their husbands consent before renewing
their passports? (Adichie). What if we see in other countries, cultures, or religions
not only what we belief, but also other stories that could change our perception. It
is important to learn from each other to understand and avoid stereotypes that
could be harmful.
Stereotypes are creating problems in kids. These problems can affect children in
many ways. We can see the negatives effects in many areas such as the academic
area. In the article Awareness of racial stereotypes happens at an early age, has
consequences, published in berkeley.edu, Carol Hyman show us how stereotypes
could cause problems in people from early ages. He support his claim based on a
study of the University of Berkeley that shows how racial stereotypes make the
children perform poorly in school. He mentions how we could solve these
problems. Hyman says that school should Change the way tests are described,
Eliminate stereotypes and prejudice, and Adopt classroom practices to reduce
competition. If we want new generations to be successful we need to do
something to change it.
This problem is creating confusion in kids because they are growing up thinking
that they should be one way because society thinks thats the ideal. Stereotypes
also are creating a false idea of how they interact with other individuals. Many of
the stereotypes the children receive are through media. We cant change this
because is the way our society works, but we can teach our children to value other
people for what they are, not what they appear to be. It is also important to teach
our children to respect each other regardless of sex, sexual orientation, race,
culture, religion, personality and more. It is important to teach them these values
because they are the future of our society.
We as the new generation should do something to avoid this problem. We can start
changing our perception of stereotypes. We should be aware that all stereotypes
are bad regardless if they are good or bad because it causes prejudgment. We
should learn to respect and understand other cultures, religions, and countries.
This could avoid many problems such as discrimination. And more importantly we

should teach newer generations to respect each other regardless of their

differences. With all of this we can change our perception of the stereotypes that
are deeply rooted in our society and make of this a better society.