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down with prejudgement11/7/01People who are willing to make friends in other groups or break the stereotype are few and far between. Most people are more comfortable wrapping themselves up in one image and hating people who are different than they are. What it comes down to is this: you see a person. They are white, hispanic, pierced all over, or decked out in Calvin Klein; whatever. You see them, and you think, "thug..." "punk..." "prep..." It doesn't matter; you just see them, and a word comes up in your mind. That's the stereotyping. Then you think, "I hate their type," or "those people do bad things," for whatever reason. Your reason isn't important here; it doesn't matter whether you think you have a good reason for hating a certain group; all that matters is that you judge. There's your prejudice. You hate them. They do bad things. Now choose how you will relate to this person: you can do the easy thing and expect nothing more from them than their stereotype, or you can do the right thing and base your judgement of a person on their character. The truth is that we fear differences. If someone looks different than you do, or appears to act or think differently, the reflex is to avoid them. Differences might lead you to change. Everyone is resistant to change, and therefore also resistant to forgetting stereotypes. Some people choose to perpetuate stereotypes because it's the easy way out. If you can put someone into a category, you can predict their behavior and interests without actually having to get to know them. If you're not consciously labeling people, you're doing it unconsciously, and that's not helping either. In order to diminish the power stereotypes have over your relationships with other people, you've got to work on two things. First, you have to remember not to judge until you've actually met a person. Let them have a chance to prove themselves to be good people before you revert to making a judgement based on their appearance or the first words out of their mouth. The second solution to the problem is to break the mold. Be a smart blonde, or an athletic punk, or a happy goth. Do something to make yourself memorable to everyone you meet, so you end up being referred to not as "that preppy chick," but as you. Without stereotyping, there will be no prejudgement, and no room for closed-mindedness. |
