Stereotypes, a generalization of a certain group, can affect the way we view someone. These range from the way we look, to even what we do or the way we act. We get these stereotypes from the media portrayal of said group, and even the people we know telling us that this should be this certain way causes stereotypes. When growing up and being told that certain people act this way, when we meet someone like that, all we see is the way we are told they are. While a good stereotype can be a compliment and make you proud of who you are, it can also cause a lot of pressure. A bad stereotype can make you feel down about yourself.
People tend to avoid those who they think are dangerous and creepy when in reality they could be the nicest person ever, all it is is the way they were portrayed. Not only that, but it can also cause biases and unfairness. In jobs, let's say there are two types of workers there, one whose type of people are seen as normal, let’s call her A and another worker, whose type of people are seen as not the best, B. If B works really hard and tries their absolute best, while A mostly slacks off and barely does their work, unfortunately, the person in charge could favor A even though they barely do their work and hate on B, just because of these ideas we have of people like B. As much as this is a made-up scenario, this does actually happen in the workplace. People in these groups that are deemed as “different” are judged before people even knowing who they really are.
Fortunately, through social media, people have been spreading more awareness and trying to stop stereotyping, by saying things like “Not all___” are like this. People also have been raising awareness not to say certain things because they could be harmful to certain groups. Of course, there are still people who stereotype others and say harmful things, but the best way to deal with that is to call them out and not associate with them. Nonetheless, we’ve definitely improved in the past. I mean, there used to be stereotypes that women are to work in the kitchen and shouldn’t study nor work, but now we know they can be independent and do what they want.
So, while we’ve improved on stereotyping in the past, there are still some stereotypes out there that we should fix. The best way to do so is to call people out for using these stereotypes and learn that we shouldn’t do what they do. While there will always be stereotypes, because generalization and the way people are portrayed will most likely always be on the media, we should still try to keep an open mind and not think all of the same kind are the same. Who knows maybe in the future, there will be a better representation of groups.