Stereotype Prejudices - Essay Example

? As a black female, one experiences a number of social prejudices in the of daily life and over the of a lifetime. Many people act outof stereotyped images and expectations, and treat black females differently than they would others. Even when that difference is not intentionally harmful or downgrading, it can be insulting. Being called out or singled out makes one feel different from the rest of society, as though the other person in any interpersonal interaction is reacting to an object rather than to a person whenever one speaks or acts. It is disconcerting to find oneself in such interactions. Does a person accept the judgment? Does a person point out the prejudice? In most such interactions, there is an added factor that makes the interaction not only hurtful, but also tragic. That is because in being treated as an object, one is not afforded the opportunity to have input that may be socially useful or personally beneficial. Being overlooked due to stereotypes makes one’s own role in social interactions to be seen as inconsequential. Even when one has expertise or knowledge, or good intentions or specialized experience, one is looked past -- unseen, unacknowledged, and unheard. Much of this problem can be alleviated through a simple reconsideration of social stereotypes, conducted in an effort to see people for what they really are rather than what our stereotyped prejudices tell us they are. In this brief paper, I will consider three short stereotypes that affect a black female growing up, and will point to both the effects of allowing such stereotypes to persist, and the fallacies that underlie their prevalence. I will put the lie to the stereotype, and in doing so, hope to effectively enlarge a place for myself and others like me in the realm of social interaction. Stereotype #1: Girls are not as smart as boys. This is a stereotype that is not specific to a black female, but when coupled with prejudices regarding blacks and their supposed inferior intelligence, it is pronounced. The stereotype begins to be felt and understood as early as the elementary years in school. It basically states that girls cannot do math and science as well as boys can (Campbell and Storo, 1994), and that, since these are among the most difficult of subjects, requiring the kinds of knowledge that our society values as being representative of high intelligence, this indicates that girls are not as smart as boys. There are several problems with this stereotype. First, it does not rely on any scientific proof, such as that which posited at one time in our recent past the existence of a (now proven non-existent) “math gene.” In fact, it does not even square with the results of many educational trends in the past several decades, which show that girls perform better on all subjects than boys as educational reforms have been put in place to promote their growth. Rather, the stereotype rests on a social prejudice that parents, teachers, and other have regarding the relative worth and value of girls and the expectations they have for their futures. Boys are encouraged to go into the maths and sciences, while girls are not. They are given more practice opportunities to develop their schools. Girls are neglected in these areas. The stereotypes can therefore become on a society-wide basis, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Girls are thought to be less intelligent, they are treated as though they, they are denied opportunities to improve, and it is no surprise that that by the time students get to graduate schools, boys outnumber girls in maths and sciences. And even in professional life and beyond. Women’s opinions are looked past in favor of men’s, as their intelligence is thought suspect. And all of this is based on the stereotyping given girls and the training they undergo to remain true to type. Stereotype #2: Blacks commit more crime. This stereotype is driven in large part by the make-up of prison populations in large urban centers and the social portrayals of black neighborhoods in media and literature. From our youngest days, we are raised with social images of blacks as being dangerous and violent, so that even people who have no immediate black people in their daily interactions are led to have feelings of suspicion and caution when they come into contact with the black man as “other.” Of course, there is, in fact, a high percentage of many prison populations made up of blacks, but this begs the question of whether those men went to prison because they were more violent than their white counterparts, or because society was more willing to see their crimes are prison-worthy and thus to convict them. The unequal sentencing guidelines between crimes related to black-favored crack and white-favored cocaine are just one example of a social policy that drives the make-up of prison demographics. Juries made up of people who carry social stereotypes are also causal factors. Quillian and Pager (2001) argue that people view black neighborhoods as less safe, even when factors regarding crime rates are controlled for in social science research. This indicates that the reasoning behind this social view is not based in science and truth, but is founded on racial prejudices and inequality. In practical effect, it means that black people are watched more closely when they enter stores, and questioned more thoroughly by police in their streets. They are targeted for criminal interactions, and the stereotype, like the other, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stereotype #3: Black women are strong and nurturing. This is an example of a “positive” stereotype that, nevertheless, does its own amount of damage. McRae (2004) argues that white women, particularly, tend to carry this image. It rests on social images of the black women as a rough and ready single mom who knows how to play tough or soft, and is always capable in the end. McRae states that the stereotype prohibits proper social interactions between women of diverse colors, because it allows white women to view their black counterparts as not just stronger than they, but also slightly dangerous. It allows whites to look past black women because they think such women already have their lives in order. Black women are therefore subject to a status quo that identifies them as outsider, even if the reason for that state is theoretically a positive image. Of course, the stereotype is wrong-headed. Black women are just as weak, neurotic, strong, noble, crazy, sane, and human as the next person. But the society wants to make them into something that they are not, and to ignore them. Ironically, it requires black women to reach down inside of themselves and summon the strength that they are supposed to have innately to confront such challenges; the stereotype therefore grows stronger even though it has no basis in actual fact. Conclusion. Stereotypes are harmful and wasteful. Unfortunately, they tend to be rooted in sociological and psychological interaction that are immunized from confrontation with facts. They tend to become self-fulfilling because they are trained into people from very early ages. In this brief paper, it has been argued that a seeming false-on-its-face stereotype about girls’ intelligence and a tragic racial stereotype about crime among black have become built into social interactions so that they turn out to have some factual echoes even though those echoes are driven by prejudiced training rather than fact. Similarly, a stereotype about black women and their personal inner strength is formed not to downgrade black women, but to isolate them and force them to act out in the ways the stereotype dictates. And that is the inevitable power of stereotyping. It tends to make its own lies turn into false truths. References Campbell, P., and Storo, J., 1994. Girls Are... Boys Are... : Myths, Stereotypes & Gender Differences. Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. [online] Accessed November 1, 2011 at: http://www.campbell-kibler.com/Stereo.pdf. McRae, M., 2004. How Do I Talk to You, My White Sister. Center for Gender in Organizations. [online] Accessed November 1, 2011 at: http://www.simmons.edu/som/docs/centers/commentaries_2.pdf. Quillian, L., Pager, D., 2001. Black Neighbors, Higher Crime? The Role of Racial Stereotypes in Evaluations of Neighborhood Crime. American Journal of Sociology 107(3): 717–767. Read More