Stereotyping And Racism: Perpetuation And Cross-Cultural Impacts

What is Stereotyping?

Any group of people imposed with characteristics due to certain race, nationality, and sexual orientation is referred as stereotyping. The characteristics that are imposed are generally oversimplifications of the group that are involved (Meyer, 2013). The actuality of the notion is while there are some people who embody the characteristics, it is not necessary that every person belonging to the same group is embody the traits of their stereotype. It is never the representative of every member belonging to the same group. Stereotypes are mostly considered to be negative perception of specific groups however in some of the cases it is also positive (Tatum, 2017). While every stereotypes are mainly generalization, every generalization is not stereotypes. The perpetuation of racism has a history with stereotypes, where one group exhibiting few characteristic are assumed as a part of the generalized concept. The essay aim to discuss the perpetuation of racism through stereotype along with the ways this concept is still applied in the general population and cross-culturally. The issue of racism has occupied a significant part of the society and it has been on process since last few decades. People across the world have been through unpleasant experiences for the generalization perspective of them that is pre-constructed. Therefore, it is a topic of worth that can be utilized for research purpose.

The basic concept of stereotype is widely circulated generalization that are oversimplified and often due to the long length of information transfer the generalization turns vague (Lachman, Lachman & Butterfield, 2015). The generalization is based on personal experience which becomes an information when shared with other people. Certain racial groups found in the United States have been interrelated to stereotype, for example being a vegetarian or being good at athletics. These stereotypes are known widely among the state that it is discussed by average American without any hesitation (Woodcock, 2018). For example, question regarding any ethnic group that has excellent reputation in basketball can be easily asked without any hesitation. In a simpler term, stereotyping is the repetition of cultural mythology that already exists in a particular society. It is the portrayal of the issue that remains the major issue of today. In order to consider racism, the most prominent discrimination is the inequality among the indigenous and the non-indigenous people

Generalization can be made about an ethnic group that has not been perpetuated in society (Lewis, 2017). This is basically assuming the broad category traits as the one observed in the smaller groups or people from the same category. Generalization creates too many misunderstanding and spread the wrong concept of generalization over other places. It is a hindrance in diversity within groups and often results in stigmatization. The concept that is inked with stereotyping is Intersectionality.  While the concept of stereotyping is only referring to specific se, race, religion or country, there are various aspects that work together to make up identity. This particular concept is called intersectionality. Involving more than one stereotype is often called the intersectionality. For example, a black women will involve race and well as gender. Differing stereotype can exist within the same race.

Stereotyping and Racism

Racism is among of the social issues that is existing since a long time (Denzin & Giardina, 2018). It is a complicated term that is often considered hard to even define. The word ‘race’ is one of the most used term that one can hear in daily life. It is used as naturally as any other term and yet it is the most significant problem of United States in 21^st century (Andersen & Collins, 2015).  The term can be defined, as the belief that race is responsible for differences in human character or the ability and one race is superior to another. It is also a term that refers to the discrimination or prejudice on the basis of race (Lick, Durso & Johnson, 2013). The prejudice on the basis of race can be understood when history is read where the blacks were not only considered inferior but also as property and not human being. People are perceived in different way on the basis of stereotype which are often portrayed through media. Although today the discrimination is not as the way it was decades ago, it still persist in the contemporary times. People are still treated on the basis of race. Most of the time it take the form of discrimination where one is discriminated on the basis of race, gender, sex or ethnic background.

Media is one of the source of mass communication and has great potential of making or breaking the perception of population (Boudet et al., 2014). Media has often been criticized on their way of representing ethnicity or race in some particular context. Media is responsible of conveying information across the world and critics have found it representing partial behavior (Cohen et al. 2014). In terms of crime, criminals and victims, it is often perceived to be biased. The reason media is considered so impactful is for it has a big role in shaping the youth of the nation. Today, media is profound in the process of socialization than any other period in history. In the older days, the traditional method used to be storytelling where the passing of beliefs were through the family, religion, tribe, community or school. Although all these processes have profound effect on the way youth grow up, there larger impact is by media. Media has become a less form of leisure and more of communication agent. It is seen as a great source of information and people seek to know the happening of the surrounding through media (Anderson et al, 2014).

Media has been found playing the big role in the existing racism in the society. By repeating the cultural myths it only keeps the cultural differences alive among the people (Crenshaw, 2018). Media creates roles for people that are easily accepted by society. It is often the source of consumerism which target to have high sales. Media is responsible for creating images of groups which is commonly accepted and made as to like by people (Esser, 2013). For example, many agents of consumerism create the role of women in the way society accepts it such as shaving their body hair, using more of beauty products. The trick is to bombard public by giving them an image of the particular race, gender and the ethnic group that would be make them feel good about it. It is important to raise questions when the images such as it are displayed by media as it is watched by different age groups and it has extreme impact on them. Questions regarding the values should be raised the subjects are set by the media to pass through population. In the similar way, the existing racism has been created by the creation of the stereotype roles. Media needs to examine stereotype carefully to understand the negative impacts of such roles on the youths as well as adult. Since these roles have extensive impacts they are only reinforcing racism among the population (Schwartz et al., 2013).

Impact of Stereotyping and Racism on Diversity and Stigmatization

Stereotype do great harm and there is no question regarding the statement. Media has the power to create two images of indigenous people, good women and bad ones. Given media’s stereotypical portrayals of people belonging to different background it should not be surprising to find that relationships between different ethnic groups, people from different racial background are depicted in ways that reinforce stereotypes. People are perceived in different way on the basis of stereotype which is often portrayed through media. People tend to believe every information shown by the media and react accordingly (Lamont, Swift & Abrams, 2015). It is the portrayal of the issue that remains the major issue of today. In order to consider racism, the most prominent discrimination is the inequality among the indigenous and the non-indigenous people. Indigenous people are portrayed through a negative perspective by media (Denis, 2015). For example, in video games they are portrayed only in negative roles. It is even worse as there are points for killing the black people. It is not only impactful on non-indigenous people who get the image of the black people only in the negative role but also on the indigenous people when they see themselves in the videogames. There are several other factors that make the racism in society. To be particular, few of the aspects that make the concept of racism are whiteness and white privilege, creation of the whiteness and representation of these factors through media. Racism have been existed in Canada since a long time and there have been several official policies in order to encourage multiculturalism and tolerance. There is a lack of indigenous people in the media is paralleled by the scarcity of women in charge of media. It is highly necessary for people to critique the word they are representing and the world they belong. There should be consideration between the social, individual, and to some extent combination of both. Reason that fuels up racism in Canada is also for the nature of culture they possess that concentrates on individual which is the reason for getting pleasure in other’s failings. Also, ignorance of social influence on the issue is a traced from the same characteristic of people belong from Canada. Writer who are the creator of the subject that media plays often represents the subject in an unappropriated way which is the cause of racism in the society as well. A writer may write from a social perspective or from and individual perspective however there is only two perspectives that are seen mostly, the stereotype and the novelist. In sum, it has been identified basic stereotypes and relationships between the different cultures. Individuality and in addition these images undergo and reinforce socially constructed views of the different ethnic background, views that have restricted people from different cultural background.

Stereotypes are simplistic and generalized ideas about a specific group of people. Stereotypes can be useful for making rapid choices based on previous experiences. They can also mislead people by perceiving something is true about a person since they belong to a certain group or act and look a certain way. Children are heavily influenced by the stereotypes they see and hear in media. According to studies these advertisements profoundly impact the ways people perceive and relate to one another. While there is consensus grown about the prevalence of negative media images regarding the indigenous people, measuring the influence of these images and youth rejection or endorsement of these images on indigenous youth well-being and identity is a new and understudied phenomenon.

Media’s Role in Reinforcing Racial Stereotypes

One of the central places where people learn stereotypes is the mass media. It is the fastest form of communicating with the population and researcher have found analyzing content that it has for years been creating models and role that create stereotype. Although it is hard to get in the root of the issue and the way it was initiated in the first place, it is found in most of the content media portrays to population. There are several other factors that make the racism in society. One of the most prominent stereotyping is the representation of the indigenous people. The representation of the indigenous by media has been one of the most devastating image through the past years. The roles created by the media of indigenous people are subject of humiliation as well as anger. Many people grow up thinking the indigenous people as criminals for the media tend to expose and highlight o of the crime performed by an indigenous person. As the studies shows, these advertisements profoundly influence the thinking. Therefore, it is important not to rely on the media and built the image of the character. In this modern era, stereotype is an old concept and should be avoided. Due to globalization and modernization, cultural diversity is a natural phenomenon in this era. However, there is still people influenced by media who tend to adjust their behavior as per the perception made by media. It is important for media to examine stereotype carefully on order to understand the negative influence of such roles on the youths as well as adult. Since these roles have extensive impacts they are only reinforcing racism among the population.

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