Resisting Stereotypes is unrealistic
Look deep in your heart and ask yourself a question: Can you resist stereotyping? The United States consists of immigrants from all countries. All cultures, like people, are different and seeing someone who differs from oneself motivates us to stereotype or label, for example, one's way of talking, dressing, acting, and so on. Though it is impossible to avoid stereotyping, the use of stereotypes may actually be beneficial in some cases. We cannot avoid stereotyping because a human being's mind is created to observe, criticize, and categorize. These tendencies were present in our everyday life and manners from time immemorial. In addition, some stereotypes may take roots from family beliefs and principles. For example, native people in the country may bring up their children to avoid another nation, or immigrants, by teaching them their assumptions and generalizations without any contiguity with the people. This behavior, in my opinion, takes away from their children's chances to acquire some knowledge and experiences by interacting with other cultures and beliefs. Sometimes stereotypes open our eyes to something we have never rea
lized. They shape how we see ourselves and our values as members of "our" group, and how we see ourselves as different from members of "other" groups. For example, Thea Palad in her essay, "Fighting Stereotypes," described that she considered herself an American, before her classmate showed her the view of Palad from the view of white American girls. And even though she spent her life in America, she didn't realize that she wasn't like white American girls in school. "But it was difficult for me to comprehend how people today could still focus on the shape of my eyes and the texture of my hair," points out the author. For a moment, she lost her identity in society. She wasn't considered one of the "fresh off the boat" kids, who spoke their native languages and consorted in groups of FOB's. Nor she was considered a white girl. Even though stereotypes are sometimes unwanted and painful, "Stereotypes exist for a reason, and prejudices die hard," as Palad points out, they might open up some new discoveries that we posses within or around us. Avoiding stereotypes is nearly impossible because they are motivated by one's every little mo
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Approximate Word count = 773
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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