stereotype

By definition, stereotyping is close to being biased in giving an opinion, or perceiving matters in a generalized manner. It is very common in the world nowadays as there is racism everywhere, regardless of the country’s status.

Firstly, as an example to illustrate the whole idea, when a person is asked to think what’s in his/her mind when he/she is given a picture of a terrorist, that person would almost and unconsciously think of the Arabians. In truth, not all Arabs are terrorists, only a very small amount of people are but yet the media made it look like the whole country is full of evil people and schemes. This is how powerful a media can propagate stereotyping in its spread.

Next, the media always emphasizes on well-developed countries, namely US, Japan and many more. There’s no denying the fact that these first world countries have contributed a lot globally, but it seems that the media focuses so much on their positives that other countries are not perceived to be as ‘good’ as them. For example, China made goods are always looked down upon by many because their quality is not as good as the developed nations.

Stereotypes are also common in the society level. From the messages that the media propagate everyday, people who do drugs are being stereotyped as the worst people ever. In truth, many of them are just normal people like us that got hit by a big dilemma suddenly. Unable to handle the pressure, they resorted to these drugs and got addicted. Some of them did not take drugs because they are bad, just that the overwhelming stress made them fall. However, that’s not what that would come in our mind first most of the time.

In conclusion, stereotyping is defined by the media, and somehow it blended in well to the society. Though we do not realize, we practice it everyday, whether unconsciously or not. We must know how to handle our thoughts well and try to understand the reasons to why an action is done, or we will fall prey to the media’s actions.