Combatting Stereotypes In Today's Culture
Sheridan Parker
Staff Writer
Most people would think a boy walking down the hallway wearing boxy glasses and a Doctor Who shirt is a nerd. They might assume he doesn’t have a life, or even any friends.
A buff football player hurrying to his next class, is a jock in society’s eyes. He is considered cool, popular; he has many friends.
A young girl with noticeable acne scars is not a clean person, and doesn’t care about her appearance; at least according to our current culture.
The sad truth is almost everyone judged a person like this. Looked at them, and immediately made an assumption without interacting with them. It seems to be human nature.
However, that doesn’t make it right.
“I subconsciously label people. I try to refrain from it, but sometimes the first thing that pops into my head when I see or hear a person’s name isn’t always positive,” sophomore Jessica Akinshev said.
It’s what people do with the labels that matter. If someone acts on his or her preconceived notions and treat people the way they first perceive them, then they would gain nothing from them.
“Mislabeling someone at the beginning of a friendship, or the first time you meet them, it will affect your friendship until you get to know them,” senior Ashley Neujahr said.
However, not everyone is affected by stereotypes; some just let it roll off them.
“As long as it does not affect what is currently going on, and as long as it does not change how they act toward me, I am totally fine with how they view me,” senior Aaron Schaefer said.
It seems high school is a more hostile place for people who are stereotyped than in the real world. Teenagers are often unforgiving and don’t want to get out of their comfort zone and talk to someone who doesn't belong in their “group”.
Stereotypes don’t define who you are. They are there to exclude others.
Being associated with a stereotype doesn’t change someone’s personality.
“They don’t know what you have gone through to get to this point,” senior Conner Elliott said. “The things that happen to you throughout your life can really change what kind of a person you are. And a stereotype doesn’t apply to all of them.”
Stereotyping applies to almost everyone, especially in high school. Almost everyone is stereotyped and put into a group. At the same time, a lot of people associate others with a certain type of person. We must see people for they are, not their appearance, or who they hang out with.
Sometimes people might suprise you.
