Stereotypes

The other day my little sister (she's 17) and I were talking about men and she asked if a certain stereotypes about black men were true. I'm not going to mention it here. I must add that my little sister is a Latina of chocolate skin tone who goes to a predominately white private high school. Her assumption that all black men must fulfill a certain stereotype really bothered me. Sometimes I think about how have certain stereotypes come to be. Who created these stereotypes? Where was the first time I heard that stereotype myself? Who benefits from these stereotypes?

All of this has got me to think about all the ridiculous stereotypes I have heard about different groups of people....

Women

• Too emotional
• Soft, weak
• Sensitive
• Soccer Moms
• Caretaker
• Not that smart
• Cook/prepare meals for the family
• Good housekeepers/maids/secretaries/assistants
• Love fashion, accessories, clothes
• Love the color pink, any pastels
• Must be virginal or "pure"
• ...But it's natural to be attracted to one another (unlike men)
• Need long hair to be feminine

Men

• Hard, strong, faster
• Confident
• Can't cook (and shouldn't be cooking, either)
• Can get the job done
• Incapable of keeping house/bedroom/bathroom clean
• Good at manual labor
• Cannot express emotions
• Only think with their genitals
• Love sports, cars, electronics
• Love porn
• Either are gay or straight, cannot be "curious"
• Curious = Gay
  
• Thrive in competition
• Smart
• Good leaders/bosses/CEOs/Presidents

Blacks

• Dangerous, criminals
• Ghetto
• Poor
• Can't speak proper English
• Uneducated
• Stupid
• Is probably in a gang
• Always "fighting the man"
• Another statistic
• Love Oprah/Barack Obama/Tiger Woods/Michael Jordan/Michael Jackson/Chris Rock/Dave Chappelle unconditionally
• Are up to no good
• All look the same
• All their men have large genitals
• Are matriculated in any college because of Affirmative Action
• Are good at sports
• Are probably on a sports scholarship
• Love Southern/Soul food
• Always think people are being racist against them
• Unemployed

Hispanics

• They are all here illegally
• Most of them are immigrants
  
• Can't speak English that well
• Don't want to learn English
• Love rice and beans
• Are "passionate" people
• Can dance
• Unemployed
• Living off of welfare/section 8 housing/food stamps
• Are stealing jobs
• Are very proud of their home country / overly patriotic
• Are ghetto, too
• Latin lovers
• Are good with manual labor
• Have huge families
• Teen pregnancy

Whites

• Have no culture
• Can't cook
• Have boring food
• They all love pasta
• Can't play sports
• Can't dance
• All love country music or soft rock
• Are politically conservative or ultra-liberal
• Love guns/right to bear arms
• Love hunting
• Love Starbucks or any overpriced coffee
• All their mal-adjusted males go on mass shooting sprees
• Fear God
• Want to spread democracy around the world
• Are responsible for the suffering of all people of color throughout the world, throughout all of history
• Most are oblivious to their white privilege
  
• (Subconscious) Racists
• All claim to be (part) Irish or Italian

Asians

• Are all concerned about their "slanty" eyes and their need to surgically alter them to make them more Anglo, less Asian looking
• Love rice, sushi and seafood
• Their women are submissive
• Their men are all chauvinists/strict
• Are very intelligent
• Are the "other white meat"
• Are wealthy
• Their Chinatown smells
• Very traditional culture
• Love electronics / have access to latest gadgets
• Are all small and thin
• All their men have small genitals
• Are stealing all IT jobs, shipping them over to India or Japan
• Are all (part) Chinese
• Chinese people put up all their female newborns for adoption
• Have weird music
• All Indians love Bollywood movies
• Only eat spicy foods

Gay/LGBT

• They are going through a phase
• They chose to be who they are
• It's just a lifestyle
• They are all HIV positive or have some other STD
• Gay males are responsible for the AIDS crisis
• Love to go to raves/disco/clubbing on the weekend
• Are all obsessed with Barbara Streisand/Cher/Britney Spears/Madonna/Kylie Minogue/Janet Jackson/Bette Middler/Christina Aguilera/Celine Dion
• Are all publicly flamboyant
• They love to dress in drag
• All lesbians dress like fat, boring men w/short haircuts
• If in a relationship, one is the "guy" and one is the "girl"
• All want to get married / want right to get married
• All want to adopt children
• They will raise or make their adopted children gay, too
• Love fashion / interior design / hair salons
• Gay males pick each other up at the gym

Food for thought: stereotypes are damaging. There are NO positive stereotypes. They build walls around us, keeping us from really getting to know one another. Yes, there are some individuals who you may think might fit some these stereotypes. But there are also millions of individuals who do not fit the stereotypes of their given culture, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Granted, after reading all these collectively it should be apparent how utterly absurd most of these stereotypes are.

~Jade, The Intern