Them and Us
Father, Mother, and
All the people like us
Are We, and every
one else is They.
And They live over the
Sea, While We live
Over the way.
But-would you
Believe it? ? They
Look upon We
As only a sort of They!
There is a tendency among many people to categorize individuals who look, act, and come from the same background as "us", and to categorize those who differ from this group of people as "They." However, people who are considered to be "they" in their perspective consider "us" as "they". This is an explanation of how stereotypes are created. Stereotypes affect the manner in which people interact with others of a different race or ethnicity, age group, religious background, or sexual orientation. Gender stereotypes are also prevalent within the mass media. A stereotype is an oversimplified generalization about a certain class of people. When people say that all members of a specific nationality, religion, race or gender are "cheap," "lazy," "criminal" or "dumb," they are expressing stereotypes.
All groups have both cheap and generous individuals and those who commit crimes. To label an entire group based on the action of a few is to engage in stereotyping. The most common stereotypes that exist today have negatively impacted various groups of people
In our society, there are many stereotypes created about nationalities that in return underestimate the power of each individual of a group. People from different nationalities are considered to be " they". For example, Asians may be stereotyped as being disciplined, hard-working people who excel in mathematics, while African Americans or Mexicans may be viewed in a more negative light. In "Mother Tongue", Amy Tan was trying to disprove the existing stereotype about Chinese people being good at precise science, so she went against...
Society and community
I thought this essay was informative and well written. The easy to read style provided a lot of information.
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