Stereotypes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stereotypes - Essay Example The common stereotype for such students is that they are children who are either orphaned, adopted or have no biological parents for some reason, or generally that they come from abusive and broken homes. Family problems are therefore the first stereotype to be formed for such isolated students. Research shows that this type of stereotyping may be actually founded on facts. It shows that more than fifty percent of the students, especially teenagers, who exhibited the aforementioned signs, came from families with a history of abuse and divorce. Majority of these teenagers were comprised of families whose fathers had walked out on them (Dennis and Erdos, 2000). The effect of this therefore is that the student becomes distant, anti-social and depressed. This leads to poor performance in school and anti-social behavioral patterns (Teenage outcasts, 2011). The preceding argument is not entirely true as it is based on existing misconceptions about teenage outcasts. This is because not all teenage students who tend to exhibit behavioral isolation came from problematic families. In fact, in some instances such students came from good and well of families, and the isolation may have been caused by psychological factors such as shyness (Mosser, 2011). All that such students may be in need of is just some company so as to make them feel wanted and as part and parcel of the society. Stereotyping them thus only leads to long term negative impacts that would always place them at a disadvantage, one that they may wholly never recover from (U.S News Science, 2010). The second common stereotype revolves around the gay community. Majority of the people perceive gay people as having a tendency of exhibiting feminine traits. Any person who walks, talks, or engages in activities that are considered a preserve of the female gender are out rightly labeled as gay. It is not uncommon to hear of most people referring male fashion designers, stylists, or male hair dressers as gay. The st ereotype here is that all persons of the male gender who engage in professions that are considered feminine are gay. The stereotype here is even extended to ordinary male persons who exhibit feminine tendencies, or tend to lean more on female behavioral characteristics. This stereotype has been largely perpetuated by the media, which portrays all gay men as being extremely effeminate. So, are these stereotypes about gay men being effeminate true? Research suggests that gay men actually do prefer some professions like interior designing, fashion and hair coloring (Stossel and Binkley, 2006). In fact, professions like dancing and fashion require the creative touches of the gay people, and it is no wonder that such professions are flooded with gay men. Michael Bailey, a psychology professor, argues that these stereotypes of the gay men are actually true. He argues that gay men exhibited feminine tendencies during childhood and had a preference for feminine sex roles (Bailey, 2003). How ever, it is such stereotyping of the gay people that has led to homophobic attacks and discrimination among the gay community. This form of stereotyping has long-term negative impacts on the perception of the gay community in the society (Pre-existing notions, 2011). This form of stereotyping is not entirely true. This is because it is merely a generalization that lacks in elaborate research as to the accuracy of this hypothesis. The members of the gay commun