Paper 1 Part 1

Stereotypes are oversimplified standardized images of a person or a group of people. It is classifying people or a group of people because of social ideas or images. They put people into boxes and make people, who believe them, seem ignorant and simple-minded. Every group of people has some kind of stereotype associated with them. It is like the old saying, “One bad apple ruins the bunch.” They ignore the fact that everyone is different even though they may be classified into a group.
People are often stereotyped into categories because of media images or from others own personal experience. Often on talk shows, you will hear people say, “I believe that this group of people is like this because that is the only image that I see of them.” Many times, I think this come from a confirmation bias rather than an actual experience. They may have a preconceived notion about a person or a group of people then when they meet a person who is categorized as that group they only look for the confirmation of their biases even though there are other factors that may be against their stereotype.
Personally, I do not believe that I have ever felt the need to conform to a stereotypical image. As an African American female, I actually do not like the perpetuation of stereotypical images. I will make sure to not portray stereotypes in public. I feel uncomfortable eating fried chicken and/or watermelon in public. Sometimes I will avoid eating the food just because of the stereotype associated with it. I remember watching the Wendy Williams Show, and she actually mentioned that she said she would never eat fried chicken on television as a man was showing her how to make KFC’s secret recipe.
I can recall times when I felt that others felt that I should conform to the stereotype that African American females are loud, ghetto, and sassy. This kind of stereotype is much like the stereotype of what is considered feminine in that women are allowed a mind or a body but not both (Wolf 59). It is as if everyone must remain in a role and no role can be rearranged or mixed. I was always the girl who went to a predominantly white school, but lived in a predominantly black neighborhood. So, it was like I got the pressure to conform to the stereotype in different ways.
In school, it was as if they wanted me to be louder and more aggressive while I’m just trying to be me. I’m a real laid back girl with a soft voice unless you make me mad. There were a couple of other black girls in the school and one in particular used to drive me nuts because she would conform to the stereotype. I and another black girl who lived in my neighborhood used to talk about how much we had a problem with it because it wasn’t genuine and it was an over exaggerated black stereotype.
She lived in the suburbs and would say ghetto this and ghetto that and it was as if she expected me to act the same way. I really don’t even like the use of the word ghetto because I feel that the word is used too loosely. It is hard to describe the situation, but it would just drive me insane. I’m just glad that I had someone who could relate with me. I guess she could justify that it was just her personality in some way, but something about it seemed like a front and it is not surprising that another girl that lived in what was considered a “ghetto” neighborhood felt the same way.
Then when I was home with my friends in my neighborhood, I would often hear that I talk white. I would ask what talking white is and I could never get a straight answer. It was as if they were saying that I was not black enough for them. It was as if they were saying I talked to proper and educated as if talking black was not using proper English and uneducated. It hurt me to hear black people talk about themselves in such a way because to say that would mean the opposite also. This way of thinking would also bug me since African Americans have been stereotyped and judged for so many years and to see them perpetuate the stereotype on themselves just hurts me.
I learned a lot from these experiences. It only makes me work harder to portray another kind of image for the African American female. I hope that others will see me and get a changed idea of what an African American female does and acts like. I want people to see another version so that there will be a more positive stereotype or better yet a negation of the previous stereotype. I like to think that I am a body outlaw due to the fact that Ophira Edut defines them as, “In a world that still tries to assume our identities, we rebel with an outward expression of self. Our passion of truth, in all its messy complexity, compels us to visibly defy easy categories and sweeping labels, even if they were created from within. We rush to show the world who we are rather than allow it to paint us as one-dimensional characters (xxiii – xxiv).”

Tyra had a really good show about racial perceptions. A must watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGNyjsAumuU