Before I tell my sad story about someone stereotyping me at work yesterday, let me supply the definition for stereotype: A broad, but fixed and generalized image of a particular type of person or group of people that is applied to individual members of those groups.
As the definition is circling and rotating the gears in your brain, apply the definition to yourself. Have you ever been stereotyped before? Oh, I
have, yesterday a matter of fact. I answered the phone at my job (I’m in retail),
and this gentleman wanted to know how to unsubscribe his email address for free
coupons to the store. He was worried about his identity being stolen. Well, I
told him he has to call the store’s customer service number and do it through
them. He didn’t like that answer. He wanted it done right at that moment, god
forbid. He then said, “Kids these days! Uneducated! No wonder why you work in
retail!”
Um….excuse me? Uneducated
so I work in retail? That is just a stereotypical thing to say, is it
not? Not all employees are uneducated and work in retail. I have an Associates
degree in graphic design and working on my Bachelors degree as a RN.
Uneducated? No….Matter of fact, almost all of my co-workers are in college
working on a degree. We may be in retail, but we are not stupid. If it wasn’t
for those that work in retail, there wouldn’t be stores to shop at, right?
Since this incident happened to me, I recalled in my
Interpersonal Communications class discussing stereotyping. There are three
steps in stereotyping: Identifying a group we believe another person belongs
to, recalling a generalization others often make about the group of people, and
we apply the generalization to the person. To put it as an example, I work in
retail, so I must be uneducated, so I must be stupid.
Other examples of stereotyping are: Steel mill
workers are always grumpy, women are the worst drivers, SUV women drivers must
be soccer moms, and women belong in the kitchen while men belong at work for
support. Many people do find stereotyping unethical and offensive. Stereotyping does lead to inaccurate
observations of people. It is important to look at our perceptions before we
act/say anything about them. Judging others isn’t the way to go. Think before
you act. Are they really like that, or is it just a bad first impression?
As I right this blog, two questions sprouted in my brain. What if the world abandoned stereotyping? Should we abandon stereotyping altogether? Kory
Floyd, an author of Interpersonal Communication Second Edition, says that it is
unrealistic to abandon stereotyping. We should instead find a more productive
way to deal with stereotyping through awareness and communication. You must be
aware of the perceptions of stereotyping, and then instead of assuming that our
perceptions of people are correct, we should get to know them first. Have you
heard of the saying, “Don’t judge a book by the cover.”? It’s a true saying.
Meeting someone for the first time can be nerve wrecking and stressful. In
first impressions, you try to show someone what they want to see; although,
most of the time it doesn’t work out that way. Instead we show that person
someone they don’t want to see, so they stereotype and judge. So, try those two
steps when you meet someone: Be aware of your perceptions and then get to know
the person. You might surprise yourself by becoming a friend of someone you
thought was a stereotype that you wouldn’t of have been friends with.
The link below is a different perspective about stereotyping. You should check it out to learn more about this subject.
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