The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2009) holds that a stereotype is “something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially: a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment”. This definition captures the essence of stereotyping as it is prevalent in the world today. Stereotypes have always existed since the formation of first human societies. This essay examines the stereotypes associated with Politicians, Tattooed persons, Feminists, and Senior Citizens.
The word ‘politician’ immediately invokes an image of a devious, manipulative, slimy individual for whom all values are relative. Have you ever heard of an honest politician is a common derisive refrain. “Politicians are/may be evasive when answering questions (Ensink & Sauer, 2003, p. 130)” is a common stereotype. The problem lies in the nature of the job of a politician that require producing results which almost no human can ever deliver. This negative stereotype finds universal acceptance and there is no ‘North-South’ divide on such a stereotype. Occasionally, some politicians do buck the trend, but such personalities are a handful of charismatic leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, to name a few, who through their personal example have earned the admiration of others. Currently, Barack Obama defies the negative stereotype that politicians have acquired over the years.
Tattoos in ancient cultures were badges of belongingness to a particular clan or a tribe. Tattoos served to frighten, as camouflage and as a mark of social acceptability in specified cultures. The Western aversion for the tattooed persons grew out of the experience of the colonists when they came into conflict with indigenous cultures that were rightfully fighting for the defense of their lands. This experience extended not only though the Americas, but also much of Africa, Asia and the Oceania. Popular culture, books, movies and television reinforced the image of a tattooed ‘injun’ barbarically ‘scalping’ the poor ‘civilized’ white man. In so much, tattoos became to be identified with the deviant and the wicked. The street culture, punks, skinheads, biker gangs as well as street and prison gangs soon adopted these badges of kinship that further reinforced the common negative perception about tattoos. The ‘straight’ gentry even today look with trepidation when they come across with someone with tattoos. Hewitt (1997) report that studies have held that the psychopathology or social or emotional maladjustment is significantly higher among tattooed than among non-tattooed men (p. 72).A tattooed man is less likely to gain entry to Ivy League communities than those without such ‘marks of mutilation’. Despite the ameliorative effect of television serials such as ‘Miami Ink’, Tattoos by and large invoke a negative stereotype of murderers, rapists, troublemakers, arsonists, anarchists, neo-nazis and such like.
Feminists invoke the picture of Germaine Greer and the ‘Bra Burning’ stereotype (Dicker & Piepmeier, 2003, p. 119). Feminists are often stereotyped as the sorts who want to ‘wear pants’ and are usually ‘Butches’. It has often been said that the glass ceiling has yet to be broken when it comes to dealing with feminists. Much of Continental America is yet quite conservative despite the outwardly appearance of modernity, gender equality and liberalism. In the US, feminists are politely tolerated. This stereotype however, differs from region to region. In Europe, feminists are more widely accepted and not looked at with such derision as they are in America. In more traditional Eastern societies such as the Indian sub continent, the term feminist is received with incredulity. Some parts of India have genuine matriarchal societies where accepting the decisions of the woman of the house is acceptable. However, that does not translate to ‘feminist’ issues as the western world understands it.
Senior Citizens without doubt invoke the stereotype of wisdom and automatic respect universally. ‘Old is Gold’ refers not only to objects but also to people. It is this stereotype of wisdom (Brearley, 1990, p. 5) and sobriety that has seen the preference of national leaders’ world wide being in their mid-fifties to eighties. The trend towards ‘Old is Gold’ is especially prevalent in the Indian subcontinent and China where political leaders as old as eighty one lead active political life and dream of leading their nations. The old also invoke a stereotype of being ‘slow’ and ‘senile’. While it is an undeniable medical fact that the body does slow down after 40 and that the brain’s functioning also slackens in the sixties and the seventies for a large segment of the population, there are always many exceptions to the rule. Negative stereotypes such as a ‘dirty old man’, ‘old witch’ (Osgood, 1992, p. 34) are comparatively rare. Overall, senior citizens are held in positive light the world over.
The author of this essay too falls in the stereotypical category of youth, the ‘brash’ and ‘immature’ segment of human population. The very ‘bouncy’ gait of the author reflects the impatience, over-confidence and effervescence of youth that holds some truth and some over exaggeration. The universally held ‘truth’ that the young ‘do not think’ is a myth as this well thought out essay shows otherwise.
Works Cited
Brearley, C. P. (1990). Working in Residential Homes for Elderly People. Florence, KY: Routledge.
Dicker, R. C., & Piepmeier, A. (2003). Catching a wave: reclaiming feminism for the 21st century. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England.
Ensink, T., & Sauer, C. (2003). Framing and perspectivising in discourse. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Hewitt, K. (1997). Mutilating the body: identity in blood and ink. Wisconsin: Popular Press.
Osgood, N. J. (1992). Suicide in later life: recognizing the warning signs. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Stereotype. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Web.