In sociology, stereotype entails the categorization or classification of individuals into groups of certain behaviors or beliefs. This concept also refers to the generalization of a particular group based on few persons' actions, which does not qualify to dictate the community's opinions, ideas, or culture. Similarly, stereotype calls for people to have expectations about others since they belong to a certain ethnicity or culture ( Fiske, 2017 ). Stereotyping manifests in various ways, and as such, they are five common types of this phenomenon. For instance, people in society tend to judge the way of life, activities, or behaviors of those who are different without understanding them or their culture. This paper discusses stereotypes in terms of common types, experiences, and personal thoughts.
Types of Stereotypes
The first common type of stereotype is racial profiling. This type manifests in societies across the globe on a nearly day-to-day basis. There is that tendency to associate a particular racial group with certain activities and behaviors. Most of the stereotypes surrounding race arise due to historical events and even social injustices such as discrimination ( Perkins, 2018) . These happenings would see a group profiled as either good or bad depending on the social standings. For instance, it would be stereotyping when one term all African Americans as good athletes. Another example is terming people from marginalized groups such as African Americans as illiterate. On the other hand, calling all persons who belong to the White race as racist qualifies as stereotyping.
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Another stereotype is gender profiling, where one gender is associated with certain activities by the other. This stereotype has seen the definition of gender roles and societal expectations for both men and women ( Fiske, 2017 ). In this line, it has been stereotyping all along to believe that men are strong, and therefore, they should go to work. On the other hand, women are 'weak,' and they are supposed to handle activities such as taking care of homes and children. Similarly, it is stereotyping to term or think that women do not equal to men, and therefore, they should not hold high positions in society.
Additionally, stereotypes manifest in the categorization or judgment of cultures. These categorizations are often done without merit ( Perkins, 2018) . The stereotyping about culture also extends to how different countries are perceived and associated with a particular way of life. For instance, assuming or perceiving that all Americans are obese is one of the most exaggerated stereotypes or misconceptions in the world. It is also disturbing to believe or classify all Muslims as terrorists. Another example of stereotype-based on culture or country is the belief that the French are the world's best lovers ( Fiske, 2017 ). Similarly, stereotypes can also occur in schools where students clarify each other and other members in schools in a particular way. For instance, girls are most concerned about their appearance, and therefore, they will dress to suit these desires.
Exaggeration of Groups, Aspects, and Believe
Primarily, stereotypes are based on exaggerating groups' behaviors, activities, or ways of life. For instance, terming all Americans as obese is an exaggeration that the country is one of those leading in numbers on this particular health problem. Also, because perception, mostly as portrayed in movies and advertisements, that French or Italians are romantic, people conclude that all French are romantic ( Perkins, 2018) . These two examples manifest the existence of exaggeration of groups.
There are various aspects of stereotypes that are true. First, stereotypes advocates for misleading and exaggeration of facts. I believe that all stereotypes, including gender, ethnic or cultural, and racial profiling, are misleading because of the 'exaggeration' of facts. Similarly, it is wrong to judge a whole group's behaviour due to a few persons' actions ( Fiske, 2017 ). This vice should not be encouraged at any cost. However, most stereotype cases are based on past experiences or encounters with people or groups of people. Individuals are likely to stereotype negatively towards a certain ethnicity or group of people if they previously had a bad experience interacting with that group.
I have seen different forms of stereotypes in the country's current affairs and in the movies that I have watched in the past. I found it surprising how the police interacted with African American communities in the United States. Also, it was shocking to see how African Americans responded to the police brutality. In this case, the police stereotype all blacks as criminals, and therefore, they handle them with force. Consequently, blacks term all police officers as racists. My perspective of these two groups, police and the blacks, is that they are both wrong since they judge a whole group using the actions of few individuals.
References
Fiske, S. T. (2017). Prejudices in cultural contexts: shared stereotypes (gender, age) versus variable stereotypes (race, ethnicity, religion). Perspectives on psychological science , 12 (5), 791-799.
Perkins, T. E. (2018). Rethinking stereotypes. In Routledge Revivals: Ideology and Cultural Production (1979) (pp. 135-159). Routledge.
