Discussion+1

Discussion "Stereotypes"

Definition from www.dictionary.com

Let's discuss the topic dedicated to the problem of racial stereotyping. But firstly let's take a survey!

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In your post you should cover the following content:

1. Give your own definiton of the term "Stereotype" and describe the real-life situation connected with stereotyping. 2. Watch 2 youtube videos and comment them. What stereotypical views do they represent? Do you agree with any of them? Explain why (or why not) media type="youtube" key="2lPhf7ntvms" height="195" width="258"media type="youtube" key="vR_yYTGBnKU" height="198" width="260" 3. Which people today do you think are being unfairly stereotyped? 4. Look through the blog comments on the topic "Where do racial stereotypes come from?" Choose the best one you agree and comment why you chose it.

5. Are stereotypes usually accurate? 6. Have you ever met someone who was the perfect image of a stereotype you had in your mind?

7. Should stereotyping be made illegal?

**Alena Zubekhina** media type="custom" key="21153930" Stereotype is relation to events that generated by comparing them to internal ideals. Usual standard phrase: “All blonds are stupid”. It’s a stereotype, which appeared long time ago. For example: I saw video on YouTube .And I agree that Russian people don’t allocate in crowd. We have famous scientists, musicians. Americans people are friendly, because they always smile, they fast come into contact with new people, they are very pleasant. And I don’t agree that “Russian mafia” exists. Americans speak that “Russian mafia” possibly exists. They said that Russian mafia and vodka were the most famous stuff they knew! ha-ha-ha :)  I think that all people have stereotypes. Stereotype is a necessary thing, but we don’t often use them. Stereotypes help to adapt for a real life. Everyone thinks that his stereotype is true, so they believe that others' opinions are false.  I agree that stereotypes are usually based on observations that have semblances of truth, because they come from society, history, news. A lot of stereotypes are associated with times when there were slaves.  Accurate stereotypes don’t exist, because everyone has an exclusive private opinion.  I met person, who was the perfect image of a stereotype in my mind. He was an intelligent person, he wore a business suit, and he kept the documents in his hands. It’s my idea about an intelligent person.

**Marina Samoschenko.**

The world is so different! There are so many nationalities; each has its own history, customs and traditions. Certainly people from diverse countries have dissimilar behavior, breeding, trait and characteristics. That is why we understand a word “stereotype” as the fixed conception that generally characterizes a person of some nationality. In my opinion we should not judge people or a group of people by stereotypes, but nevertheless a certain stereotype does exist. There are many ways of investigating stereotypes. One of the most obvious is to ask people what trades characterize the British, the Russians, the Americans and other nations. I saw video on YouTube. Honestly, u can't compare how much Americans know about Russia and how much Russians know about the US, and I mean Russians know much more. It's not because Russians are more clever though, it's just because there is no such thing as Russian Hollywood or Russian MTV for foreign people to learn anything about Russia. We take stereotypes from books, films and other cultural mass-media. · Self-reliance usually is the second moral value for Americans. The third American value is competition. In spite of the fact that society can`t consist only of winners the Americans believe that every problem has a solution. The fifth national value is material wealth. · As any nation the Russians have both positive and negative sides. On the one hand, people are hard-working, frank with strong will and hospitable to foreigners. On the other hand sometimes they cheat on other people. Certainly, there are a lot of stereotypes about other nations. But first of all, we should remember that we are all individuals. In conclusion, I would like to say that stereotypes are a part of human life. They is certainly not reliable description of individual people but they still exist.

Vasily Kretinin
Stereotype is deeply-rooted, standart view on something, which is make understanding of the object simplier. As every simplification, stereotype matches in majority of cases, but not at all. That's why it can't be accurate: you're always have some mismatch cases. For example, okay, russians like vodka. One the one hand it is truth about many people, and on the other hand we have some people disliked it. But as long stereotype forms, as long it forgets, so we have some outdated stereotypes which are still used: balalaika. If we look deeper, it can mean deep musical traditions and beauty of simplicity in Russia. Youtube videos shows us, what are english people think about americans and americans about russians. American people are self-confident, loud, and russians are cold, criminal. I think this is too general description, which is not suitable for too many cases. I don't know unfairly stereotyped people, almost all stereotypes have its' base partially rooted in reality or observation. And even if unfairly stereotyped people are, information technologies make stereotypes much more weak. I think, stereotyping should be made illegal in ways connected with superiority one over the other, because we have horrible example of appeasement which led to world war.

Chyugunov Roman.
====Nowadays there are a lot of stereotypes. Some of them are good, some not. As for me stereotypes are very useful. It helps to characterize people from one or another country. But often it is wrong. Even in Russia people from Mosсow thinks that at the siberia "all people wear felt boots", "b ears walk on the streets". But with the increasing level of internet technologies number of wrong stereotybes is reduced. ==== ====I watched video from Youtube and as I sad, not all stereotypes are truth, but generally it can describe my country. I was very happy, that i have not heared words like: "balalayka" or "ushanka", but we still can hear "vodka", "mafia". But we must not blame americans, in our country we also have wrong stereotypes about americans, like : " they always eat hamburgers" "they always pry where they shold not be", "all americans are fat". However it is very easy to make sure that it is not right. It's only need to go somewhere in at rushhour by social transport, you will understand, that not only americans are fat. As my opinion stereotypes are needed to hide own disadvantrjes.==== ====From the blog i took phrase: "stereotypes do have some base on truth" and I think that it is absolutely right. More then a half part populaion of Russia is drink vodka every day, so we can see from where "vodka" stereotype becomes.==== ====I have many stereotypes. One of them is "office plankton". Usually it is a man 25-40 years old, fat or strongly thin, with dirty long hair, white, dirty shirt and grey trouses, with protuding from it bellies. I every day meet a person loke that.====

I strongly against to make stereotypes illegal, because it help us to join to crowd. It help us how to behave with people from another country.

 * Dmitry Surin **

Stereotypes are steady opinion about people or events. There are a lot of stereotypes in our life like “women can’t drive normally” or “women like gossip”. I saw youtube videos. And I think it is strangely that people talk about communism when they think about Russia. I agree that Americans are warm-hearted, friendly and helpful. They are smiling and sociable people. In Russia people from such countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are considered uneducated but industrious persons. I think they are unfairly stereotyped. I agree that stereotypes come from society, news, media, history, etc. I don’t think that stereotypes are usually accurate. Generally stereotypes look like semblances of truth. It is very rare event to see in the crowd a person who is image of a stereotype you had in your mind. One day I saw basketball-player from USA and He was image of a stereotype about American basketball-player. He was clothed in baggy breeches and long sports shirt. On his foots was large basketball shoes. Also he was very tall.

Pirogova Alena.
The stereotype is relevantto certaingroups of individualswho share common interests, style. Them very much. For example:I went todriving schooland the teacherbelieved that " girls do not placeat the wheel ." What can Isay about the"Russian mafia"?!Veryfunnyreview.) To be honestthere isthe familiarbandits.Butmany of them.) People who feel superior toother ethnic/race,as a rule, those who stereotypethe most.People usestereotypesfor different reasons.In reality, anyof us can notfit any of theracial stereotypesin the world. Accuratestereotypesdo not exist;everyperson is freeto thinkdifferently. Inever meta man whocame upto mystereotype.I guessit does not exist. In conclusion, I would like to saythat stereotypesare part ofour lives.This is certainlynota perfectdescriptionof individuals, buttheystill exist.


 * Mironova Natasha. **

Stereotypes - psychologicalconnection, eitherinnateorformed in thedistant past.They are responsible forwalking,writing , focus, habits, inclinations, characterand behaviorin different situations. Due to the factthat stereotypes arepracticallynot recognized, they are almost impossibleto control by themind,oftenforcingpeopleto acta certain way,evenagainst his will. Example:my classmatesthoughtthat the girls aremore stupidthan the guys. I do not deny that we have theMafia. Among my acquaintancesthere are peoplewhobelong to thisstereotype. People who feelsuperior toother ethnic/race,as a rule, those who stereotypethe most.People usestereotypesfor different reasons.In reality, anyof us can notfit any of theracial stereotypesin the world. Everyone thinks thatitis a stereotypeis true, becausethey believethatothers' opinionsare false. Inever met aperfectstereotype ofa person. But I knowthat he issomewherethere. Ialwaysfindit. In conclusion,Iwould like to saythat peopleare aware of thestereotypes,butthey are notaccurateto call it.


 * Kamron Brace**

My opinion on stereotypes is that they are an unfortunate but unavoidable part of life. Since the day you are born you begin developing stereotypes. My stereotypical Russian (no offence intended) is a cold mean person in dark clothes with a large mustache. I am sure this is mostly inaccurate, but that is how I have thought of Russians since I was a little kid. I am sure most Russian are happy friendly people. However, I was surprised when it seemed like you Russians had negative stereotypes of yourselves. Is this true, or am I just misunderstanding what you are trying to say? My typical American stereotype is a loud, happy, friendly, self confident, and athletic person. Although our country is in a struggle with obesity I do not see that as a stereotype. Why is it that you seem to have a negative opinion of yourselves? I also thought the question “should stereotyping be made illegal” is irrelevant. Even if we wanted to it could not be made illegal. You cannot control a persons thoughts, so how could it be made illegal?

Answer to Kamron's post from Vasily Kretinin
I wrote my opinion about making spereotypes illegal. Maybe my opinion is unusual and unpopular. But we cannot prevent thoughts, of course. I think, question about making stereotypes illegal was added only for making discussion more active with different views, and this idea was justified.
 * Kamron,** I agree with you that stereotypes unfortunate but unavoidable part of life and from the day of birth its number becomes only more and more. I don’t have many stereotypes about Russia, but when I compare some stereotypes about Russians from majority of the people from other countries with my view of situation, I sadly notice, not all stereotypes are so far from reality and some of them are negative.


 * Answer to Kamron's post from Alena Zubekhina: **

Kamron, I was surprised that your opinion of Russian is a cold mean person in dark clothes with a large mustache. It amused me! We are usual people and we wear not just dark clothes J  Possibly, stereotypes can be illegal, but nothing good will come of it. We cannot forbid a person to think of something, or we will kill him in personality!


 * Keegan Sonney**

This is interesting to me. In my area we do not have as intense stereotypes that you seem to have. Our stereotypes include many little groups with broad classifications. We have jocks, nerds, popular people, bratty girls, ** jerk **s, druggies, and creeps. I think that everyone at my school knows about these groups; it is like an automatic sensce that you get when you see everyone hanging out in there groups...especially at lunch. It is not like we pick on one certain group; they dont have a big glowing target on their backs, but we just know who belongs to what group based on observations and that sensce that we recieve. Because the classifications of the groups are so broad, most everyone, besides a few exceptions, fit the group they are in. I am an exception. I am an exception. I asked a couple of my friends what group I fit into and these were the answers: - nerd..in a smart way - popular group - goody two shoes, but a person you can come to about anything. These were all examples from my girl friends. I just realized by asking them, that only (well most of the time) girls have stereotypes and guys do not. I just asked five guys what stereoype I fit under and they could not give me one. They couldnt even think on any for our school. Is that they way your discussion went? Did they guys at your school have stereotypes, or do they just think of everyone as the same? But back to my other point. The few exceptions can intertwine in many groups without feeling awkward when around that group. That is about all I have to say on this topic for now. I found this very entertaining to write about. (:

The stereotypes we have for your contry are not what you think. When I think of the Russian mafia I think of New York City. The only stereotype I think of for your country is the idea that people like vodka.
 * Kyle Pier**

Each country has its own history and its traditions. Through stories and stereotypes have developed the Russian people. Russian people are great patriots of their country. War theme for them is related to emotions and big losses. One of the stereotypes in Russia is a doll, sauna and bears. The American people are distinguished for their friendliness. People who live in America are very kind and helpful. It is also associated with them coca cola and McDonald's. Stereotypes are a part of our lives. Each country has its own history and its traditions. Through stories and stereotypes have developed the Russian people. Russian people are great patriots of their country. War theme for them is related to emotions and big losses. One of the stereotypes in Russia is a doll, sauna and bears. The American people are distinguished for their friendliness. People who live in America are very kind and helpful. It is also associated with them coca cola and McDonald's. Stereotypes are a part of our lives.
 * Votyakova**

What do you think about stereotypes?

I would like to talk about stereotypes. I think that steriotipy arise from the fact that we do not know about other people: how they live, as a rest, as noted by the holidays and so on. Most of the stereotypes we learn from TV and most of them lie. Many films show how Russian mafia, the mafia in Russia though has never been. I used to be a stereotype that most Americans are fat. But now I realize that this is a lie. Well, the code we can communicate with people from other countries and get rid of stereotypes.
 * Luchinkin**

Hi! Surely you had to deal with stereotypes tend to hear about it from history books, movies, TV, media, etc. Stereotypes can not be entirely accurate, although many of them are true. Many stereotypes characterize a country (or city) with a good or bad side. For example, association with Hollywood - cinema, music and entertainment business in general, although I have never been there. Or Germany - hot dogs and beer. Stereotypes are very curious thing. Surely, you have Russia may be associated with "cold weather" or other subjects: "Balalaika" - folk instrument, "Matryoshka" - Russian wooden toy, "Vodka" - a strong alcoholic beverage. A common stereotype about America in Russia, "that all the people there eat only fast food". To this should not be offended, because you know that it is not. First and foremost, we must remember that we are all human beings. Stereotypes are a part of our lives. They are certainly not an accurate description of individuals or of something else, but as close to it.
 * Cheremnykh Maxim**

Our world is a very varied. There are about 200 countries in the word. Each country has its own interesting history and traditions. Certainly people from other countries have varied behavior, trait and characteristics. This is based on traditions and customs of the countries where these people grew up. There are the stereotypes. I saw video on YouTube .And I agree that Russian people don’t allocate in crowd. Moreover, I think, a lot of Russian people can well speak without an accent. It is really good. I absolutely agree, we have famous Russian musicians, scientists and writers. Also, a lot of American people are representing Russia as the cold country. Moreover, they know about the doll, bears and dumplings. It is really stereotypes. Americans people are friendly, because they always smile, they fast come into contact with new people, and they are very pleasant. Russian people are also aware of the distinctive features of American. It is coca-cola and hamburger. Certainly, there are a lot of stereotypes about other nations. In conclusion, I would like to say that stereotypes are a part of human life.
 * Yurchenko**

Vasily, Honestly, I don't know how you could make stereotyping illeagal. They are based on a persons opinion, you can't tell people not to have an opinion. Your stereotypes seem to be much broader topics, we have stereotypes within our school on much less controversial topics. Our school is socailly divided into cliques, or stereo types. We have the popular girls, the popular guys (usually the jocks) these two usually interact also; there are other groups like the "druggies" actually just yesterday there were people that got busted at our school for drugs. There are many different types of these groups, they're not things that are discussed, you just know who is who. The groups really show in the cafeteria during lunch, you can look around and see what group people are in by where they sit and your perception of how they are acting if you think it's "wierd" or not. A lot of the time when you meet someone they are automaticlly stereotyped, whether you think about it or not. Americans are very quick to judge, most are at least, there are very, very few people I've met that try not to judge. Comparing our stereotrypes between the countries, I don't have many stereotypes of Russia. I think of the Mafia I guess, but I don't know much about your country to make stereotypes. I think you are pretty spot on when you say Americans are loud, I'm a perfect example of that. When we talk to get our point across "more effectivly" we raise our voices. I also think a stereotype of America is that we are very smiley, in an awkward situation we smile, when we're nervous we smile, when we see someone that you might be mad at you smile. I mean they aren't full on teeth showing smiles but it's a small awkward smile. My friend and I just talked to my classmates and realized that guys don't have stereotypes. We were asking what they would classify us as and they couldn't. They couldn't tell us what cliques the school has. It was quite suprising to us. We know they have cliques but we never noticed that they don't see it like we do. Are the stereotypes the same in Russia? Do you have cliques?
 * Rebecca Vietze**

--Becca

Rebecca, your post is very interesting! I completely agree, that stereotypes are based on a persons’ opinions, you can't tell people not to have an opinion. It is not normal to divide students into cliques. But it was so then I studied at school. At school we also had the popular girls, the popular guys. But at university there are not many different types of these groups, you can’t just know who is who. You wrote “A lot of the time when you meet someone they are automaticlly stereotyped, whether you think about it or not. Americans are very quick to judge, most are at least, there are very, very few people I've met that try not to judge.” Are your stereotyped opinions basicallytrue or wrong ?
 * Answer to Becca's post from Dmitry Surin **

Loginova Irina So, it is very unpleasant to me to read such comments about Russian vodka that’s why it is an erroneous opinion. Russian people like fun, entertainments and holidays but not all Russian drink alcohol. We have many intelligent and positive people who prefer a healthy way of life. Sometimes Russian tourists behave awfully in other countries but it doesn’t mean that all Russians carefree alcoholics who spoil life to itself and another.

Answer to Kamron's post from Chyugunov Roman
Kamron, I read your letter. And I strongly liked your stereotype about Russian. Because you practically right. Most people from our country like to wear dark closes. But it becomes rare to find a man with huge beard. “However, I was surprised when it seemed like you Russians had negative stereotypes of yourselves.” It is not so, it is more correct to say that we (Russian) have stereotype that you(Americans) have stereotype that all Russian drink vodka, play, balalaika, and make matreshka. And I think that this stereotype becomes from Hollywood films from 90’s. And also from massmedia we get information that all Americans have problems with extra weight and form negative stereotypes about you. It is not your, or our guilt. “I also thought the question “should stereotyping be made illegal” is irrelevant. Even if we wanted to it could not be made illegal. You cannot control a persons thoughts, so how could it be made illegal?” This question was made only for social survey. And for investigating oter people opinion.

It very interesting to hear some stereotypes about myself. So can you tell me some more American stereotypes about Russian people?

Sorry to chime in here but I thought I would give my perspective on the stereotypes. During the cold war there were many stereotypes created between our countries. Most of that was perpetuated by propaganda as our two nations battled around the world. The idea that Russians were cold people who lacked emotion was a big one when I was a kid. We all thought that your people hated us and wanted nothing more than to nuke our country. The Cuban missile crises started that band wagon. But that was a ways back. Since the fall of Communism many Americans of my generation have this stereotype that Russians are very poor. The wall came down decades ago, but there is still this idea that Russia is crumbled. I know it isn't true, but Russia doesn't make the papers anymore so Americans assume you are still trying to climb out of the aftermath of communist rule. I was curious of your opinion on American stereotypes. Do people in Russia think the United States to be bullies of other nations? Also, in America we have a ton of stereotypes involving illegal immigrants from Mexico. Is there any social group from another country that Russians have strong, negative stereotypes about? If so from where and why? Just curious.

Answer to Kyle’s post from Marina Samoschenko

Kyle, I read your letter. In my opinion it is wrong to judge about person or the whole country by existing stereotypes, sometimes it’s even dangerous and it can lead to conflict. Anyway, we live at the mercy of stereotypes. Stereotype certainly is not the best way to describe people. And it is really interesting when the life gives us the chance to destroy them. I would like to underline, that for me personally the national stereotype does not play the big role. It is necessary to get acquainted with the person personally, instead of making acquaintance with his stereotype or "form".

Mr. O'Donnell
Wonderful discussions everyone!