Marina Armstrong

Frances Goughnour
Kendall Grube
OConnor
Honors English 9
8 May 2016
The Threats of Stereotypes in Our Society

In what situations do you feel intimidated or threatened? When do you feel as if you dont fit in
or dont belong and therefore perform worse?

Nearly every single person, it doesnt matter if youre white, black, gay, poor, rich, old, young, or
sick, we are all looked at through a lense of a stereotype. A stereotype is a widely held fixed
image or idea of what someone or something is like. Although we know that stereotypes exist in
society, many of us are hidden from the fact that negative stereotypes downgrade performance
and that many stereotype threats dont take place at a conscious level.

As evidence that stereotypes victimize and decrease performance in different social groups,
sociologist Min-Hsuing Huang found that when black and white men answered 10 vocabulary
questions from a white interviewer, the black men answered 5.49 questions correctly while the
white men on average answered 6.33 correctly. You could say that these results could just show
that the intelligence of the black men are lower than white men or it was just a less intelligent
group of men but then you would have to come up with an answer as to why, when interviewed
by a black man, the other black men who had just scored a 5.49 average now scored a 6.33, the

exact same as the white men had. This research shows that in situations where race is noticeable,
the students or workers performance falters because of the remainder of the stereotype that in the
past, blacks were intellectually inferior to whites.

Not only are racial stereotypes a major issue in a classroom or workplace setting but also the
threat of gender stereotypes. An example would be women working in the math field. When
women perform in math, they risk being judged by the stereotype that women have a weaker
ability to do math unlike men who in history have been thought of as more intelligent than
women. By being reminded of this stereotype, women not only perform worse but make it selffulfilling and live up to the false belief. In order to boost womens performance and stop this
stereotype, they need to be reminded that they are just as capable as any man and that women
perform just as well.

Another source of direct evidence of threatening stereotypes has come from students of Petaluma
High School, specifically Mrs. O'Connor's Honor English 9 class. A prevalent stereotype that
many young girls fall into is the dumb blonde stereotype. This stereotype comes from a long
time ago, saying that a girl can not be smart and pretty, especially blondes. A girl has to pick one
or the other. This stereotype is not only inaccurate but it is also threatening, malicious, and
cliched. Many girls that have come forward about their feelings regarding the topic have stated
that they try to change themselves to prove their criticizers wrong. The fact that anybody should
have to do this because somebody has tried to hurt them based on intellectual ability or
appearance is unacceptable. A girl who is changing herself to appease somebody who stereotypes
should be unheard of, it is a shame that threatening stereotypes have made their way to our
everyday lives.

These stereotypes are apparent and they are becoming more noticed since they are present in so
many situations and circumstances. Most of these places include setting of the stereotypes. A
common spot is at school, specifically in class. Classroom setting stereotypes include looking
like a nerd, wanting attention from boys by taking their kind of classes, and being
homophobic. These stereotypes come from wearing glasses, a girl taking woodshop, or a hick
being placed as a homophobe, even if it is not true. Yet another example of false classification in
what a safe place should be, specifically school.

In order to cope and get past these negative stereotypes, students have reported defying the
stereotype by proving it wrong or keeping a formative figure in mind that helps lead them to
believe they can perform successfully.

All in all, many students and people have let stereotypes define them and others. Racial and
gender stereotypes have played a significant role in the lives of people and many may feel
threatened and that they can't do anything about it. Although stereotypes are becoming more
noticed and handled, it is still a defining problem in our community.