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As a Jamaican living within the United States of America, I find that one of the social elements I am forced to deal with is stereotypes. Initially, I was offended by the many stereotypes that I felt the impetus to correct among my friends and colleagues but eventually I became desensitized and actually started laughing with my friends when it came to their stereotypical impression of who I am. I also took great pleasure in representing myself as a Jamaican well enough in order to dispel some of the myths that I have encountered here within the U.S. However, before I delve into my personal encounters with stereotypes, I just want to shed some general facts on the dynamics of stereotype.
What is stereotype and or stereotyping?
Stereotype is any thought, idea, belief or perspective that places objects, individuals, or way of doing things in a particular category or attaches any general description that may or may not be factual. For example, all Asians are smart. This belief is very extensive due to the fact that many Asians that we encounter are indeed smart in addition to the fact that Japan creates many of the high-tech devices that we use in our daily lives. However, it is not necessarily true that all Asians are smart.
Is stereotyping bad?
Many people believe that stereotyping a person or a group of people is a negative thing to do. In fact, stereotyping is frowned upon and discouraged in most social circles due to the fact that many people become offended when they become targets of stereotypes. However, stereotyping actually serves a cognitive function and a social function. The cognitive function that stereotyping serves is that it can help us make sense of our surrounding. It is a mechanism that helps individuals to cognitively organize information received through their senses from the environment. It is used as a filter to help us simplify and systematically process information so that the information can be identified, recalled, predicted and appropriately reacted towards. Through experience, we stereotype that some animals are dangerous while others are friendly. For example, many people like myself believe that pit-bulls are very aggressive animals. However, the fact is, their are many friendly well trained pit bulls that are pets in homes. I was able to put my stereotype aside in order to become the owner of a pit-bull recently. However, I would still not pet a pit-bull that belongs to another owner in order to safeguard myself from being bitten.
The social function of stereotyping is that it gives a quick explanation or justification pertaining to a group of people and or their behaviour and also to give a general and positive reflection of that group. For example, all Jamaican women cook well. That would be statement that a Jamaican like myself would gladly say as it reflects positive on the cultural group that I am apart of. However, the fact is, it is only a stereotype and there are actually a few Jamaican women that are not so culinary inclined.
Is it normal to stereotype?
Given just how much stereotyping actually simplifies our lives, I would have to say that this mechanism is very normal. No one realistically has the time or capacity to get to know every individual in the world to accurately determine how each individual distinctive traits sets them apart from another person. We only have the capacity to meet only a few individuals within our social circle who become representative of a group or culture who either affirms or dispels our stereotypes. As a result, we use our encounters with these few individuals to categorize the whole group in order to easily mentally process the information about that group. For example, many people might believe that all Chinese have small eyes and use that as a way to identify Chinese individuals even though this may in fact not be entirely accurate.
Is it rude to stereotype?
For many of us, stereotyping is an involuntary habit and is like second nature. Unfortunately, most people do not like to be categorized or labelled, especially if the label is negative. As a result, many people reject stereotypical statements. The fact that people that are targets for stereotypes might find themselves stereotyping others is no consolation to most people who wants to be viewed as an individual and not as a representative of a stereotype. In doesn't help when people openly and blatantly make these sweeping generalizations in front of the person or group that is being stereotyped, especially if it is negative. For example, all black women have bad attitudes, all white women are door mats and all men are promiscuous. Statements like these are very hurtful to individuals that are apart of these groups. People need to be mindful and considerate mostly of how harmful statements like this can be and should make attempts to minimize hurtful statements like these, especially since we know that these statements are not 100% accurate.
Can stereotypes lead to Self-fulfilling prophecy?
Absolutely. Especially when it pertains to socializing our children. "All Asians are smart" can have a positive effect on Asian children as they might actually aspire to live up to such a statement. However, conversely the statement "All men are dogs" can clearly have a negative effect on the socializing process of our young boys. Therefore, we can clearly see that we have to be careful when it comes to stereotyping and labeling, especially as it relates to our children. In addition, simply because we think it doesn't mean we should say.
That being said, here is a list of stereotypes that are commonly associated with Jamaicans.
All Jamaicans smoke weed: This has to be the number one stereotype associated with Jamaicans. The fact is, many Jamaicans do not indulge in marijuana smoking. Many of us do not even like the smell of marijuana. However, the stereotype is not far fetched as many Jamaican do in fact smoke marijuana, including those of the Rastafarian faith who do it for religious purposes.
Weed is legal in Jamaica: The practice of smoking Marijuana in Jamaica is actually illegal. Individuals can be jailed and or fined for possession of Marijuana.
Jamaicans do not speak English, they speak broken English: This is a tricky one, as Jamaicans actually speak English and Jamaican creole. Jamaican creole sounds like English, which is why many people believe it is broken English but it is actually a combination of English and underlying West African grammar. Some Jamaicans are proficient in both while some are only proficient in one.
All Jamaicans eat goat meat: Most Jamaicans eat goat meat in the form of the delicious delicacy, curried goat. However, again, not all Jamaicans eat goat meat, especially those of the Rastafarian faith who are strictly vegetarians.
All Jamaicans are aggressive: Many Jamaicans are very laid back personality wise and friendly. We make good friends, great spouses and wonderful hardworking employees. There are aggressive Jamaicans and non-aggressive Jamaicans as with most nationalities.
Jamaicans are lazy: This has to be the most hurtful stereotype I have heard yet. Many Jamaicans are hard working go-getters in life who wants nothing more than to succeed in whatever field or profession they choose to be in. Our small island have produced great doctors, teachers, musicians, athletes, lawyers, journalists you name it.
All Jamaicans are black: Actually Jamaica is a melting pot of many races. We especially have a concentration of people with Chinese, Indian and middle eastern background. We also have a few Caucasian Jamaicans. This multi-racial composition have given rise to a wide group of individuals with bi-racial backgrounds.
Jamaicans are behind on technology: Due to the fact that Jamaica is a third world country, many people are sometimes amazed that we have many of the modern day gadgets that is afforded to those in the second and first world countries. Our economy is extremely strained, but this has never stopped Jamaicans from staying abreast the latest products on the market.
There are at least a dozen more stereotypes, most of which are hilarious but as I have said before, I now laugh when I hear them and do my best to represent my beautiful island well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype
