Introduction
Stereotyping is a regular psychological phenomenon, given that such stable convictions and assumptions about certain objects and groups allow building the understanding of others. However, stereotyping often refers to the creating purely social barriers, mistreatment, and misrepresentation of the group. The present paper discusses the cognitive patterns, associated with politicians, tattooed people, feminists and senior citizens.
Main body
Politicians are normally compared to actors and referred to like populists, who manipulate commonly shared existential values (safety, health, unity, fraternity) in order to satisfy their personal interests (Gioseffi, 1993, p. 48). Politicians are also labeled as cruel, formalistic, and greedy; however, there exists a wealth of positive visions of people, who have access to power: it is commonly “known” that they are normally rich, well-dressed, well-mannered, sophisticated, and intelligent. The above-described stereotypes are normally not shared by the members of politicians’ families and friends, who know them in different hypostases and are ware of the price one needs to pay to reach political success; moreover, due to the fact that politicians receive votes mainly from the states and areas of origin, one can assume that their “compatriots” fail to develop this stereotype in regard to certain political activists. In order o reinforce these stereotypes, appeals to such values as justice, equal opportunity and private property are used, politicians’ incomes and actions are normally “hyperbolized” and contrasted to those of the poor population groups.
In fact, politicians do not always lie and pretend, their statements are grounded by the personal belief in the truthfulness of the claim or workability of the system they offer. In addition, contemporary legislation quite strongly prevents politicians from misusing their entitlements; voters also serve as a social sensor that does not allow politicians to forget about common interests and their promises.
Tattooed persons are normally stereotyped as deviants: “there are many who cling to the old stereotypes of the modified population as being drug addicted, alcoholic, prone to criminal acts, belligerent, uneducated, and tending toward violence. When many people see mods they immediately project onto the individual a set of character attributes are generally those of a one dimensional, socially deviant” (bmezine.com, 2008, par.2). Physical modifications are also associated with low income and lack of social privileges: logically, if the group of people is perceived as deviant, it is likely to be discriminated against by employers, who also pose certain dress code and appearance requirements. Tattooed men are often viewed as people, who never maturate and spend their whole life wandering around the country and riding their motorbike; tattooed girls are often viewed (especially by the older generations) as promiscuous and careless in interpersonal relations (Gioseffi, 1993, p. 34; Zanna and Olson, 1994, p. 62). There are also positive stereotypes; in particular, people with visible tattoos are considered interesting interlocutors, creative, and strong in terms of proficiency in combat arts and the ability to physically protect themselves and their friends. This stereotype is reinforced by visually displaying criminals and deviants as tattooed persons and stressing that certain delinquent subcultures have such practice as covering their bodies with drawings.
Although this stereotype is spread among the majority, relatives, friends, family members, employers, and teachers of tattooed persons (or people who are personally acquainted with one or several persons with modified bodies) approach this stereotype with caution and do not fully support it. In fact, tattooed persons often work in “creative” or “artistic” areas (stylists, tattooists, artists, photographers), so they don’t really need to observe corporate dress code (Zanna and Olson, 1994, p.65). Their lifestyles are different, but experts normally see no relationship between the presence of drawings on the skin and risky behavior.
The popular stereotypes about feminists include the views that they hate males and are unhappy in romantic relationships and have so bad temper and habits that men rarely pay to them attention (Zanna and Olson, 1994, p. 69). They are also viewed as social deviants and often considered to be lonely and have no friends except colleagues. There are also positive convictions: for instance, feminists are perceived as self-sufficient, strong, well-educated women with a good white-collar job and high income. These judgments are normally supported by such rhetorical devices as “expert opinion”: ostensibly competent experts tend to discuss feminism and woman’s independence in quite negative terms, connecting these characteristics with women’s solitude and failures in interpersonal relations. These stereotypes are often rejected by feminists themselves or those people, who participated in inequality movements, as well as by individuals, personally acquainted with feminists for some time. In fact, positive stereotypes are confirmed: researcher Laurie Rudman found that more than 60 percent of feminists had higher education (Branson, 2006) and white-collar occupation; moreover, most of them appeared to be happy in cross-gender relationships: “strong, independent women have satisfying lives, and their men are happy too” (Branson, 2006, par.6).
Senior citizens are on the one hand shown as ignorant, weak, dependent, and forgetful as well as excessively conservative so that they are often shown as opponents of technological and social innovations. On the other hand, they are positively stereotyped as kind and caring, as eternally loving “grandmas” and “grandpas”, who dedicate a lot of time to their children as well as to the growing generation. Rhetorically, these stereotypes are confirmed by media images of the elderly, portrayed with a good amount of humor, so their fading memory and physical weakness are mocked to a certain degree. However, seniors who still lead an active lifestyle, reject both positive and negative stereotypes, insisting that they are still living and enjoying their own, independent life. Statistically, most seniors are really capable of meeting their needs by themselves, the prevalence of chronic diseases in this group is higher, but they insignificantly impair their social and spiritual life (Zanna and Olson, 1994, p.83).
Conclusion
As for me, I learned a lot of new information about my internal barriers to meeting new people and gaining new experience, known as stereotypes. I have realized that those associated with minority groups, about which I know only theoretically, are still strong – for instance, I also often approached tattooed persons and youth subculture representatives with criminality prejudice. At the same time, I am aware of the fact that there is a number of stereotypes against me: as a student, I can be considered careless, due to my accent, I can be labeled as an illegal immigrant, these stereotypes are often cemented by media images and rhetorical representations of the respective groups.
Reference
Gioseffi, D. (1994). On Prejudice: A Global Perspective. New York: Doubleday.
Zanna, M. and Olson, J. (1994).The Psychology of Prejudice. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Branson, K. (2006). Researcher turns tables on feminist stereotypes –and causes a stir. 2007. Web.
Bmezine.com. (2008). Social consequences of visible body modifications. Web.