“You know the world is off tilt when the best rapper is a white guy (Eminem), the best golfer is a black guy (Tiger Woods), the tallest basketball player is Chinese (Yao Ming, 7’6″) and Germany doesn’t want to go to war (in Iraq)â€. Charles Barkley stated in a 2003 interview, pointing out various misconceptions with stereotypes. A stereotype is defined by dictionary. com as: “something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially: an often oversimplified or biased mental picture held to characterize the typical individual of a groupâ€.
I have commonly heard stereotypes such as the French are good cooks, Italians are great lovers, and the Irish are lazy or comments made like dumb jock, lazy Cape Bretoner, or that women are not strong!! The list could go on endlessly as there appears to be stereotypes regarding people of all races, religions, sexes and ethnic groups, etcetera. Stereotypes can be either positive or negative. Most stereotypes tend to make us feel superior in some way to the person or group being stereotyped.
