Blondes, African Americans, college students, Christians, women. As you look through these, how many stereotypes pop into your mind? Where did you get these stereotypes from? It could be from the media, from your family, from friends, or from your town. We hear these categories and make assumptions about the people in these groups. What about the people who don't measure up to those assumptions? Stereotypes try to make people and their characteristics simply black and white, but in reality, people are so diverse, even within their "ingroups". In the article by Richard Dyer, "The Role of Stereotypes", Dyer points out that while stereotypes try to keep things cut and dry, reality argues that groups and characteristics of those groups are a lot more fluid than realized. He also talks about who we are, what groups we are in, and what characteristics of those groups we want portrayed to the greater public, and which characteristics we want to defy. Stereotypes do not portray reality. They portray bits and pieces of reality but twist them into a combination of characteristics everyone in the group is assumed to have, which would make them complete replicas of each other. Reality is not so cut and dry. People who are apart of the same group do have common traits, but also bring unique characteristics to make them who they are individually.
At Gloucester High in Gloucester MA, there was an outbreak of pregnant girls by the end of the 2008 school year. 17 girls, all between 14-16 were expecting babies around the same time (link to story below). It became an extremely hot news story and everyone began throwing their opinion around. Opinions not only about the cause of this extremely high number, but opinions of the girls themselves. As a group, teenage, unwed mothers have a stereotype attached to them: irresponsible, stupid, immature, didn't think this through, will regret it, throwing their lives away, etc. So when this news came out, everyone assumed that every single one of these girls fir that description. Then stories began emerging about girls getting help and being prepared for these babies. Some talked about their plans to finish school even with a baby and the importance their education did have. Some shared about their families dedication to help make this situation work. There were obviously some within that group who were not being responsible about it, but there were more that were. The stereotype of a teenage mom was thrust on them, and many of them defied it. While they may have had some characteristics, all of them approached this pregnancy in a different and unique way making them individuals within this group.
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