Розмовна тема з англійської мови / Topic "A STEREOTYPE. WHAT IS IT?" (Form 10)

Tinie Tempah said, “At the end of the day, I’m a human being and I just think that’s what it is. Challenging stereotypes by just being who I am.”

• What is a stereotype? What are some stereotypes?
• Do you believe other cultures have stereotypes about your country? What might they be?
• Why do you think people stereotype? How can stereotypes be damaging?

Tinie Tempah is a stage name of an English rapper, singer and songwriter. He is famous for a great number of quotes and sayings about house, parents, women and others. His quotation about stereotypes is worth speaking about.

 A stereotype is a widely held and oversimplified idea about a person or a group of people. They are a part of our everyday life. We hear them every day and everywhere. Stereotyping is a way that people group each other. Stereotypes affect people’s social lives, emotions, and how people interact with their environment.

Stereotypes often have little relation to the truth and they can lead to harmful attitudes. Very often people make their first opinion about a person according to a certain stereotype. A person is usually judged by his appearance, outlook, or way of life.

• A badly dressed dirty man is usually associated with someone who has no job and house to live in.
• It is supposed that a very beautiful girl has no intelligence and is quite silly.
• On the other hand, a person who wears glasses and a hat might be looked upon as very clever and intelligent.

Stereotypes have an enormous impact of how we feel.

• For instance if a kid is stereotyped as black and obese, these words can’t make him feel good. This can create psychological pressure.
• There is also a stereotype that says that women are bad drivers.

Members of stereotyped groups worry of what they are doing, and this makes them stressed, because they think they have to be perfect, in all aspects of their lives!

• For example, people seem surprised when they see men cry or being emotional.

We should learn how to control our feelings and emotions, instead of letting stereotypes control our feelings. We should stop judging people before we even get to know them.

• What's more it's thought that women can't be good politicians. But all this is under a beg question. The statement has been repeated many times and so the stereotype has been formed. However, if men begin to consider women as equals, the stereotype may soon be changed.

Even if a stereotype might seem true for a member of a group, it is wrong to assume that the stereotype applies to all members of that group.

I must add that there is a stereotype that concerns national particular features of people. Persons, belonging to a certain nation, are supposed to be greedy (for example Bulgarians), very attractive (as French women), punctual (such as Germans). Such stereotypes interfere with real understanding of people belonging to different nations.

But when you travel, you do find out that there are some national stereotypes, which actually ring true. Among them are the following:

• Germans who Drink A lot Of Beer
• Americans Are Loud
• English People Love Talking About the Weather
• Canadians Are Polite
• Argentinians Love Steak. And Diego Maradona
• Swedish People Are Hot

Speaking about Englishmen I may note that they're reserved, tradition-loving, honest, extremely nationalistic. To my mind, they have a specific sense of humor. They say that they can't understand our jokes not only because of the different meanings of the words, but because of their humor is more delicate.

National stereotypes are one of the sources of learning foreign culture and traditions. A “typical” Ukrainian wears national embroidered dress and eats salo (pork fat) in unbelievable amounts. All Ukrainians enjoy dancing the Hopak, the national folkloric dance, and enjoy painting pysankas at Easter. Ukraine is the land of beautiful dark-haired women. The most negative assocation within the country is the nuclear power plant disaster in Chornobyl.

The stereotypes may have the grain of truth to them, but they are not wholly correct.

In conclusion I should say that luckily the interest in physiognomy has decreased and still remains only in the public mind. In my opinion, the process of getting rid of stereotypes would make people understand each other better.