Stereotyping: Venture into the Unknown

A good stereotype seems paradoxical to the common person because we believe that classifying the human race crushes people’s hopes and dreams. We think that everyone is extraordinary and unique and it is impossible to limit someone’s abilities. According to a survey by the National Journal, 55% of people think they are above average intelligence. Ironically, even though we think so highly of ourselves and that we are impossible to classify into a category, we feel that it is perfectly fine to classify other people. Our goal as a society seems to be that we should be able to simply glance at someone and predict everything about him or her. Yet why do we continue to classify people when we know its wrong? 

Stereotyping gives us a sense of safety because it limits the unknown. Dictionary.com defines unknown as “strange, unfamiliar, and not widely known”. Stereotyping gives the ability to know everything about a person and therefore eliminates “strange, unfamiliarity” we experience when we first encounter a person.

Brent Staple’s “first victim”(Staples 205) felt safe and secure because she classified Staples into the robber/rapist category and immediately knew that she should escape from him. If Brent Staples was from some obscure race that had never been classified into a category, the woman would have felt less secure because she didn’t know whether she should run away or stay put. Stereotyping gives us an opportunity to venture into the unknown without actually risking our comfort.