Reinforcing a bad stereotype?

[Korten12]

I love anime and manga, I even draw manga, and if someone asks me if I like it, I will tell them yes and they have no problem. My brother who even hosts many school parties and is one of the popular kids (not a douche like the stereotype of them is) loves anime and manga is currently buying the whole Death Note series. Neither of us dress or act the stereotypical way.

So now to get to my main point, why do kids in school (at least my school) reinforce the bad stereotype of manga and anime lovers being extremely weird and nerdy? Like they all huddle around, look like they haven?t showered in weeks, and wear the same clothes all the time. Dress weird, and always separate themselves from everyone else.

Now in my school, people really don?t care (when people see how I draw manga, everyone usually is impressed and not crept out) and no one separates them, but they do it to themselves. No group of kids go around hating on them and making them anti-social, they just do it to themselves. Now I am not to say they should act like everyone else but they do it in a way that they create a sort of barrier, separating us from them.

So basically, why do some people reinforce sterotypes?

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Maybe they don't mean to reinforce the sterotype. I imagine that they don't care what others think about them so they all hand out together and don't bother "looking nice". So they end up looking pretty odd.

Stereotypes are usually there for a reason. They don't just pop up out of nowhere.

 

[Korten12]

Maybe they don't mean to reinforce the sterotype. I imagine that they don't care what others think about them so they all hand out together and don't bother "looking nice". So they end up looking pretty odd.

Stereotypes are usually there for a reason. They don't just pop up out of nowhere.

Thats true and a possibity.

 

[endnuen]

No idea ? I like animé and I love video games, yet is not perceived as a stereotype at all. But that may have something to do with being very busy every weekend having fun out in the world.. but the reason some believe in the stereotype is because the stereotype stands out particularly much.

Just a theory?

 

[PlasmaSnake13]

I always try to break stereotypes, and I think I'm mostly successful...but I think in this case people just don't realize that they ARE a stereotype. They always think 'No way is that me!'

Just a theory?

Exactly. We may never know.

 

[zehydra]

it's never on purpose, and they certainly aren't guilty of reinforcing stereotypes. If they act like the stereotype, then it is the person that interprets that as being proof for the stereotype who is in the wrong.

 

[Anarchemitis]

retty odd.

Stereotypes are usually there for a reason. They don't just pop up out of nowhere.

It comes from extremely rare, anomalous examples that become famous and popular, or a source of News attention. (Which generates buzz, which generates money.)
If you think seriously about it, how many obese recluses live in their mom's basement past 20 living off of pizza pops and playing World of Warcraft? I'm going to guess less than 50 on the entire face of the 7,000,000,000 strong Earth. Fricken Modern Media and News, man. You never hear headlines like "This Just In: 120,500 aircraft land successfully without incident in the past hour! Families frustrated with water bottles on board." You only hear about the single one that crashed because a pilot had a Tylenol./rant

Stereotypes arise from uninformed generalizations which are easier to grasp in gossip than the whole story.

 

[Gralian]

Stereotypes are usually there for a reason. They don't just pop up out of nowhere.

This.

"There is never smoke without fire" is an old adage that i think applies to the topic in question. The whole reason we have stereotypes is because that's just how a significant portion of a social clique has behaved in the past and has thus become the blanket assumption for all members of that particular clique to act in that way. It doesn't even have to be the majority; if something stands out enough, even if it is in the minority, you are going to notice it a lot more than the majority that doesn't stand out at all.

However, in the case of people actually reinforcing a negative stereotype, i would say that the stereotype - no matter how cruel and one dimensional it may seem - can sometimes ring true. No smoke without fire, after all. People have acted that way in the past, other people took notice, a stereotype was born. A stereotype can boil down to a list of traits you predict an individual or group will display. That doesn't mean it's inherently malicious, it's the way people apply them to others that makes them so.

If people do reinforce stereotypes, it's because they either just don't care, or it's who they are. It's like asking why there are still clear cut divisions between what is considered masculine (sports, mechanics, action man) and what is considered feminine (soap opera, art, barbie dolls). Both men and women fulfil stereotypes about gender for the majority. Why? Because that's just how it's been since the beginning. Not everyone fits those stereotypes about what constitutes male and female 'gender roles' and it's certainly ever-changing, but the point is still there.

 

[Drakane]

I agree w/ most of whats said but will also add... it creates an identity. You can tell more athletes by wearing jerseys, you can tell "band kids" by their uniforms... well that look tends to be the uniform of the anime/demi-goth/w/e clique. I feel it has little to do w/ fueling a stereotype as much as trying to fit in and have acceptance w/in the group. I assume this is hs and most kids do this w/ the aforementioned jerseys/uniforms this one just stands out more since its somewhat self-imposed and a bit more... abrasive.

When I was in hs I was that kid, had friends in all groups, but deffinetly identified and pronounced myself as mostly akin w/ that group... other than the unclean part, not cool.