Stereotypes, what does it all mean?

A stereotype is used to categorise a group of people based on ideas and assumptions made by other people.

So you could say that the typical stereotypes for 'goths' are; black clothes, black makeup, they are depressed and are also hated by society. Another typical stereotype is the 'dumb blonde'. Blondes are stereotyped as being labelled thick or dumb, wearing lots of makeup, dressing in pink and are usually only concerned about looks.

In most cases we stereotype because we judge people by what they look like. So when people don't actually know how a certain person acts, they tend to 'stereotype' them and put them into classifications. This makes most people think that everyone who is in that group or classification needs to be like that, look like that and act like that, even though they may actually be the complete opposite to what they are stereotyped to be like.

The media uses stereotypes for audience appeal. The audience all instantly understand these stereotypes and what they are talking about. Stereotypes are often referred to as a 'visual shortcut'. They are repeated by the media so much that we begin to think they are true or even normal.