In Colombia, my native country, we are used to stereotypes, and people have several social barriers. When I told my friends and family that I planned to study abroad, many of them thought I would never be able to do it because I was going to compete admission against the most talented people around the world. Some others thought that americans were dumb people and their universities were dumb as well. These kind of stereotypes were barriers when applying abroad; however, I never allowed them to stop me.
Despite the arrive of the 21st century we are still immersed in stereotypic societies, who influence our thoughts and perceptions of the world. The physical consequences of external influences were proved in an astonishing experiment carried out by Mrs. Elliott, a school teacher in Iowa. She proved that the brown-eyed kids in her class felt really inferior compared to blue-eyed ones, when told so, and thus their grades dropped; however when they were told to be superior than blue-eyed kids, they improved their academic performance.
This article was really interesting because it gave several examples and cases of study of different situations and perceptions. Moreover, it really helps us open our minds to different thoughts and cultures, so that we can notice that many times our environment really affects the way we see the world around us.
I agree with you when you say “…we are still immersed in stereotypic societies…” In a perfect world, there would be no stereotypes but since no one is perfect, the world is not thus, we will always have stereotypes. I think stereotypes, good or bad, are natural. Our human minds automatically categorize people because it is easier for us. Completely changing stereotypes is difficult but how we deal with them is not. Being open to learn about those in a stereotype rather than acting offensive is what I believe we should all be doing. It is amazing how our environments help us see the world. Imagine if the children in the Iowa case had been left to believe that blue-eyed people were superior to brown eyed-people and vice versa; they would have gone all their lives believing this, affecting how they act around a person with a certain eye color differently for forever. ENGR 103
ReplyDeleteThe part of your post that stood out most to me was the social barriers you faced when considering coming to the states to study. You said that in Columbia the stereotype of Americans is that we were dumb. And i can see why that is. In media, Americans are portrayed as dumb, lazy, and partiers. Yes there are people who are like that, but many of us aren't. Now i dont know if the stereotype you had coming on was from media or not. I would be interested to know though. Overall good post!
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I totally agree with you. My story is somewhat the same as yours. When I told my friends and relatives that I am going to the United States for my studies, they were completely shocked with their mouth wide open. Not only in your country, but in my home country, India, too there are some beliefs that people living in the US are really competitive and are full of innovation. I think that one should not even think of these stereotypes and should move on.
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All of the stories from students from other countries I have found very interesting, especially to here what others opinions are about America. I feel that everyone knows, generally, what the stereotypes are about there country, but I feel that is very informative to get an outside behavior of our actions, because many times we do not notice it. I think it is important to know what stereotypes are and show that we can disprove them. Media does plan a big as others said. I noticed when I went to Europe that most of the music was American music. It is funny that certain things take a representation for a country and I would say these stereotypes play true for all of the countries. Then it can reach different ends of the spectrum like Dharna said. I know that the United States is a superpower, but I never realize other countries view us as really innovative and competitive. It is just not something that really crosses my mind, but I do applaud the international students for going to school so far away from their homes. I don’t know if I could do it. This post was very interesting to read and I really enjoyed it ! Engr103
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