Stereotypes, social groups & discrimination.

???

Maybe.

I'm sorry, but social labels are nothing compared with ones you get for your nationality or the colour of your skin of your hair. People can be absolutely two-faced if you just so happened to born in the wrong country.

I'd just like to say: I'm baaa--ack!

On topic, I think Anji's a hundred percent correct. Dubai for example is often portrayed as one of the few Muslim nations moving forward with the times. Yet you should see how some people are treated. Employees who go there on business, families, even Indian-descent families who live there are just...God. A lot of people end up as ill treated servants, children are forced to take part in camel races and a lot of other stuff too just because they're not Muslim or Dubai natives. I don't know how much of that is propaganda, but I know that what I know is devastating.

On the other hand, come to Muslims in India. For the most part, its peaceful. But some people are absolutely horrid. Someone very close to me keeps going on about how Muslims are a detriment to the country, that this is a Hindu country, that seeing mosques on main streets annoys her. According to her, Muslims are a useless lot and every now and then a "good" one pops up, but they're all evil and support Pakistan. She blames them for every disruption. I know they do their part, but Hindus do too. And she conviently ignores that.

This is not just the case of Muslims in my city. This is the case for a lot of ethnic/religious groups in a lot of countries.

This really offended me


Ok, This is a breed of people im REALLY sick of.
Im sick of 'punks' trying to look tough with their mohawks and their boots.
Im sick of punks trying to beat little emo kids up for their misfit gloves.
im sick of punks stealing peoples money threating to start a holocaust on anyone's family if they disobey them.

lyrical_mess:

I'd just like to say: I'm baaa--ack!

On topic, I think Anji's a hundred percent correct. Dubai for example is often portrayed as one of the few Muslim nations moving forward with the times. Yet you should see how some people are treated. Employees who go there on business, families, even Indian-descent families who live there are just...God. A lot of people end up as ill treated servants, children are forced to take part in camel races and a lot of other stuff too just because they're not Muslim or Dubai natives. I don't know how much of that is propaganda, but I know that what I know is devastating.

On the other hand, come to Muslims in India. For the most part, its peaceful. But some people are absolutely horrid. Someone very close to me keeps going on about how Muslims are a detriment to the country, that this is a Hindu country, that seeing mosques on main streets annoys her. According to her, Muslims are a useless lot and every now and then a "good" one pops up, but they're all evil and support Pakistan. She blames them for every disruption. I know they do their part, but Hindus do too. And she conviently ignores that.

This is not just the case of Muslims in my city. This is the case for a lot of ethnic/religious groups in a lot of countries.

I used to live in Dubai.

You're right, for the most part, nothing really happens, but take a close look at the internal layout of the city, there is a very clear division between the Muslim and Hindu or Indian population. There's also quite a bit of negative graffitti in some of the dogier parts of town. Even in my school, it is obvious there were cliques of different ethnicticities. That's not just in Dubai, but in Thailand, America, and Indonesia (that though may be due to the period I lived there) there seems to be a division between the natives and foreigners and immigrants. However, he only country that I have noticed has never had this problem, and for which I am very proud to be from, is Canada. In school, nobody ever dared to single out someone because they were of another race. And I have never heard anything of seen anything remotely racist on the streets or on television. That's one thing that's very striking to people when they visit Canada. The diversity is so harmonious it almost becomes a great possibility that the world could be like that too.

As for employing those who are immigrants, it's something that happens everywhere, and often there is a lot of discrimination involved in it. In America, Latin Americans who are often seen as lower class to the average American are actually one of the largest work forces. Same in Britain with the Eastern Europeans after they joined the European Union. And pretty much every where in the world. There is often a lot of remorse towards these people because they have stolen all these job opportunities, but how many people would want the jobs that these people get anyway? People think that these people are stealing their jobs because they are cheap labour, but that isn't true, these people are just grateful for whatever they're stuck with, they've got spirit.

Also, I have a Pakistani friend in Canada, and all her best friends are Indian and their families get along like one big, merged, super family or something.

Your friend is instigating the stereotype of a religiously obsessed Muslim cult who will do anything to show their love to their God, if that means having to declare war on those who appose their beliefs. Many Muslims, due to recent exposure are seem as extremeists, when they are just intensely devout. My father was Muslim and unfortunately my mother considered him just as crazy as she's been told (she had acceptable reasons to do so, though) and thoughts of negative stereotypes which she began associating with my father and almost ended in a seperation. My mother's been persecuted by Muslims before, and has made the mistake of thinking all Muslims to be as such. It's this generalisation which causes all this turmoil and racism where different people live. There's forever been tension between different groups, or tribes. That's one part where neo-Nazis are correct, however they fail to realise that is it possible and has been proven possible to live peacefully because they too believe the stereotypes they are presented with.

Anji:

I'm sorry, but social labels are nothing compared with ones you get for your nationality or the colour of your skin of your hair. People can be absolutely two-faced if you just so happened to born in the wrong country.

Mmm, I went to school in a very white middle-class suburban area, and in that area, if you were lebanese or european, you were hated. At one point, all these people met on the beach, it was the "wogs" vs the "australians", it was rediculous, the white people claiming that the europeans should go back to their own country, that the europeans weren't real australians, you get the drift.

For a multi-cultural country, there seems to be a lot of racial intolerance here. My favourite one is where they say that Aboriginal's aren't real australians.

And at another school, one girls parents wrote a letter to the school saying they didn't want her taught by a certain teacher. Because that teacher was Asian, I couldn't believe it. If getting picked on because of what you want to wear is awful, I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to be picked on because of the colour of your skin or hair.

Plug In Baby.:

My favourite one is where they say that Aboriginal's aren't real australians.

Of course! Real Australians are the descendents of criminals who were banished from Britain to Australia.

Pssh.

My best friend is Australian. I love him, he's hilarious, and he loves talking about Australia. He does tell me a lot about how rasict Australians can be which surprises me, because as you say, Australians are very multi-cultural, but also, I visit Australia quite a bit and I've never come across this problem, but that's probably to do with the fact that I've always kipped with my friends in Australia and never go anywhere without one of my friends there.

My other friend who goes to university in Melbourne also said there were pleanty of racists and it was very violent and pleanty of people get knifed or shot or raped, and that also surprised me, I just never thought of Australia as a violent place, even is most Australians are descended from British criminals.

To tie this in with stereotypes, one of the worlds most famous Australians could having something to do with the country seeming to be such a happily carefree place of peaceful inhabitants. Steve Irwin. Loads of my Australian friends despised him alive, but thanked him after his death. They dispised how he was so stereotypical and they ended up getting stuck with the infamous idea of the average Australian, hanging over their sholders whenever they would meet someone new. My best friend, who I have never seen to be angry, and as an actor, finds it very difficult to portray anger, being the hilarious, feminine person he is, snapped to badly at this one girl he met he almost revoked her to tears. He shouted at her after she was teasing him, 'Tell me to say 'crikey' one more time, you cunt, I dare ya.' and he was all up in her face. I was so shocked, I began to laugh. But that's how much he loathed being associated with Steve Irwin.

I dont believe in labels at ALL.


Its not fair that everyone HAS 2 be in a certain group 2 ''fit in''

Dance.Hall.Drug.:

I dont believe in labels at ALL.


Its not fair that everyone HAS 2 be in a certain group 2 ''fit in''

If advertising companies and facotries and products didn't label anyone, then they be selling random things that people could possibly or possibly not like at all on a totally random basis. Stereotypes are created for a benefit, as well. Girls stereotypically like to wear dresses where as guys do not. Guys stereotypically like to wear large shirts whereas girls don't. If these stereotypes did not exist, then everyone might as well just wear the exact same thing or nothing at all. Just because there is a minority who are underrepresented dosen't mean that it's all a bad thing. THen you get into the stereotypes of individual lifestyles and fashions. This is how things get bought and sold, how cash flow is created. People usually like chocolate cake, not brocolli cake, well guess which one is more common.

People do have to be in a certain group to fit in or no one would fit in, but that doesn't prohibit you from wearing, or listenning, or hanging out with who ever you want, because by doing so, you are assimilating into a 'certain group', whether you like it or not.

Anyway, labels are realy things, it's not like you can try to deny it, like stars or grass, it works. Whether you think of it as good or bad, however, is completely up to you.

I grew up in a city that was divided in two after the war led between two nationalities (and religions). The consiquences will always remain, no matter how big the number of open-minded people gets. I know people whose fathers lost their lives in the war.

The Muslims and Catholics here rarely socialize in harmony. They say the Muslims are more sceptical about letting people of my nationality in, but I think it's pretty much the same on both sides.

You wouldn't believe the amount of hate these kids were brought up with. Their parents fed them the anger and bitterness from day one. A lot of Muslim kids I know turned to atheism because they couldn't take it. The ruins remain in our hearts.

I myself was fortunate enough to be raised normally. However, my parents advise me to be careful. I have 3 amazing friends who are Muslim, but I think the tension is still there, even buried under smiles.

I don't know if anyone else has heard about this (it happened not far from where I live so it may only have made local news), but a girl called Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend were walking through a local park in the early hours of the morning, when they were attacked by a group of teenagers, purely for being 'goths'.

The attack left them both in comas. Rob, Sophie's boyfriend is recovering from his injuries, but Sophie never recovered. Her family made the decision to switch off her life support machine.

I think it's so, so upsetting to hear of these things, and I hope the people that did this are given a long, long jail sentence.


RIP Sophie.

this is very deranged!

Start Something.:

I don't know if anyone else has heard about this (it happened not far from where I live so it may only have made local news), but a girl called Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend were walking through a local park in the early hours of the morning, when they were attacked by a group of teenagers, purely for being 'goths'.

The attack left them both in comas. Rob, Sophie's boyfriend is recovering from his injuries, but Sophie never recovered. Her family made the decision to switch off her life support machine.

I think it's so, so upsetting to hear of these things, and I hope the people that did this are given a long, long jail sentence.


RIP Sophie.

She was so pretty.

yeah! i don't know very much goths... what are they?

greendea:

yeah! i don't know very much goths... what are they?

Supposedly, they're "social misfits" who wear lots of black, lots of dark makeup, have a fascination with death and "dark" things, and listen to darker metal music. Perhaps Satanists.

But again, these are just common stereotypes of the "goth" label.

ok.. thanks you

i think a person is a lto of thing.... and "we are all different" but when i met some people new i often think they're all so similar! when you see a different person , a fece in the crowd this is grait!

People can be hypocrites about labels. They are anti-label, but subconciously label everyone they meet. It seems like it's something humans are programmed to do. My parents are teachers and they've always said "it's what's on the inside that counts", yet when talking about a student they refer to him/her as "that goth girl in the front really needs to stop with the skulls on her papers." or "Johnny's head is so full of football nonsence, no wonder he didn't understand the lecture, he's too busy muscling up for the next game."

I ask my parents why they say these things when it goes against their "teachings". They just say that stereotypes are an unavoidable part of life that makes identifying new people easier. My parents are kind people, but perhaps they don't know how else to classify Johnny or the "goth girl". If you walk into a mall and see a group of pre-teen girls all in way too tight clothes with cell phones what do you think of? No one says well the one in the pink is an A+ science student and will one day cure cancer, we say she is a " prep".

Minority_Under_Dog:

People can be hypocrites about labels. They are anti-label, but subconciously label everyone they meet. It seems like it's something humans are programmed to do. My parents are teachers and they've always said "it's what's on the inside that counts", yet when talking about a student they refer to him/her as "that goth girl in the front really needs to stop with the skulls on her papers." or "Johnny's head is so full of football nonsence, no wonder he didn't understand the lecture, he's too busy muscling up for the next game."

I ask my parents why they say these things when it goes against their "teachings". They just say that stereotypes are an unavoidable part of life that makes identifying new people easier. My parents are kind people, but perhaps they don't know how else to classify Johnny or the "goth girl". If you walk into a mall and see a group of pre-teen girls all in way too tight clothes with cell phones what do you think of? No one says well the one in the pink is an A+ science student and will one day cure cancer, we say she is a " prep".

That is SO true. When my mom found out what emo supposedly was, all hell broke loose.
Ughh...parents.