By: Alexandra Faure
Americans are loud. Asians can’t drive. French people are snobby. Stereotypes are like the rumors of society; everyone knows the negative aspects of someone.
How are stereotypes created? As a current undergrad in sociology, I am curious as to how these awful rumors originate. On a global scale, I think stereotypes might be due to a combination of fear and ignorance. People are afraid of what they do not know or do not understand. Thus, they try to rationalize those things they witness. We have all wanted to offer logic to the things that made us tremble with fear. In fact, when I was younger, I used to be deathly afraid of scary movies that were “based on true stories”. Seeing as I didn’t know any better, I didn’t tell anyone about my fear and instead argued with myself that if the scary events didn’t take place in Chicago, where I lived, I would be fine. Believe it or not, it worked for me, but that is not the answer.
Personal beliefs, coupled with silence are probably the cause of fear and ignorance. Like me as a child, I didn’t want to admit that I was afraid. I thought that others might find my fear ridiculous, even though nothing about it felt trivial to me. I was a child and was already reluctant to admit I was afraid. Obviously, an adult will not be afraid of the same things as children. Hardly will you hear adults hiding their fear about scary movies or spiders because they have reached a certain confidence in their person, allowing them to admit those sorts of fears. Although, adults do worry and fear. They are afraid of losing their jobs and of bad situations. How do they try to make sense out of their worries? They certainly don’t resolve their issues like I did as a child. They often resort to blaming others. They blame themselves. Or sometimes they blame a scapegoat for their problems, as I have seen time and time again in my studies.
Personal beliefs, silence and blame create stereotypes that can then develop into phobias. In the past, these intense fears have been against immigrants and against homosexuals. In fact, homophobia has been a strong anti-current against the forces of gay rights and equality. In 2013, America took a huge step forward and showed the world that the best remedy to fight fears is to be accepting. The ruling of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as anti-constitutional proved that Americans dismissed homophobia.
This relates to the controversial stir that the Québec Charter of Values is creating in Montréal. I think that this Charter might be disguising a phobia that has been mediatized a lot in North America ever since 9/11: islamophobia. I say this because the Charter states it will remove “conspicuous” religious sign in public places, but the giant cross on Mont-Royal or the crucifix in the legislative assembly will remain, because they are part of “Québec identity”. Why should other signs of religions be removed?
I feel as though Québec is forcing some of its citizens to “hide” their religion, so as not to disturb others. It would be fair if all religions were being treated equally in this matter. But in this case, the government believes the best way to disparate the fear is to ignore it. I don’t think this is the right way. In fact, I believe this isn’t the fair way to make islamophobia or other phobias “disappear”. Citizens should be encouraged to learn about and embrace others. They should recognize when others’ rights are being denied. Citizens should strive together to dismiss silence, blame and stereotypes.
Pictures obtained at:
http://fullcomment.nationalpos…