Stereotypes

[Alicja]

Hello,



Our topic for next weekare stereotypes. I’d like you to read an article/ watch a video concerning this topic and post a short comment concerning what you’ve read or seen (what was it about? was it interesting? did it meet your expectations? would you recommend it? etc.) along with 3-4 words/ expressions from the text.


The words/ expressions should be defined using a monolingual dictionary, e.g.




www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/



www.macmillandictionary.com/




Also, you’ll need to post a discussion question concerning stereotypes.




See you on Monday!

[Pierre.N]

Hello,

My article of the week is
www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/14/sexist-stereotypes-front-pages-newspapers

This article revolves around sexism in newspaper for the main theme but it also deals with the fact that this sexism is enhanced by stereotypes in their articles.
I find it interesting because it shows, at least in Britain but I suppose it is the same in many others countries, that newspapers exhibit some information which are mostly written by male and which encourage the idea that men are workers and women are either victims or famous people. The fact that they only shows the men who work and even if they show a woman, they choose an "unflattering" picture for them. According to this article, the readers are mostly men but a question related to this article can be:
"Is it really astounding that more men are readers of these newspapers if the major parts of articles shows a society with these stereotypes ?"

Vocabular:

Byline:
A line at the beginning or end of a piece of writing in a newspaper or magazine that gives the writer’s name

Inquiry (into something):
An official process to find out the cause of something or to find out information about something

Whammy (most sentances are with "double whammy" but I am not sure of it):
an unpleasant situation or event that causes problems for somebody/something

[Eva]

I read this article about stereotypes: www.bbc.com/news/uk-26230410

This article deals with stereotypes people have about teenagers in the UK. Teenagers feel like they are too negatively showed on TV and in the media in general. They also think that it will affect their job prospects in their future. It is also bad for their self-esteem to be seen that way by older people. They worry that adults generalize young people as dangerous just because whenever the media talks about them that way.
It is quite interesting to see that young people worry about their future but it is important to remember that the media doesn't often show good news. So when they talk about teenagers, it's in a bad way. That doesn't mean that all teenagers are like that so we shouldn't generalize what we see on the news.

Question: Is the media able to destroy someone's future ?

Vocabulary:

shatter: to destroy something completely, especially somebody’s feelings, hopes or beliefs; to be destroyed in this way

yob: a rude, noisy and sometimes aggressive and violent boy or young man

shortage: a situation when there is not enough of the people or things that are needed

[Thomas]

Good morning everyone,

The article I have chosen is about racial stereotypes in the cause of death: articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/26/news/la-heb-racial-stereotype-cause-of-death-20110126
In this article, the journalist exposed that some cause of death are more likely for some races. For example, the native american stereotypes involves alcohol abuse. Because the figures say that natives are 2.6 times more likely than others to die of cirrhosis of chronic liver disease, that influenced the victims perceived race. This article shows a funny fact and is short and interesting, I recomand it to everybody.

New words:
propensity: a tendency to a particular kind of behaviour
bias:the fact that the results of research or an experiment are not accurate because a particular factor has not been considered when collecting the information
undertakers: a person whose job is to prepare the bodies of dead people to be buried or cremated, and to arrange funerals

See you tomorrow

[Jean-Baptiste]

Hello everyone,

I read this article about polish stereotypes: www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/26/polish-stereotypes-hard-drinking-catholics

Comments:

This article is part of a series articles about stereotypes in different countries across Europe (if you look the ''more about this story'' section at the bottom of the page you will find some others about France, Spain...).
In those articles you will find some main stereotypes about each country and then a short analysis of them. There is an historical explication of the origin of each stereotype and some survey to see if they are still true or not.
I personally found it really interesting because it allowed me to discover other countries and deny some stereotypes that I can had.

Vocabulary:
zealots : a person who is extremely enthusiastic about something, especially religion or politics
Bigotry : the state of feeling, or the act of expressing, strong, unreasonable beliefs or opinions
consistently : in a way that does not change and continues for a period of time

[Yanis]

Hello

I found an humoristic article for the topic: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/14/british-stereotypes_n_5461440.htlm

This article is interesting because it gave speech to the english themselves to comment stereotypes used to represent.
So, for an english sample there are eleven stereotypes that may be true actually. This article summarizes illustrating them with humor pictures.

So this article is interesting because it shows how stereotypes are perceived by people concerned (here english). We can see that some stereotypes can be considered true.
The question is:
Are stereotypes must always be considered as not representative of a population ?

Vocabulary:
nationwide: in all parts of a particular country.
meadows: a field covered in grass, used especially for hay.

[Pierre L.]

Good evening everyone.

Tonight, I watched this video about stereotypes people have about French :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAtezdTEIxg

The two guys, who have travelled in France, list 10 stereotypes Americans often have about us. It's really funny to hear about the stereotypes other people have about us, because it also help to think about how much the stereotypes we ourselves have are (ir)relevant.

Vocabulary:
whimsical :made or done for fun, not seriously
come across : if someone or something comes across in a particular way, you have a particular opinion of them when you meet them or see them
despise : to hate someone or something and have no respect for them

And the quick question :Can the stereotypes (even the bad ones) be useful, when discovering a new culture ?

[Camille]

I read this article about stereotypes: www.bbc.com/news/education-31751672

This article deals with stereotypes that teachers have about boys and girls at school. It was said that teachers are influenced by the students’ behaviour when they mark them. Researchers suggest girls are positive towards learning and less disruptive in class, whereas boys are more likely to be hostile towards work and this influences how teachers perceive their work. Teachers are said to reward organisational skills, good behaviour and compliance rather than objectively marking the pupils' work.

This article was interesting because I was not aware of those kinds of stereotypes in school.
Do you think that this kind of discrimination exists in the French university system?

Vocabulary:
Disruptive: causing problems, noise, etc. so that something cannot continue normally
Withdrawing: to stop taking part in an activity

[corto]

Hello everyone,

I read this article about stereotypes used by Media : www.teenink.com/opinion/social_issues_civics/article/333251/Stereotypes-Body-Image-By-The-Media-How-They-Effect-Todays-Youth/

Comments:

This article deals with the fact that the media always use stereotypes in their shows or movies to add comedy or drama. The author gives us his definition of what is stereotyping and then explains that children who see these stereotypes are “brainwashed” because they whant to be “ like the strong guy who is doing sports and can date this beautifull blond hair and thin girl” and not like the “nerd who can't get any girl”. He says that it is a big problem because children can't be free of who they want to become.
I think this article is interesting because it shows that stereotypes are existing everywhere and the media have a great responsibility in this regard.

What can people do to avoid being controled by stereotypes ?

Vocabulary:
jock North American English) a man or boy who plays a lot of sport.

Outcast : not accepted by other people and sometimes having to leave your home and friends

[Marie-Agnès]

Hi everybody,

I chose an article about the stereotype in women’s football: www.theguardian.com/football/2012/apr/07/womens-super-league-football-season

This article deals with the different stereotype about women in football. The different stereotype is that women’s football is rubbish. It’s just an imitation of the men’s football.

This article is interesting because I am against this stereotype. For me, the sport is not a question of gender. It’s normal to have a different way for the same objective. But like show this article, it is a false stereotype because women’s game show more the technical side and finesse as men’s football.

Bully: a person who uses their strength or power to frighten or hurt people
Nutshell: in a very clear way, using few words
Feeble: very weak

Question: Are stereotypes always false?

[Adrien]

Hello,

My article for monday is : www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/too-much-drinking-sarcastic-humour-and-awful-weather-british-culture-revealed-according-to-expats-living-here-8787673.html

This article show some english stereotypes and if they are true or not according to foreign people living in England. These stereotype are : english loves tea and beer, thay have good manners, they know how to queue, the weather and the food in Britain are horrible. this last point is the reason interviewed people said they didn't love their stay in Britain.

It's not really interesting because we all know these stereotypes about England, but it show that people who live here have the same feeling as we have.

Vocabulary :
    an expat : a person living outside their own country
    to entrench something : to establish something very firmly so that it is very difficult to change

My question is : Can we go in a country without being influenced by stereotypes ?

[Marie]

Hello,
I've chosen to read this article about stereotypes and education, more precisely how someone can encourage their child to be critical towards stereotypes spread by television : www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/article-stereotypes.html

It is an interesting article as it points out different sorts of stereotypes (sexism, racism, about age,..) and I think it's quite important for parents to show to their children what stereotypes can be broadcast through television or books, such as "Petit Ours Brun" which is for instance really sexist and full of stereotypes. A child doesn't notice such things by himself usually.

Inaccurate : not exact, with mistakes.
To point out : to mention something in order to give somebody information about it or make them notice it.

My question would be : could this awareness of stereotypes in the media growing lead to a less prejudiced society ?