Why do we need to avoid them?The desire to fit in and be accepted by our peers is one of the driving forces behind the decisions we make. If in order to be accepted into a group we must embrace that groups stereotype, we run the risk of losing our individuality. No one should have to compromise who they are to feel accepted into a group, but unfortunately the structure of our society dictates that we change to conform to stereotypes.
Conforming to stereotypes hinders our ability to grow into our own unique individual selves. We are confined by our groups stereotype, and we cannot break from this stereotype at the risk of being rejected. Now that we all know social stereotypes can be bad, the next question to ask is how can we avoid them while still fitting in with our groups? There is no real answer yet, but we can start by making the public aware of the problem. Share this site with your friends and family so we can make as many people aware of this problem as possible. My research may focus on the Harry Potter series, but this is a real world problem as well. If the Harry Potter series has shown us anything, its that the majority of people conform to their groups stereotype which causes a loss of their individuality. This is a problem that needs to be solved. While conforming to the stereotype helped in the case of Neville, it did not in the case of Malfoy and other characters. He conformed to the Slytherin stereotype instead of becoming his own unique person. |