1. Not always negative.
Stereotypes aren't always negative. When stereotypes are made although they may have multiple stereotypes a lot of the time the negative stereotypes are dominant. People are more likely to attach negative stereotypes to people for example, the media often present young people negatively in news as they see this as more interesting for the audience to consume. However there are positive stereotypes which can be associated with young people like successful education, within a year the only times this is shown is result days whereas there are more occasions available for the news to report young people in a negative light.
2. Not always about minority groups or the less powerful
People make the assumption that stereotypes are aimed at the lower class however this isn't always the case as upper class can have stereotypes placed upon them. Institutions, like the media, create these stereotypes which (for example in the news) a widespread amount of people read they will base their own stereotype on others perception as they haven't always had the experience therefore cannot create their own personal stereotype. A stereotype is not just restricted to lower class or minority groups, as we see many people make labels about the upper class as 'snobs' or 'snooty'. Although generally they are targeted more at these groups but it is not exclusive to these.
3. People can stereotype their own group
People can be part of a group which is collectively stereotyped. Within that group although they share the same ideologies and values, individuals are then stereotyped based on our assumptions.
4. They are unchanging
It is very hard to change a stereotype once it has been assigned to a person as it is not always based on a singular factor but many which as a collective create a stereotype. Perkin's however states this isn't set in stone and overtime they can change and develop. We can look at stars such as Miley Cyrus for this, as a child star she was seen as conforming, an idol and her look was 'normal'. Now she has transformed this stereotype to a a more controversial character who wears questionable clothing, acts rebellious and a lot of parents would not like their child's idol to be Miley.
5. Stereotypes are not always false
A stereotype must have some truth to them as the ideology would not have existed in the first place if there was no recognisable truths for people to stereotype. We read stereotypes within the media which help shape our own, we may witness first or second hand an experience with the stereotypes therefore proving how there must be some truths to them.
For us to fully understand stereotypes we have to look at the implications stereotyping has. Stereotypes can usually be wrong, for example if someone dresses in clothing we associate 'emos' to wear, people may negatively label their personality with traits like depressive, unhappy and an outsider. However the people making the judgements may not have any experience with talking to the person but has stereotyped them based on their look, the individual may not depressive therefore the labels attached to that stereotype in the case are wrong. A lot of the time stereotypes are placed on minority or repressed groups therefore this creates a negative representation of these groups. Relating to the lower class who are typically stereotyped with negative concepts giving the upper class more power. They're also commonly made about groups with who we have little or no social contact with therefore it is easy for the media to convey their portrayal for people to then base their stereotypes on. When looking at these kind of stereotypes how can we confirm that they are reliable or believable when the institution making them hasn't had sufficient contact with the social group or individual? People can 'hold' a stereotype on a group therefore this can lead to negative behaviour by wrong assumptions and unfair treatment towards members of society. Through the labelling process of individuals and groups sometimes this can result in the individuals adopting the negative stereotypes and conforming to it, called the Self Fulfilling Prophecy. The initial person did not see themselves this way but as society and the media has continuously labelled them this way they accept it.
Stereotypes can be positive though! They help us understand people as we are aware of possible attributes to these people.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
When applying stereotyping theory to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs I looked at four key areas which I thought would add to how people may stereotype them these are, style, album artwork, how they're shown in the media and music. Although my artist is not in the public eye as much as artists like, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift stereotyping still occurs through the bands image. Below is a Prezi I created which looks at the four key areas mentioned above and how these work to create stereotypes and how this applies to Tessa's theory.
