Gender stereotypes - stereotypes of masculinity and femininity Stereotypes of masculinity and femininity penetrate our consciousness from childhood. They regulate our life, develop a special view of what is happening. Children are no exception. They even get

In interracial as well as in intergroup relations, ethnic stereotypes play an important role. They are simplified images of individuals who have a high degree consistency. As a rule, all stereotypes are acquired in childhood, and this is never the result of experience. Usually they are obtained from secondary sources, looking at parents, friends, grandparents, and so on. Plus, this happens long before the child begins to evaluate himself, to attribute himself to any particular group, or to have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhis own personality.

general information

For the first time, such an element as ethnic stereotypes of behavior was discussed in 1922. This was done by a popular American journalist who conducted his own investigation. He said that the formation of stereotypes is a natural thing that only plays into the hands of a person.

First, when people come into contact with a complex social object that they have not seen before, they simply do not know how to behave. And in this case, they will be helped by the “pictures of the world”, which are in their heads and thoughts, are passed down from generation to generation.

Secondly, with the help of stereotypes, each person will be able to justify himself, to protect himself. Consequently, his positions, rights and values ​​will always have a certain weight.

Thus, stereotypes help humanity cope with the perception of the world, while maintaining personal qualities, as well as orienting themselves in difficult situations. Accordingly, if we are talking about ethnic prejudices, then people will be able to feel normal in the society of foreigners, since some information about them is available.

But there is also back side medals. Unfortunately, it will be impossible to change many stereotypes formed in childhood (with rare exceptions). This is probably why humanity cannot advance further in development, as it is stuck at the stage of prejudice.

Stereotypes at the dawn of history

Initially, ethnic stereotypes meant only one thing: all strangers are enemies. Meeting with other tribes promised only death and war, therefore long time people could not communicate with each other.

When intertribal contacts began to expand, for example, an exchange appeared, a person began to learn new things not only about his neighbors, but also about himself. Now he realized that he could not always raise his weapon against another member of primitive society. He became not just a fellow tribesman helping in the hunt, but a friend, father or brother in an emotional sense.

Further prejudices began to develop full swing, because how many tribes there were, so many stereotypes existed. Moreover, the definition of the images of the other was based on certain historical moments. For example, if another society was constantly in conflict with one society, then it was assessed as aggressive, vicious. If the exchange began immediately, and even on favorable terms, then the tribe received a more sparing assessment, it became kind, friendly.

Examples

Ethnic stereotypes are very diverse, examples of appropriate behavior or thinking can be given indefinitely. Moreover, prejudices will be based only on one nationality, they contain the thought of people connected by culture, homeland and behavior.

There are several stereotypes that Russians refer to other inhabitants of the planet:

• All Germans are punctual and pedantic.
• All Jews are smart, but greedy.
• All Americans have standard thinking, they cannot deviate from the course set in childhood or by law. For example, not a single American will screw in a new light bulb on his own if it has burned out. This will be done by a specially trained person.
• All Spaniards are too emotional, they are quick-tempered.

At the same time, other nations also develop about a Russian person. The most common of them is a tamed bear that plays the balalaika, and, of course, vodka - all Russians have breakfast, lunch and dinner with it.

Classification

If we consider not only ethnic stereotypes, examples of relations between specific people or full-fledged societies will be divided into several types:

1. Perceptions of people relative to each other. That is, these are the prejudices that develop within a narrow group of people. For example, parents should be respected, elders should be respected, and so on. Such stereotypes will fit in the minds of the younger generation only if the elders are engaged in their implementation, and not just empty talk.
2. Intersexual stereotypes. Examples: women should take care of the house, and men should work; boys don't cry, girls are always stupid.
3. age stereotypes. Examples: in parenting and control, old people always grumble.
4. ethnic stereotypes.

In principle, the types of ethnic stereotypes were formed in the process of the development of society. In addition, they are formed in each individual person. If we assume that an individual came to Prague and had his purse stolen at the train station, then he may think that all Czechs are thieves. That is, there are generally accepted ethnic prejudices and private ones.

How is the process of formation

The problem of prejudice has always existed, and the formation of ethnic stereotypes affects it to a greater extent. Even today, when any person can find all the information that interests him, the stability of prejudices is still present.

Formation starts with early childhood. However, at a young age, a child cannot think in terms of relations between nations, and he forms stereotypes about his family and its relations with other people. But the process itself is laid directly at this time.

Ethnic stereotypes first make themselves felt in adolescence, when a person is as defenseless as possible in front of them. If a girl or a guy has not yet formed his own opinion on some matter, then the imposed ideas will replace independent thinking. That is why any propaganda will become instantly absorbed information for young people. This is due to the fact that stereotypes have rigidity. Adolescents who have received a given pace of development of thinking simply have no idea how to think differently. But still, changes are present, and the Internet plays an important role in this.

Ethnic picture of the world

Today, the functions of ethnic stereotypes are gradually beginning to fade, but it is still impossible to completely exclude them. The primitive ethnic picture of the world is quite different. Then prejudice played special role they helped the tribes to survive. For example, with some communities, relations could be established, with others - hostile. And the sooner a new member of the society found out about this, the more chances he had for survival.

In modern times, ethnic stereotypes are based more on emotions than on hostility, and so on. Most often they carry a negative load. For example, if a Russian communicates with an American, then due to prejudices, he may initially frivolously evaluate his interlocutor. It will add bad emotions, and both. The same is the case with other nations.

ethnic tolerance

Today, the ethnic stereotype and the ethnic image are gradually beginning to merge into one concept. Previously it was different. For example, Russians thought that all Scots wear skirts (both men and women). stereotype. But they could be familiar with a single Scot who dressed the same as everyone else, that is, in trousers or jeans. This is an ethnic image.

In modern times, in order for a civil society to form correctly, it is necessary to educate tolerance in the younger generation. The latter lays the ability to appreciate and respect the culture of other peoples, their traditions and customs. If we take Scotland as an example, then wearing a kilt should not be ridiculed in any way. This will be tolerance.

International communication

Ethnic stereotypes of Russians, like many other peoples, are formed in adolescence. And the task of parents, teachers or mentors is to create such conditions under which young people will not follow the imposed opinion. Adolescents must independently develop their own thinking process, and hence their own stereotypes.

If you do not give such an opportunity to the younger generation, then humanity will not continue its spiritual development. For example, stereotypes can create an extremely negative situation in the course of interethnic communication. Moreover, if a person has received some prejudices, then he will not refute them in the process of life. On the contrary, he will constantly find examples that confirm them.

Accordingly, in order for interethnic communication to reach a new tolerant level, it is necessary to abandon stereotypes.

Conclusion

Thus, ethnic stereotypes of behavior are not at all the product that generalizes the same or similar features of one nation. In them personal qualities individual people are replaced by deliberately one-sided prejudice. The latter, in turn, is a negative attitude towards separate group people.

As a result of appropriate behavior, alertness is formed, and on both sides. The former follow their stereotypes, the latter behave badly due to a disrespectful attitude. A certain alienation is formed, which causes misunderstandings, and also complicates all subsequent interaction.

Types of stereotypes

There are stereotypes-representations, stereotypes-behaviors, stereotypes-situations and stereotypes-images.

stereotype representationthere is a certain structure of the mental-lingual complex, formed by an invariant set of valence connections attributed to a given unit and representing the image, the representation of the phenomenon behind the given unit, in its [image, representation] national marking with a certain predictability of directed associative connections (vectors of associations) .

A stereotype, from the point of view of "content", is a certain fragment of the picture of the world that exists in the mind. This is some image-representation , this is a mental “picture”, a certain stable, minimized-invariant, national-culturally specific idea of ​​an object or situation. And not about a specific object or situation that has ever taken place, but about an object or situation “in general”.

Stereotypes of behavior represent activity invariants, determine communicative behavior in a particular communicative situation and are stored in consciousness in the form stamps acting as canon. In other words, they dictate certain behaviour.

Stereotypes-representations stored in the form cliche consciousness and function as standards. They are also associated with speech behavior, characterizing it and appearing in it, i.e. they dictate not so much the behavior itself as a set of associations and predetermine the language form expressing them. And since such stereotypes are a certain idea of ​​an object or situation, they stand out, respectively, stereotype image (the form of storage is a cliché) and stereotype situation (the form of storage is a cliche, but the latter can be updated in communication and as a stamp). Thus, at the first level, a stereotype of behavior (a stamp of consciousness) and a stereotype representation (cliché) are singled out; at the second level - a stereotype-situation (cliché / stamp) and a stereotype-image (cliché). Examples of such stereotypes are:

Stereotypes-images: bee – hard worker; French – grace, refined, graceful; ram – stubborn; lemon– sour, yellow, and so on.

Stereotypes-situations: ticket – punch; stork – cabbage and so on.

Stereotypes-situations include certain (predictable, expected) behavior of communication participants. Thus, we can say that a stereotype-situation in some way predetermines a stereotype of behavior (for example, a stereotype-situation: transport - ticket; stereotype of behavior: appeal to the nearest passenger " Punch / Compost / Pass, please" etc.).

The integrity of culture involves the development of cultural stereotypes - stereotypes of behavior, perception, understanding, communication, that is, stereotypes of the general picture of the world. Stereotypes have much in common with traditions, customs, myths, rituals, but differ from the latter in that traditions and customs are characterized by their objectified significance, openness to others, and stereotypes remain at the level of hidden mindsets that exist among their own.

The set of stereotypical forms of behavior developed in every society is not limited to the sphere of ritual and custom. Standards of conduct are characteristic of many areas of activity, and, above all, communication (etiquette), socialization of individuals, technological processes (work methods and skills), gaming behavior, and so on. Human behavior in society is typified, that is, it obeys the norms developed in society, and therefore in many respects it is standard. A set of typical behavior programs is specific to each team. The standardized behavior has its variations. According to the features social organization in the sphere of given behavior are distinguished different types: the behavior of a peasant, warrior, hunter, intellectual, and so on. In accordance with the criteria of biosocial division life path the behavior of children, adults, old people, men, women differs.

Thus, in the culture of a particular people, stereotypes cover:

verbal behavior;

Nonverbal behavior(facial expressions, gestures, etc.);

national character and ideas about it by other countries and peoples;

Social situations, behavior in social situations;

Features of life and Everyday life nations;

national cuisine;

Religious and national rites.

So, since all people act in accordance with the expectations of their society, their behavior can be called stereotypical speech behavior. Stereotypes become such after repeated repetition and fixation in the minds of many people. Once formed, they acquire a high degree of stability and are difficult to modify.

At the communicative level, stereotyping occurs on the basis of:

1) accents (for example, the well-known Georgian accent in Russia or the southern accent in the USA: "Boy, I'm gonna book you for sassin' a law officer");

2) manners of pronouncing words and placing stresses;

3) features of intonation;

4) the pace of speech (for example, the speech of southerners in the United States is slower than northerners);

5) manners of speaking loudly or quietly (Americans speak louder than most Europeans, for which the latter condemn them);

6) the choice of vocabulary (there are certain words and phrases characteristic of certain groups of the population, such as the words brother, lol and others in the speech of the "new Russians");

7) cliched phrases;

8) syntactic features;

9) speech strategies;

10) communication distance (for example, it is less for Russians and Americans than for the British, as a result of which Russians perceive Americans as more warm-hearted, and the British as more distant).

stand out different kinds stereotypes at the language level that can interfere with intercultural communication:

1) racial;

2) ethnic;

3) geographical;

4) gender;

5) social;

6) political;

7) professional, etc.

In intercultural communication, stereotypes are the result of an ethnocentric reaction - an attempt to judge all groups of people from the standpoint of only one's own culture. Often, when joining the MC and evaluating their communication partners, communicants are already deliberately guided by pre-existing stereotypes. However, the degree of stereotyping is lower in individuals with experience in intercultural communication, who had the opportunity to be convinced of the falsity of certain stereotypes. In most cases, the degree of stereotyping is inversely proportional to the experience of intercultural interaction. However, this rule does not always work due to individual features communicators and can be aggravated due to traits that are unfavorable for communication (ill will, bias, a tendency to criticize, etc.).

With regard to MC, there are exostereotypes, i.e. external stereotypes that have developed among representatives of one culture about another, and endostereotypes, i.e., myths about themselves that exist within a given culture.

Every person in everyday life experiences the influence of certain automatisms of thinking, called stereotypes . He hears the opinions of others, receives information from the press, television, social networks. In addition to funds mass media, family, religious traditions have influenced him since childhood. All this is superimposed on the level of intelligence and emotional perception. As a result, something is formed that does not follow from one's own experience.

Take, for example, the stereotype about Russians. I think comments are unnecessary.

The stereotype contains an evaluative element and is always associated with some social group. People in this group demonstrate the unity of the assessment of an event or phenomenon, their actions and feelings. In the process of "stereotyping" a complex object or phenomenon is reduced to characteristics, highlighting typical features, schematization. There is an attitude to perceive the event from the standpoint of previous experience.

Studies by sociologists and psychologists show that new standards are fixed in the mind in different ways. For educated, intellectually developed people, this process is more intense. People who are less educated, often living on the periphery and thinking stereotyped, part with their beliefs and prejudices with great difficulty.

Family and religious traditions play a significant role in this. In addition, such people do not think critically of the information received due to the inertia of thinking. For example, political slogans, in which the argument is presented not in expanded, but in compressed form, are taken literally and are not amenable to logical comprehension.

The same division occurs on the basis of age. Older people rarely change their beliefs, continuing to live according to stereotypes instilled throughout their lives. Circumstances change, but patterns and prejudices remain. A person is not aware of the influence of stereotypes and he lives according to the imposed rules.

It is believed that it is the elderly who are discriminated against on the basis of age. However, there are also negative stereotypes that emphasize the inexperience and immaturity of young people, their inability to live. Young people are labeled as idlers, faceless and aimless playboys.

False and true stereotypes.

stereotypes can be true and false . They pervade all areas human activity and often turn into moral laws and rules public life. However, they cannot be trusted without limit. False stereotypes manipulate consciousness. An example of this is intolerance and even hostility towards people of a different race or nationality, towards a different way of life, and the application of “labels” and “stamps”. still exists gender discrimination, which is also extremely negative stereotype. Such a phenomenon is all the more dangerous because it expresses the attitude not of individuals, but of large social groups.

Stereotypes as integral elements of consciousness.

What is the power of stereotypes? famous American journalist Walter Lippman identifies several reasons for this phenomenon:

• a stereotype is a simplified representation, therefore it is fixed in the mind more easily than reality;
• the stereotype is not formed in the mind, but acquired, which again is much easier;
• The stereotype takes root in the mind and it is extremely difficult to change it.

And yet, there is often a certain amount of truth in stereotypes. Experts consider "stereotyping" as one of the forms of cognition, as a tool for transmitting information. Stereotypes contain many years of collective experience, with the help of which it is easier to perceive life situations and navigate them. A person does not need to analyze a large amount of information, the decision is made automatically. After all, education social norms behaviors are also stereotypes. Protecting children, respecting elders, observing traditions - all this too stereotype functions. Therefore, human beliefs play a significant role in life and cannot be neglected. The development of society, upbringing and education, culture and science - these are the ways of fixing new social standards in the human mind and a critical attitude towards ingrained false stereotypes.

At first glance, this role does not seem so significant. But this is because few people realize that they have succumbed to the influence of social stereotypes. Most of the stereotypes used remain unconscious by people, accepted by them as their own position, their own conclusions. Even such commonplace stereotypes, like "all blondes are fools" - even then find adherents. People quite often form ideas about things not on the basis of their own observations and conclusions, but on the basis of various stereotypes walking in society. Sometimes these stereotypes are confirmed by their private experience, from which they draw an erroneous conclusion about their correctness, make incorrect generalizations. Stereotypes replace the need for people to think, they replace the understanding of things. In one way or another, all people are subject to stereotypes, even those that are distinguished by a certain independence of thinking. They usually resort to stereotyping in areas with which they have little or no knowledge.

Stereotypes that exist in the mind of a person affect his behavior, because create a false idea of ​​reality and a person acts in accordance with this idea. Stereotypes can be both personal, formed by the person himself, and public, formed by society, which the person has learned and accepted. These are the latter in question. They are the most dangerous, because. form misconceptions in a large number of people, interfere with their thinking. Of course, not all stereotypes are harmful. If people did not form stereotypes, it would be very difficult for them to exist. Thanks to stereotypes, we know that fire burns, snow is cold, and a thrown stone will certainly fall - and you do not need to be convinced of this every time to know that this is so. In many life situations stereotype can help. For example, everyone knows that switches are usually located near the door, and this helps to quickly navigate in an unfamiliar room and turn on the light. But in everything that concerns more complex things, for example, human consciousness and behavior, stereotypes only get in the way. We must always try to clearly distinguish where the real conception of the subject under consideration is, and where the stereotypes about it are.

Often people become hostages of social stereotypes. For example, when a person does not have his own conscious moral position, but obeys the ideas of morality that prevail in society - even when they run counter to his inner feelings. As an example, we can cite a falsely understood sense of duty, based not on understanding or at least an intuitive feeling of the correctness of an act, but on prevailing stereotypes. For a long time society was dominated by the notion that a woman's duty is obedience, admiration for men, and the main concern is maintaining hearth. Men are surrounded by an even more ancient stereotype of the role of the breadwinner. And to this day, both those and others are struggling to live up to these stereotypes. There is nothing wrong with a sense of duty - but only when it is a consequence of a person's inner convictions, confirmed by his conscience, and not caused under the influence of public opinion or social stereotypes. Otherwise, a person experiences dissonance, a mismatch in motives. On the one hand, he strives to conform to the stereotype, on the other hand, he opposes what this stereotype requires of him. When a person is guided by a correct understanding of duty, then he does what he must, voluntarily, without any disagreement, consciously. Not because it is expected of him, but because he himself wants it, because he understands the correctness of his act, its necessity.

The desire of people to adjust themselves and others to certain stereotypes spoils their lives and relationships with others, distorts their perception of reality. Often people judge themselves or others not by who they really are, but by some existing stereotypes about the group of people to which they themselves (or others) belong. For example, a person may consider himself a believer, because. periodically attends church, and on the basis of this, ascribe to himself Christian virtues, although in reality he may not have them. It happens that a person does not even try to form his own opinion about himself (or about others), but unconditionally accepts the social stereotype. For example, the already mentioned blondes can agree with the stereotype that they are stupid, and not only not try to fight it, but, on the contrary, try to live up to it. Each conditional group of people has a certain set of stereotypes attributed to this group, and if a person can be attributed to one of these groups, then stereotypes for this group are automatically assigned to him. What might these groups be? These are groups into which people are divided according to age, gender and other characteristics: by profession, income level, education, etc. For example, a person's belonging to the male or female sex allows him to attribute to him those stereotypes that relate to this gender. Although it is quite clear that a person's belonging to a certain gender does not indicate the presence of certain qualities, behavior, habits attributed to people of this gender. Following this stereotype, people are often deceived in their expectations. For example, when a woman marries, she expects to be under the protection of her husband, but it turns out that he does not have the necessary qualities for this. Or a man marries, hoping that his wife will cook, look after the children and take care of the house, and she chooses a career. People become victims of stereotypes. It is clear that it is impossible to project well-known stereotypes onto everyone in a row. It is necessary to recognize the person himself, his qualities, try to understand his aspirations and views, and not attribute to him some stereotypes characteristic of his group.

Stereotypes are a cage for consciousness. They should be recognized and discarded in favor of understanding things, perceiving reality in a form undistorted by stereotypes.