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by 20th Armoured Brigade

Question by T: What do you think of this speech?
It’s on stereotypes. What do you think I should add/change? And how do I add some humor to it? Any help would be really appreciated, thanks.

Here’s the speech I wrote (not the best, but yeah):

“When I first arrived in New Zealand, I've been asked quite a few times what my parents do for a living. And practically everyone assumed that my family owns a Fish & Chip shop. I didn't understand why until I started to notice that Chinese operates the majority of the Fish & Chip shop in New Zealand.

Stereotypes are used widely throughout the world, and it will always exist in our daily lives. Some people don't even realize when they stereotype. When I walk around outside, I notice other people's appearance, or how they dress, and automatically assume a stereotype for them in my head, because In today's society, how people dress has a big impression on them.

But ask yourselves; can you avoid stereotyping? How many times have you heard people say that Irish are alcoholics or that all African Americans are rappers and basketball players, or all Asians know kung fu? I don't know kung fu. How often have we heard people say these things, yet how many times have we said something similar? People simply cannot stop stereotyping because a human mind is created to observe, criticize, and categorize.

American television and film influence the whole world. The media fools a lot of people. Stereotypes are common in parody movies and comedies. Or even in television series like "The Big Bang Theory". People believe what they see in their television and believe what the media want them to believe. Stereotypes act like codes that give the audience a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people. Safety is also another reason why stereotypes cannot be eliminated. When we read or see the newspaper, we can sometimes see that criminals are often from the same country, like 9/11. This is how the media gets in our head mentally. Ever since 9/11, all Middle Easterns are labeled as terrorists. People of the Middle Eastern descent have been looked much different than before. Nowadays, many people will feel uncomfortable around someone who is of Middle Eastern descent. Stereotypes will never be eliminated because of the power of the media. People now feel uneasy when they walk along the streets around African Americans because of what they see in films that portray them as living in ghettos and having possession of guns.

But since when was it okay to stereotype? And why is stereotype bad? Everyone is pretty much equally stereotyped in some way. Almost everyone in their lifetime has stereotyped or have been a victim of stereotypes, even young children judge other children by their appearance. You'll hear people say things like, "Oh, the kid that wear glasses is a nerd" everyday. In other words, stereotyping is like a narrow-minded way of jumping to conclusions.

Common stereotypes or misconcept can include "all Candians live in igloos", "all Canadians ride polar bears to school", "jocks are uneducated", "African Americans love fried chicken", "Asians are terrible drivers", "British people have bad teeth" or "Indians smell like curry". While many common stereotypes are negative, there are also positive stereotypes. People tend to think African Americans can all dance very well, or that the French are romantic and Italians are good lovers, or Asians have high IQs and are very smart. However, negative or positive, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.”

Best answer:

Answer by Will H
Good, some minor edits

When I first arrived in New Zealand, I was asked, quite a few times, what my parents did for a living. Practically everyone assumed that my family owned a Fish & Chip shop. I didn't understand why, until I noticed that Chinese people allegedly own the majority of the Fish & Chip shops in New Zealand.

Stereotypes are widely used throughout the world, and will always be part of our daily lives. Some people don't even realize when they're stereotyping. When I walk around outside, I notice other people's appearance, and how they dress, and automatically stereotype them in my head; in today's society, how people dress and look makes a big impression on the viewer.

But ask yourselves; can you avoid stereotyping? How many times have you heard the adage the Irish are alcoholics or that all African Americans are rappers and basketball players, or all Asians know Kung Fu? I don't know Kung Fu. People simply cannot stop stereotyping because the human mind is created to observe, criticize, and categorize.

American television and film influence the whole world. The media fools a lot of people. Stereotypes are common in parody movies and comedies, or even in television series like "The Big Bang Theory". Some people believe what they see on television and believe what the media want them to believe. Stereotypes act like codes that give the audience a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people.

When we read or see the newspaper, we can sometimes see that criminals are often from the same country, like 9/11; this is how the media gets in our head mentally. Since 9/11, all Middle Easterners are labelled terrorists; people of Middle Eastern descent are looked at much differently than before. Nowadays, many people feel uncomfortable around someone who is of Middle Eastern descent.

Stereotypes will never be eliminated because of the power of the media. People now feel uneasy when they walk along the streets around African Americans because of what they see in films; portraying them as living in ghettos and possessing guns.

But since when was it okay to stereotype? And why is stereotyping bad? Everyone is pretty much equally stereotyped in some way. Almost everyone in their lifetime has been stereotyped or has been a victim of stereotypes, even young children judge other children by their appearance. You'll hear people say things like, "Oh, the kid that wear glasses is a nerd" everyday. In other words, stereotyping is like a narrow-minded way of jumping to conclusions.

Common stereotypes or misconceptions can include "all Canadians live in igloos", "all Canadians ride polar bears to school", "jocks are uneducated", "African Americans love fried chicken", "Asians are terrible drivers", "British people have bad teeth" or "Indians smell like curry". While many common stereotypes are negative, there are also positive stereotypes. People tend to think African Americans can all dance, or that the French are romantic and Italians are good lovers, or Asians have high IQs and are very smart. However, negative or positive, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.

What do you think? Answer below!