STEREOTYPING STUDY

In this study I researched stereotyping.

I found that stereotyping is often based on four things;
Behaviour
Fits the medium
Real Vs. Imaginary
Appearance

Stereotyping happens when people make a judgement on someone and put them in a group or label them... it occcurs subconciously and can be formed through people seeing a 'feature' in another that they think could be the cause of how they are. Another way stereotypes are formed is through the repatition of an (often negative) impression so much so that it actually warps the truth, this form of representing a stereotype is particularly present in the media for example in the media there are frequently stories of "chavs" and "hoodies" involved in violence so when people see someone dressed this way they automatically think of the stories and make a judgement on the person.
Stereotyping is a generalisation , people make their judgement on the "absolute" or extreme and then generalise people in the same category without seeing the the full spectrum.
how we stereotype people is decribed through implicit personality theory ;
As humans we use our own unique storehouse of knowledge about people when we judge them.

Our past experience is more important than the true features of the actual personality that we are judging – traits exist more in the eye of the beholder than in reality.

Stereotyping is based on assumption theye are not actual people, there is no quintissential "emo" or "chav" that conforms to every connotation that that group holds in the eyes of the general public however there are many people given these stereotypes because of one of these four main things.

some componants can build up stereotypes such as associations for example the hoody has become something which people associate with criminals and gangs it has so people often stereotype people who wear hoodies as "bad".

There are also a kind of more traditional stereotype in gender and age stereotyping. Women in particular are placed into many stereotypes within the media for example , femme fatale, working girl, yummy mummy etc

age is another brand of stereotyping , old people are often portrayed negatively as "grumpy" and often slightly mad through comedy shows and other medias.

Stereotyping is often seen as something negative however this is not always the case sometimes it is used to the advantage of the person concerned and sometimes an image of someone or something is created specifically to conform with the conventions of a partcular stereotype.This use of stereotyping as a media technique oftenoccurs when bands or celebrities are being publisised. for example I looked at images of Angelina Jolie  in relation to stereotyping in the media...

This image portrays Angelina Jolie as a  stereotypical modern beauty icon. Her facial expression is oozing with seductive femininity , running her tongue along her lips making eye contact with the camera through a sideways glance.This sexy female persona echoes the  "movie star" sex kitten stereotype portrayed by people like marylin monroe and bridget bardot. This image however connotes another side to Jolie through her maasculine hairstyle pulled back off her face and large brimmed cowboy hat , portraying her in the modern light of an edgy beauty icon rather than a more classic one.

Here Angelina is portrayed as a very maternal person  her hand is on her pregnant stomach and she haz a warm and smiling facial expression, her dress is in a muted green colour which could symbolise her "natural" beauty. She also looks very glamorous in a long gown on the red carpet she looks protected by Brad Pitt him leaning in towards her, enhancing their couple status but also in control and independant. This image portrays an almost archetypal yummy mummy .