Getting Stereotyped

I think that the majority of people have, at some point, been stereotyped for some reason or another. This is a fairly common happening, and as Harris(1999) states, " Stereotyping as a form of categorization is part of the human condition(p.72)." Understanding this, I figured that it would be easy to think of a time when I've had to deal with stereotyping. But it was tough. And I realized that for me, a middle class white guy in a fairly suburban area, the situations of stereotyping could seem minor compared to those that outside of my own particular context. I think that when i have been stereotyped, it hasn't been for negative things really, and if it had been I didn't really notice. i think that the majority of times i notice some type of stereotyping its in "good fun", but rooted in these notions of who can or cant do what. I often catch crap for wanting to go out and dance when i go out with a group of friends. This is influenced by Number 1: That guys aren't supposed to dance, as it is an effeminate thing to do, and Number 2: That white guys cant dance. Both of these work into Harris's ideas that stereotypes perpetuate myths about groups of people. The first one is stating that to dance is to lessen your masculinity, and that those who dance for a profession, or out of fun, are innately less "manly" that others. Although these assumptions and stereotypes are constantly being challenged by today media, with movies where male lead characters retain their masculinity while being passionate about dance, thereby changing those stereotypes constantly (Billy Elliot, Step Up). So for me, the idea that i should or shouldn't want to dance, although going against a stereotype for a guy, isn't really a big deal anymore. I think that although people may always use stereotyping as a means of categorization, that one day it will slowly dissolve to the bare minimum of usefulness. Because as we become a more and more diverse culture, integrating and globalizing, we realize that stereotyping is an ineffective means to predict peoples behavior.