Question

This lesson discussed typical stereotypes of groups of people in the media, but not all representations are negative. For this assignment, find a positive representation of each of the four groups discussed in this chapter: Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native American. Explain why you feel these representations are positive. In addition, explain why these representations differ from the stereotypical representations discussed in this lesson.vv

Answer 1

Answer:

Positive representations of the groups provided -- Hispanic: Strong family ties; Asian: Smart; Middle Eastern: devout; Native American: Respect for Nature.

Explanation:

People from Latin American countries are often depicted as being close to their families and more loving and loyal by having profound respect for their mother, for example. This is a positive representation in respect to Western culture that is seen as more cold and individualistic where we care more about our individual material gain than the welfare of our extended family. North Americans for example focus more on just the nuclear family unit of husband and wife and dependent children. The grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts  and cousins are not as important as they are in Latin American cultures.  

While still a stereotype that can also have a negative impact, the representation that Asians are smarter on average is an enduring idea. Particularly in Japan and China, the impression is that students are very hardworking and that they study much more diligently than students in North America and Europe and so they perform better at subjects like science and math. They also make better computer scientists and engineers because they are viewed as having a better and more rigorous foundation in mathematics.  

One positive representation of Middle Eastern culture is that it is highly devout. Newspaper articles that contain references to Muslims and devotion usually depict the rituals and pilgrimages in a positive light while giving an account of how devote the followers are and the extent to which they sacrifice time or expense to follow their rituals. These news stories do not represent Muslim culture as negatively as other aspects of Islam are often represented such as the rights of women, for example.  Unfortunately many negative stereotypes of cultures from the Middle East are enduring and the West is not as sensitive to misrepresenting people from Arab countries or from Iran as religious fundamentalists who practice an oppressive form of religion.

Native American culture has much more respect for the environment and our natural surroundings. There is a lot of wisdom about the natural world in Native American communities and unfortunately the dominant and mainstream North American culture has aggressively tried to exclude and assimilate Native American people so much of this focus has been lost. Entire communities and cultures were restricted to reservations in ways that did not happen in other cultures with a colonial legacy like Latin America.  More work is needed advocating on behalf of Native American rights and respect for the legacy and knowledge they have of their surroundings and respect for the Earth and the power of natural forces like the wind and rain.