Girls+Rule,+Boys+Drool!

= How do stereotypes shape society? =  Whether or not we want to admit it, all societies have stereotypes, and more often than not, someone is being hurt by them. Can you honestly tell me you have never seen a tall, black man and automatically wondered if he is a professional athlete?

Or a short asian man in glasses and immediately decided he is a biomedical engineer or an acupuncturist?

Are these young girls really terrorists?

**Everyone is Affected**

Race, religion, sex, ethnicity, orientation, age, clothes, hair color, anything you can possible think of can put you into a stereotype. You can be criticized or discriminated against for the people you hang out with or the type of music you listen to. Unfair? Definately. But the way our society was built, with the class systems and the segregation in schools and work between age, sex, etc., nothing can be said or done to stop it. Women are expected to act a certain way and do certain things, as are men. Every country, every society, every civilization is going to have stereotypes, both good and bad. In the book //Persepolis,// by Marjane Satrapi, the main character, Marji is almost taken to jail at the age of 11 for wearing "punk shoes" ( Nike's) and a Michael Jackson pin. Liking Western things automatically makes you a threat and a rebel that should be locked up. Just as they represent something scary like a terrorist to us, we represent the same to them. As unfair and wrong as it may be for them to stereotype Marji for looking americanized, it is just as--if not more-- wrong to stereotype all muslims and arabics as terrorists. Yes, some bad things have happened and/or been happening in their country, but you can't fault them all for the way their government and religion run things.