Through distorted lenses

[Storyteller.]

Through distorted lenses
By Casey (Casey.)

Stereotypes. We all hold some form of them in our minds. Everyone stereotypes others, even those who claim they do not. Sometimes these stereotypes influence how we see the world and how we react to things that do not fit these stereotypes.

Recently, in the news, there was a child whose parents refuse to tell anyone whether the child was a boy or a girl. They decided to let the child grow without being forced into the molds of gender roles and the stereotypes that people would push on that child. The child would be able to choose what kind of clothes s/he wore and what kind of toys s/he played with. Most children are placed in pink or blue when they are babies, a sign to the world that the child is a boy or a girl. They are given gender appropriate toys and clothes. These parents are trying to let their child grow up without having to fit into a specific mold, to let the child decide who they want to be.

However, although the parents are fighting gender stereotypes, they are also not letting the child grow naturally. All children grow up knowing that they are a boy or a girl, even if that is not reflexed by their bodies, and the parents' choice blurs the borders between gender roles and sex. Sex is defined as whether someone is a boy or a girl, whereas gender roles are a vastly broad gray area depending on how a person was raised and where they were raised.

Stereotypes in general are not always a bad thing, but rather a narrow way of looking at the world. Not everyone fits into the social stereotypes of Goth, Punk, or Prep; nor does everyone fit into the stereotypes of smart nerds and dumb jocks. Blonds are not always dumb; kids wearing black are not always goth; theater kids are not always gay; and gender is not always a simple matter of physical characteristics.

My point with this is that stereotypes are all fine and dandy, but it does not do much to show the reality of the world. Everyone is different and although we tend to group people into stereotypes based on how they act, what they wear, and who they hang out with, along with factors that they can not change, like their gender, their sexuality, and the colour of their skin, these stereotypes do nothing to show how people as individuals are. You cannot judge one person based on how the group that they 'belong' to acts, but rather you should look at each person as a different piece of a puzzle, the puzzle that just happens to be humanity and the world we live in. Everyone has stereotyped at one point or another and everyone has been grouped as part of a stereotype, but wouldn't it be grand if we lost the labels and just let people be people, without damaging them as a whole?