The series of thoughts and predictions associated with people who share certain characteristics is called a stereotype, limiting the options under which they could act. The term comes from the Greek word “στερεόςτύπος”, whose meaning is “the solid impression”. It is a perception that, in some way, is caricatural in the face of the reality of the social, racial or economic group to which it refers, establishing a pattern of behavior far from the context. Most of the stereotypes found today arose in earlier times, specifically in popular thought, which was subsequently influenced by external ideas.
Stereotypes have a mutable quality, since, according to personal vision, they can be established in a negative approach, full of prejudices, or in a positive one. All of this falls on the first contact you have with the group in question; if the opinion received shows dislike, it is very likely that the same position will be adapted. It is said that a stereotype is made up of three important constituents: the cognitive (information), the affective (feelings) and the behavioral (actions), which may or may not be together, but represent how the individual reacts to a community.
Today, the media and the internet have contributed exorbitantly to the creation of new stereotypes, from beauty to behavior. Television, like social media, presents a much more specific perspective on how a being should look and behave; This greatly affects how people behave in front of someone who may not meet these requirements. Cultural stereotypes are always related to the development of a people with respect to daily life; For example, Mexico is usually identified with typical dishes such as burrito or tacos, in addition to the costumes used by artists of the ranchero genre.
A fact well known and criticized, is the ideal of what really represents women in society. This, after having undergone a liberation process, has been trapped in a stereotype. Unconsciously, she is still given the role of the weaker sex, with a tendency to eroticize everything related to her. This success is seen in commercials, where aesthetically beautiful women are located to attract the attention of the public.
