Tessa Perkins stereotypes

Tessa Perkins
Stereotyping is not a simple process and contains a number of assumptions that can be
challenged. Tessa Perkins (1979) identifies 5 such assumptions;
• Stereotypes are not always negative (e.g. 'The French are good cooks').
• They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful ( e.g. 'upper class twits').
• They can be held about one's own group.
• They are not rigid or unchanging ( e.g. the "cloth cap worker of the 1950's became the
1980's 'consumerist home-owner who holidays in Spain').
• They are not always false.

Stereotyping has tended to suggest that it is wrong to see people in categories. Yet in the field
of social psychology it has long been recognised that categorisation is a fundamental process
necessary for humans to make sense of the world. Humans need to impose structure on events
, experiences and people.

To what extent do you agree with Tessa Perkins assumptions? Explain your answer and refer to TV Drama examples.
The first statement she makes I do agree with to some extent, this is because people on not always meaning anything bad, they may be complimenting, however, the person who they are talking about in this case the French may not like cooking and therefore do not want to be related to it, but it is still not a bad thing to be called a good cook as it is a compliment and people can see that, and they should be flattered to be given such a compliment.

Her second statement however I do not agree with, anyone in the world could be classed as a minority group and there is always something which can and will offend them, you may refer to a race of people, but compared to the rest of the world they are still a minority and that is not fair to single them out as such.

This viedo shows that everyone is different yet they still can be friends.

Yes, somebody may say something about their self and their friends, they may say it as a joke but it is still stereotyping, it can sometimes be bad and sometimes be good, but that is still not to say that it is right to stereo type, putting a label on someone is not right, they should not single themselves out.

Generally they are always false, everybody is different in some way, be it their personality there looks, there height, there weight, the skin tone, you cannot call somebody something as it will not represent them in whole, it is offensive and should not be done.