A Different Kind of Plague

I stayed after school Monday for a staff-wide meeting of the Our Lady of Mercy Academy school newspaper, OLMANAC.

My mom could not pick me up until 5 p.m., and the meeting ended a little after 4 p.m. One of my favorite things to do while I wait for my mom (or dad) to pick me up from school is talk to the teachers that are still on campus. Usually, my freshman-year theology teacher is always there to talk to. My friends and I go to talk to her all the time, and there’s always laughter and smiling.

Then there are the times when we all get into some kind of a serious conversation. Today, my friend Meghan and I were talking to our past teacher about stereotypes.

It started out as a conversation about how older students pick on freshmen, but it then evolved into a full-blown exploration into the mystery that is the stereotype. The three of us talked about how stereotypes come about—and this conversation must’ve lasted a good 15 minutes or so. I think we came up with two solid hypotheses as to the nature of these biased thoughts.

The first one: Stereotypes spread like wildfire.

Let’s face it—suggestion should be considered a lethal weapon. Someone believes that a group of people, or even just one person, has unfavorable traits. This person discusses his or her belief with other people. This suggestion leads to more people spreading around these malicious concepts. Eventually, masses of people start to believe the falsity that was started by only one person. It’s the root of discrimination. The foundation for hate.

The power of suggestion.

I mean, a close examination of American society—both past and present—proves this concept. In the past, there was the discriminating thought that those with black skin are inferior to those with white skin. I still don’t understand how skin tone can affect who a person is, but it’s a sad thought to think that people can be judged by what they look like or where they come from.

A more modern example would be the belief that all blonds are dumb. As a blond, I find this to be offensive. Yes, I know that this isn't supposed to be taken very seriously and literally; then again, every time I hear a dumb blond joke (which, thank God, isn’t very often anymore), I cringe. Let me ask you this: Since when is hair color an accurate depiction of intelligence?

For both examples, these prejudices all started with one person or group. They’re ideas and trends that gradually expand until they dominate an entire culture or continent.

Doesn’t the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” mean anything anymore anyway? Apparently not.

The second one: The status quo affects how people view one another.

As much as it pains me to admit this, I find that the song “Status Quo” from the TV movie High School Musical to be the perfect piece of satire to support this hypothesis.  If you have never seen High School Musical in your life, well…good for you. (It took me years to realize that it wasn’t really worth all of the excitement, but that’s beside the point.) Let me save you a few minutes of your life: it’s a song about all of these students who are a part of different cliques. Each student wants to embrace a unique talent of his or hers, but the members of the student’s clique won’t allow him/her to break the status quo, stating (well, singing) that it’s best to “stick to the stuff you know. If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule. Don’t mess with the flow—no, no. Stick with the status quo.”

What does this say? I once brought up a similar concept in an of mine: in many cases, popular beliefs of “acceptable behaviors and activities” restrict people from being able to enjoy the things they truly love. Once again, I’ll bring up my love for casual video gaming. I’ve been a fan of Pokémon, Sonic the Hedgehog, and a bunch of other mainstream video games for years. As a young child, my peers had no problem dealing with the fact that I was a female who liked video games.

Eventually, things changed. Students matured mentally. They became more self-conscious of what people of their age group and gender were supposed to be doing. It became unconventional for girls to enjoy guy things and vice versa. The result: hate. Bullying. The desire to make the oddities of the class feel unwanted. In this way, this second hypothesis that I brought up harmoniously interacts with the first one. Popular belief leads to the unfortunate creation of stereotypes.

Let me end this (unfortunately long) blog post with the following question: Aren't stereotypes and diseases the same thing? After all, they both affect life in a similar, negative manner.

- Catherine Litvaitis is a Wantagh resident and junior at  in Syosset.