LP3

        A stereotype is a "category" that you are put into by someone who doesn't really know you or who you are as a person. We have a perception of someone and use that experience to help us decide what category they will be put in. The range of stereotypes can go from jocks to nerds to racial and sexist stereotypes.
        People have probably used selective retention about me and base their thoughts about me from my past as well as present. The famous saying of first impressions mean everything. Well, that may be mostly true, but it is slightly off. Many first impressions, as I have experienced have been wrong. The first time we meet someone we automatically judge them and put them into a category, sometimes even unconciously. It is hard to say what someone would stereotype me as because i'm sure I would change categories of stereotypes once someone got to know me. The first impression stereotype may be that I am athletic, a little on the preppy side, and sassy. These can all be true at some points, but not all the time. See that's what peoples mistakes are the first time they meet someone, they see the shell of the person, but not the entire person. I have many sides to me, so saying that something is completely untrue would be a lie. At some point in our lives we will somehow fit into most categories. The first time you meet someone and you judge them, it is hard to communicate with them because you already have an idea in your head about them so they may not even have a fair chance with you. An advantage of stereotyping is if you feel like you may be in the same stereotype as someone else then that may give you a boost to talk to them or actually give them a chance. A disadvantage of stereotyping is the fact that you are judging someone based on their looks or what you have heard about them and not who they really are.
       No matter what stereotype someone is put in, they don't have to be that stereotype. People need to be themselves and be happy with that, without someone pressuring them to look a certain way or act a certain way. A stereotype is nothing but a judgement of someone you don't know, and just because you don't know them, doesn't mean you can act like you are better than them or they are better than you.