Incorrect Stereotypes By Imogen

Many people judge others on stereotypes but people aren’t the stereotypes that society give them. In “The outsiders” Ponyboy and his friend Johnny try to fight the stereotype of being a greaser. In “We Aren’t What We Seem” the author speaks about how people are wrongly stereotyped and how we stereotype someone by their appearance. In “The Outsiders” and “We Aren’t What We Seem” we learn people aren’t the stereotypes that we give them.

A common theme both the book and the song is people are judged based on their appearance. We learn People are misunderstood and stereotypes are incorrect. In “The Outsiders” Soc ‘Cherry’ refers to Ponyboy as “Just not....dirty” Cherry is surprised by Ponyboy since he is a Greaser but he is kind to her and doesn’t use grotesque language since Greasers have a reputation of being “White trash.” Ponyboy is different from other Greasers and he is trying to show his community not all Greasers are bad. Before Cherry met Ponyboy she thought all Greasers were dirty and you should not talk to them. In “We Aren’t What We Seem” a clear message is People judge others without knowing who they are and this is easier. “You see us walking down the street, but we never meet. You look at us and see what you want to. Taking time out of your day is too difficult, so we go on with our lives,” In “We Aren’t What We Seem” a theme is we are judged because we are misunderstood and we are never given a chance. In both texts the characters are being judged or stereotyped because they are misunderstood. We learn people are stereotyped wrongly and not everyone is the same, many people are just misunderstood.

In Both texts we learn people must break out of stereotypes and try to fight the expectations set for them. In “The outsiders” Ponyboy tries to break the stereotype of being a Greaser by saving the children from the church. He laters talks to Randy and says “Being a Greaser doesn’t have anything to do with it.” He is try to show even a Greaser can be a Hero and can do good in the world. He wants to show Randy being a Greaser doesn’t affect the person he is as an individual. In “We Aren’t What We Seem,” a line is “It’s your turn to make a difference.” This line shows how we must change these stereotypes and show society we aren’t the stereotype we have been given. Both texts try to show how we must change the way society judges people based on a stereotype and we must be the ones to break it.

Lastly in both a shared theme is people are a lot more complex than a stereotype. In “The Outsiders” Ponyboy is viewed by society as a greasy-haired hood like most greasers however after the children are saved from the church he asks a man “Are the kids alright?” This shows how many people are more than just a stereotype and how he is empathetic and wants to help others. In “We Aren’t What We Seem” the person is regarded as “A “try-hard,” Who are they really? They get the best grades,” This shows how people are more complex than we think and not just shallow stereotypes. It is trying to tell us stereotypes are wrong and only show one part of who the person is. We learn stereotypes are only show part of a person. People are more than just brands we give them. There are many sides to people we don’t know.

In “The Outsiders” and “We Aren’t What We Seem” We learn people are more complex than just stereotypes, people must try to break out and fight stereotypes and people are stereotyped because they are misunderstood. We also learn that people are always the stereotype that you give them. People must understand a person and learn to know them but people are not bothered to do so. Next time you see someone talk to them and get to know them as a person before branding them as a loser or a freak.