Stereotype vs. True Self

Students have been discussing the issues they face when stereotyped. They feel judged, cornered, labeled, restricted. Students talked about sometimes finding stereotypes funny, sometimes feeling angry. They discussed when they themselves stereotype others. They talked about how often it depends on WHO is looking at them. Different people, from different places may stereotype them in different ways.

Isair: "When people from other neighborhoods hear I am from Little Village, they assume I am a gang banger and thug. When people in my own neighborhood see me, they assume I am a nerd. I am neither."

They brainstormed the kinds of stereotypes they have faced in their experiences and compared that to their concepts of the TRUE SELF, who they know they really are as a complex human being.

Here are their mind maps: