Stereotype: A fixed, commonly held notion or image of a person or group, based on an oversimplification of some observed or imagined trait of behavior or appearance.
Stereotypes exist everywhere. Whether it is through portrayals in social media or just the ideas one group holds of another different group. Certain groups of people based on their ethnicity or religion are going to be stereotyped for whatever reason.
Growing up in India, a country where most young people are expected to be doctors, engineers or go into some area of management, the fact that I've always wanted to be a writer has more often than not lent itself to comment on my "obviously being an underachiever." "An art type" is the general stereotyping. Coming to Tufts, I was hoping to get away from the stereotype. The fact that I am Indian should not signify to others that I am an oddball for wanting to write instead of aspiring to an Indian Institute of Technology or an Indian Institute of Management.
Stereotyping ignores the uniqueness of an individual by painting all members of a group with the same brush. In a way, it can be good. If you're Southeast Asian, it's assumed you're also ridiculously smart when it comes to mathematics or sciences. This may very well be true for a lot of Southeast Asians, but it does make it tough for those who are interested in history or anthropology. An article on Buzzle.com lists racial stereotypes that exist in the modern day, usually due to how such groups are portrayed in social media: "People of Hispanic origin do not have a good command over English and more often than not, are not fluent in the language" for one, and "Jews are often stereotyped as a community of greedy misers who refuse to part with the money that they make." Another stereotype regarding Indians — "portrayed as a country of elephants, snake charmers, extreme poverty, pestilence and two million gods." None of the above is necessarily true, but for many around the world, this is how these various groups are perceived.
Now, when you come to college abroad, of course there will be a large quota of international students — it is the case at any university in the United States. So given all these stereotypes, it would be all too easy to simply profile all Indians as coming from a country of "extreme poverty" or all Hispanics as people who have no "command over English." But in the last few months, what I've found here at Tufts is that this is definitely not the case. Perhaps it is because Tufts is a school where so many people are focused on international relations. People are conscious to avoid any kind of political incorrectness. That is one possible interpretation.
However, what I like to think is that Tufts as a school in general just fosters a culture of being interested and accepting of other cultures, as opposed to scorning them based on the already existing stereotypes. When you tell people that you're Indian and that Hinduism does feature a number of different gods, people of other cultures and religions are eager to learn more about each of them (even though chances are you won't be able to name more than 10 yourself!). When you tell people that you're Chinese and are interested in political science, nobody is going to look at you any differently, questioning why you're not pursuing engineering. People at Tufts are just eager to learn more and be more open and nonjudgmental regarding what they don't know. In the last four months, that's probably what has struck me about Tufts the most — the accepting, harmonious nature of this great academic institution.
--
AngadBagai is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Angad.Bagai@tufts.edu.
