The Last Journal: How Others See You?

I believe that many people would judge others by stereotypes at the first time they meet. Our minds are influenced considerably by popular cultures such as TVs, films, literatures, as long as our own opinions. For example, people who like Japanese animation may have good impressions with Japanese culture, but people who suffered from World War II may hate Japanese culture based on their own anger.

People can belong to different communities based on their different characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, race or preferences. I did some researches about the community last semester. I believe that a community is exclusive. The same identity people own in a community makes it exclusive. Many external characteristics would change, but one’s ethnicity and race will not. Therefore communities of ethnic or race groups would be more persistent and stronger than others. For me, I am an Asian female in appearance, and I am a Chinese in race. People will judge me by their opinions of Asian females when they first see me. And they will judge me by their opinions of Chinese after knowing that. I don’t think it is inadequate because we all do that now and then.

The public representation of a community, which is often created by the public media, can affect our opinions of the community effectively. Based on my research, Asians have been often depicted as negative on screens in the United States. But Asians and Asian Americans have never given up striving for their reputations. Contributions have been made by many Asian American artists and veterans. I believed that people in the United States would have different first judgment to me if I came here several decades earlier (although I was not born at that time).

Nowadays, internet is easily accessible and people rely on it. We can know other communities more thanks to the internet. The information exchanges fast, which has reduced some stereotypes. However, the one-side stories and opinions also spread quickly, causing more misunderstandings sometimes. I think we all need to learn that stereotypes would often lead to wrong judgment, and we should try our best to see others in a just way.