What is origin of racial stereotypes?

The saying is "a lie can travel around the world, before the truth can even step out the door". So I was wondering where certain racial stereotypes come from?



I am an Asian guy. I grew up in the Midwest. Some white girl told that I have a small penis, until I showed her that I don't.



Asian people make up less than 5% of the population. Asian men make up about 2% of the population. The extent that people have any contact with another Asian person is their Chinese delivery man or co-worker. Many haven't even an Asian person. Asian men are not in the media. They are not in porn. Even in Asia, where porn is illegal except for Japan. So most Asian-Asian porn is Japanese. So not many people have seen an Asian man naked, certainly not over 1 billion of them.



So what gives? Is racial stereotype a way to enforce social hiearchy and dehumanize people like me?



Some people will give bogus studies by white institution to give suppor to stereotype, but not long ago, pseudo scientific research were used to justify genocide against blacks, native american and jews.

Research itself is not conclusive when there is a hidden agenda behind it.



I browse the internet a lot and whenever there is a mention of "Asian guys" there will be countless of small penis stereotypes. I don't understand why people are so damn stupid. I think a lot of white people create stereotypes to dehumanize minorities and marginalize them. These stereotypes also serve to reinforece white supremacy.What is origin of racial stereotypes?
If you spend some time in China or Japan or any other Asian country, you will find that they have equally demeaning stereotypes of white people.



It is just a nature of people to distrust and insult those who are different from them. Most adults get over it, but you cannot expect that kind of maturity from teens on the Internet.
Ethnocentrism and a fear/distrust of things/people who are different.What is origin of racial stereotypes?
I blame this on Hollywood movie producers.
Well, I think certainly, that you have been the victim of racial stereotyping.

To answer your questions, where does such stereotyping come frrom: It comes from people, who see characteristics in one member of a race, then another person of that race, and soon they conclude that all people of that race are that way. It is an unfair and of course inaccurate generalization.

People use statistics and so-called research to try to prove all kinds of things all the time.

What are people so stupid? To me, it is more that they are lazy. They don't check things out for themselves or think thoroughly before drawing their racial conclusions or believing the conclusions of others.

I want to deal with one of your statments: "I think a lot of white people create stereotypes to dehumanize minorities and marginalize them. These stereotypes also serve to reinforece white supremacy":



First, I don't feel white people create stereatypes with a specific purpose in mind. I think rather stereotypes grow over time and biases are shared. I don't think they are due to any conspiracy, rather to human weakness and annoyance that becomes malice.



Second, do you realize that when you say "white people" you yourself are guilty of bias? White people are not the only ones guilty of stereotyping. I've heard Asian people are very prejudiced--against other Asians (I've only heard this, haven't been able to verify it totally). Most people, in every place on this planet and in every culture, are prejudiced,biased and harbor racial stereotypes.



It's unfair and sad and it's not right, but it's very human, and all you can really do (other than some positive depictions of asians, say, in the media) is to combat it where you find it--with truth.What is origin of racial stereotypes?
Mike Donaldson has been researching a lot of the ideas that you're covering . He uses the term 'hegemonic masculinty' to show how 'race' is being used to shore up mens images of their own 'superior' images of themselves

http://ro.uow.edu.au/mdonaldson/subject_鈥?/a>

for a list of the work he's done.



In addition there's a great deal of other work that tends to support your views :



1. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifeandtimes/st鈥?/a>

takes you to a great series of radio programes on

'Empires of Division: a short history of race from Hippocrates to Hitler and beyond'



2. you might also be interested in the core text on this:

'Oientalism' by Edward Said

He looks at

a) how westerners created stereotypes of non westerners in a variety of discourses - political policies, colonialism , literature, art, the sciences

b) the particular forms that this stereotyping took

c) its political consequences



for a brief review of the book which covers your question

http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/ori鈥?/a>



3.http://www.scribd.com/doc/185288/The-Soc鈥?/a>



for an on line 'introduction to sociology' text with a chapter on the social construction of 'race'

Scroll down to chapter 7. for it



4. http://www.jstor.org/pss/378620

for an article

'Interrogating Whiteness. (De) constructing Race'

that looks at the two way processes of how and why we treat each other as despised or threatening 'Others'