Discussion Posts for Nutrition class

Please respond to the following in at least 250 words and cite any sources used.
1.It is inevitable that we develop stereotypes. Giving some thought to your own and recognizing the times they interfere with your ability to understand the individual in front of you can stop the likelihood of negative consequences.
Take a moment to think about one of your attributes (e.g. an ethnic label or professional affiliation.) What do you believe outsiders believe about that ethnic group or profession? In other words, identify the stereotypes. Are there ways that you feel the stereotypes are accurate? Please discuss. Are there ways that you feel the stereotypes are inacurrate or overgeneralized? Please discuss. Who or what has influenced the stereotypes that you have about other cultures/groups/professions? How can society help to modify stereotypes?

Please respond to the following in at least 150 words and cite any sources used.

2.Outsiders see me for being Caucasian and believe that I have tons of money to afford all kinds of medications and not always necessary procedures. What they don’t know is that I am part Native American and have the same high blood pressure/heart disease that the race is #1 for in our text. I am a Roman Catholic which has the “largest number of person adhering to one Christian faith in the United States”, so I must celebrate Christmas and Easter as well as fast during Lent. I go to church but celebrate Christmas on the Sunday before since my husband works in the Mirage and they aren’t closed that day-ever. Another stereotype is that because I work at Clark County, I must be financially well off. I do not make $100,000 a year like firefighters, and I pay $200 per month for my insurance plan. I grew up in a house that had no cable TV, no cell phones, I shared a room with siblings, was hungry often, and was the first in my family to ever purchase a home. I understand poverty- but no one would know that from the outside.

I believe that some stereotypes are correct. People in the South will fry their foods and use tons of lard, and they will develope heart disease from the traditional foods that their families have eaten for generations. It will also be inacurrate because of the one vegan that breaks the tradition and tries to live longer by eating better. I am obese. I do not fit the stereotype of eating large portions of food, ice cream, snacks, etc.- what I do is sit in a cubicle for 8-10 hours a day for my job of 20 years. Doctors are always surprised at my low cholestrol, and other indicators because I don’t eat poorly- I just sit way too much for a paycheck. It would be wrong to send all overweight people to a food counselor because they may have exercise restrictive jobs, or mental issue like depression that causes the weight to pack on- it is not always lack of self control or gluntany.

I have stereotyped others, when I see a parent had a 3 year old a Starbuck’s coffee, I think they are terrible parents and don’t understand the literature about the harmful effects of caffeine. Then I learned that caffeine can help a child with asthma, and stopped judging. If media such as movies and television dropped stereotypes and put more education into the shows, society would have a better grasp of each other- problem is, they can’t find a way to make that entertaining yet.

Please respond to the following in at least 150 words and cite any sources used.

3.The attribute I am using is my ethnic label which is West Indian. A lot of outsiders assume that I say the word “mon” in every sentence, or that I partake in smoking marijuana frequently. They also believe that West Indians are loud, abrasive and not very educated, and there are many other stereotypes as well. The only stereotype that is true in my opinion, in certain circumstances, is that we can be loud. West Indians are usually loud in gathering of friends and family, or at festivals and carnivals celebrating ethnic pride. I feel that all of the stereotypes are overgeneralized because every country has people of these characteristics, and that should not be generalized to the entire ethnicity. I believe the stereotypes I have gained about other cultures come from experiences I have had with many different cultures from working in retail, also media portrayals have probably subconsciously influenced my opinion of other ethnicities. Society can help to modify stereotypes by doing more in depth research of cultures before portraying them in the mainstream media. Also by not always trying to portray certain ethnicities with negative connotations may help as well.