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Coming into university as a 19 year old girl, I've never deeply thought about stereotypes. Stereotypes are what divides people in the first place and I see that at such a young age I've fallen into the trap of stereotyping people badly.

Are stereotypes based on truth or perception? They are based on perception because we all have different perceptions. As a girl living in South Africa, I'm literally afraid of most men I come across because of the GBV cases in which mostly women are the victims. I feel awful because I realize how I stereotyped all men as monsters and egotistic maniacs. I'm also reflecting on how I see people who are not the same race as me. Growing up all I heard about white people is mostly how racist they are , so when I went to high school with them I naturally viewed them like that. Everytime I met a white person the racist comments were always at the back of my head, but they proved me wrong. It came to my attention than the household you are brought up in and the environment determines your view of people and the world.

Ted talks by Ngozi 'The danger of a single story' and 'change your channel' How to write about Africa and Miners(1956) Body and ritual among the Nacirema highlights the kind of stereotypes made.

In Wainaina's How to write about Africa (2005) ,Wainaina refers to the western people's stereotypes about Africans and how they are seen as primitive. As sad as it is some Westerners still believe that but others changed and I see that people deserve a chance despite their skin colour.

No one is born believing in harmful stereotypes, they are learnt overtime, the good thing is they can be unlearned . (Kevin Faulconer)