M MANOTO

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M MANOTO

Stereotyping in our everyday lives.

10 Mar 2024, 16:19 Publicly Viewable

Africa is a very popular continent to write about, with its many different countries and cultures. People are so enthralled by the spectacle and beauty of Africa, be it for its landscapes, wildlife or people. I have noticed that people in the Western world - in other words, the Americans are curious to learn more about Africa. 

Why do we have to understand the dilemmas and sensitivies of writing about Africa? Its because people don`t have enough context of Africa is really like. Perphaps they are not aware of the differences between African countries when they write, a `one-size-fits-all` approach. People do not have proper understanding, that people might use stereotypes instead of reality and the negativity surrounding Africa.

The word 'NACIREMA', if it is examined in a mirror it reveals 'AMERICAN' which is the actual name of the tribe configuration this whole concept. Miner`s modern practices of the NACIREMA looks very unusual and confusing because of its nature of these careless and extremely weird activities. Just because of these unusual customs and practices, the word "[NACIREMA]" has been utilized to examine  the society of America and to locate other people to believe that the human body is ugly. 

Adichie Ngozi introduces the implications of a Single story, which is the main focus of her talk. She says that "it is impossible to engage properly with a place without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person". And if we only hear a single story about another person or country , we risk critical misunderstanding.

Overall stereotyping on the general reader is often one of the painting the whole African continent either as very rich or more frequently as very poor. The diversity of cultures, wealth, development, history and other main things is often overlooked and are presented as one homogenous mass.