Stereotypes

Everyone belongs in a category
Little groups created by society that act as a dividers
Cookie cutter groups that tell you who you can and cannot be
Telling you how you will look and what you will become
And everyone falls further and further into subcategories as their lives continue
And the scariest thing is no matter who you are
Stereotypes plague you from the moment you are born
If you see a white girl walking down the street holding a starbucks cup you assume
You assume she is a spoiled brat that has never worked a day in her life
You assume she comes from a wealthy family that has a nice home in the suburbs
You assume she loves shopping at VS and wearing sparkly Uggs
And has little to nothing going on “up there”
But little to your knowledge she is actually a pre med student at the local university
That works at the local bar at night just to pay student loans
And is paying her own way through college because her mom already works two jobs
To support her two younger twin sisters
Her two younger sister that have never known their father
But she remembers their father
Because he walked out when she was 5 years old
Not old enough to understand what was going on
Little to your knowledge that girl you just threw into a category
And labeled “basic white girl”
Actually doesn’t belong to any group at all
But at first glance you placed her in that category
Why?
Because she fit all the descriptions?
Because society tells you a white girl that enjoys Starbucks has to be dumb, rich and spoiled?
But that’s not even the saddest part
The saddest part is that you’re not the only one that will have those views
Everyone that she meets in her life will have a preconceived stereotype of her
That they believe she fits in to
A tiny box that will confine her the rest of her life
A box that will stop her from reaching her full potential
A box that will cause opportunities to pass her by
Opportunities that she didn’t even know she had
So think the next time before you throw someone into a category
Think before you automatically dismiss someone because of they way they look
Take a second to think of the struggles that person has gone through
The struggles that you will never know
And think of the struggles YOU have kept inside
that a stranger passing by will never know
Think of the times you have been placed into a box
A box that you don’t fit in to
No one deserves to be put into a box and placed on a shelf
Because of the way they look or dress
Go beyond those stereotypes
Because you are completely unique in every single way
There is no one else like you in this world
Break the chains of society and stereotypes and create your very own box