Stereotypes and Generalizations in Media
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Stereotypes and generalizations are all around. Due to media and algorithms, our assumptions of other people are encouraged and can sometimes be harmful. In my life, I struggled with the backlash of stereotypes and generalizations regarding my homeschooling education.
The little media that acknowledges the existence of homeschoolers paints them as appearing socially inept and either unintelligent or having a high IQ. They don’t have friends, are shy and awkward, and don’t have the skills to function in society. Mean Girls and Miraculous Ladybug are two examples.
In the movie Mean Girls, the main lead, Cady Heron, was homeschooled. She tried to reassure the audience that she did not fit the homeschool stereotype, but she was awkward, socially inept, and didn’t understand pop culture references.
Miraculous Ladybug’s second lead character, Adrien Agreste, was homeschooled before attending public school at 13. He came from a strict home, never had friends, was socially inept, had a high IQ, and finally learned to have a voice throughout the show as a superhero, but remained his awkward self.
These depictions are untrue. Homeschooling does not make a person socially inept, shy, awkward, highly intelligent, or unintelligent.
Many homeschoolers make friends from their neighborhoods and extracurricular activities, such as sports and the arts. Most of the boisterous and social butterflies I met have been homeschoolers who have a knack for wanting to include everybody.
Although, if someone didn’t know me well, they would still believe I fell into the stereotype. I didn’t have many friends and still don’t by choice, and I’ve always been socially awkward and introverted (unlike my brother, who is a complete extrovert and formerly homeschooled). However, I am not shy. I choose to be quiet, and I’d rather have a smaller group of friends because I believe quality is over quantity.
Despite my social awkwardness, I still knew how to converse with people outside my friend group. I was often out of the house through extracurricular activities such as dance, archery, swimming, music class, photography class, and horseback riding. Outside of that, I made friends at church. I also attended many events: ballets, theater plays, and symphonies.
However, the most hurtful and stressful assumptions pertain to intelligence. I’ve known homeschoolers like myself who have had the pressure to continually prove themselves intellectually because they didn’t attend a public school. One terrible grade meant that what others said was true, “You must be dumb.” However, this isn’t true.
Many homeschoolers are intelligent, and it helps that the education structure allows them to even be above their grade level in certain subjects. I was above grade level in English and Literature, while my friend started calculus in tenth grade.
In my experience with family, I was still placed in a box in their minds based on my education. They would test my personality and intelligence because I was homeschooled from kindergarten to 12th grade. They viewed me as shy and unintelligent because I didn’t speak or socialize much, and I would trip up when they’d put me on the spot to question my intelligence, specifically on math, which has never been my strong suit.
As I’ve matured, this pressure of proving intelligence has slackened. However, there are still moments when my mind spirals when I receive a horrific grade on a college assignment or make a mistake at work, and I think, “It’s happening, it’s true, I’m not smart, I’m a fraud.”
I can’t say that I see a benefit of why these stereotypes exist. I believe it’s natural for others to be wary of something they don’t understand. However, maybe these stereotypes exist because of insecurity. It’s easier for others to put someone in a box or make them feel inferior instead of facing their own insecurities.