Single stories are stories that tell one side or one part of a story. They are false perceptions of people that are typically presented through two filters: good or bad. The stereotypes that people are labeled with can be detrimental to their self-image and are also wrongful. People should not have judge others and make presumptions about them based on their appearance or just one of their characteristics, but unfortunately, in the society we live in, that is the reality.
A single story that I face in my everyday life is that people often make the presumption that I am Indian which I am actually not. I am actually Pakistani but based on my appearance and the lack of South Asian representation at New Tech, people automatically make the assumption that I am Indian. Although this isn’t something that bothers me, it’s frustrating that even when I correct them, some people refuse to acknowledge that I am Pakistani and continue calling me Indian. In my junior year at New Tech I had two classmates who continued to call me Indian and referred to me as “the Indian” even after I corrected them. They even told me that I was only in the Inventioneering class because I was Indian and that all Indians have to be good with computers, which is another stereotype many South Asians are labeled with.. This could not be further from the truth for me, I am actually quite awful with computers. I have broken two laptops and somehow managed to get a virus on a MacBook, which are laptops that are known for being impossible to get a virus on. It is frustrating that rather than judging me based on the qualities or skills I possess, people judge me based on my physical appearance. However, I don’t believe that this is their fault, we have been raised to judge others based off of their appearance and make assumptions about them based off of common stereotypes that we hear or see in the media. It’s going to take a whole shift in people’s mindsets for the concept of single stories to disappear and rather than adding fuel to the fire, the media should diminish the idea of classifying people into categories and having everyone fall under certain stereotypes.
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AuthorHibah Shafi is a Senior at New Technology High School. Archives
May 2019
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