I Was a Bookworm free essay sample

The students sitting around me were talking about a big party that a girl had that night. A guy sitting next to me asked me if I went to the party. Before I could answer him, he broke in and said that I would probably go home, do my homework and read a book all night. That Friday is one time I remember very well because being stereotyped limited what I could do and distorted who I am. I felt similar to Cofer in â€Å" The Myth of the Latin woman : I just met a girl named Maria † when she was misread because of her Hispanic appearance. Just because I wasn’t at the party, it bothered me that my classmate assumed I would be at home studying. His assumption ,as I see it ,was caused by the characteristic associated with the stereotype of a bookworm. A bookworm is a person who does well at school, always has his homework completed and likes reading at the library. We will write a custom essay sample on I Was a Bookworm or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page People wrongly think that everyone who wears a thick eyeglass and unattractive clothes is a bookworm. If getting good grades, wearing a thick eyeglass or being quiet makes me a bookworm, then I guess I am one, at least according to my classmates consider. Cofer, who was stereotyped due to the media-engendered conception of her as a Latin woman, says: â€Å"The myth of the Hispanic menial has been sustained by the same media phenomenon that made Mammy from Gone with the Wind Americas idea of the black woman for generations; Maria, the housemaid or counter girl, is now indelibly etched into the national psyche. The big and the little screens have presented us with the picture of the funny Hispanic maid, mispronouncing words †¦Ã¢â‚¬ . In the same way, television and movies have helped contribute to an unattractive picture of people who’re considered a bookworm. Some examples are geeky Screech from the 1989-1993 teen comedy series â€Å"Saved by the Bell†, a honors student Carol from â€Å"Growing Pains† and Steve Urkel (also known as a stereotypical nerd) from the sitcom â€Å" Family Matters†. Although I’m not a kind of person who views herself based on how others see her , I do not like being stereotyped anymore than anyone else. Stereotypes are unfair and leave people with a wrong impression of the type of person you really are. Because I was stereotyped as a bookworm, I missed the party. The next day, when I came in class, the other students were discussing about how amazing the party was and how much fun they had last night. I was not there so that, as always, I could not join their chatting. Little by little , nobody want to talk to me about their parties or their new clothes because they simply thought that homework and books were all I knew. Sometimes, it seemed like I was a wrong piece of a puzzle trying to fit in but being ostracized instead. As many others who’re wrongly stereotyped , I just wanted people to accept me as I really am, so I decided to make people change their mind about me. In theory , it’s a conscious decision; in reality, I did it the wrong way. Acting differently than how the stereotype is expected to act helps change people’s impression. In other words ,it also means I have to do what I don’t really want to do. On the day after the party, we had a math test. I prepared carefully for this test because our teacher said that it would be quite difficult. But all the rest of my class persisted that the test hadn’t been mentioned before. I guessed that some of them forgot about preparing for the test because of joining the party and the rest simply followed each other. As the result, they lied to the teacher to get out of the test. In a moment ,I supposed to tell my teacher the truth when she asked me to confirm what the others said. I did not want to but with over thirty people stared at me ,I suddenly realized that I had to lie. The sole thought in my mind was that if anything went wrong, those thirty students would consider me selfish and mean. Since I resented the stereotype of a bookworm because of my appearance and my behavior, I decided that I should have done something different, and I lied. I said that there was not any notification about the test. Our teacher had no idea about the party the previous night and she also thought that a student like me had no reason to lie to her. She believed my lie without any doubt. At first, I felt happy because my classmates could see me as a normal teenager instead of a bored bookworm. Then, I realized that what I did was a big mistake. My thoughtless lie made the teacher blame her self because of her carelessness when it was not true. I lied and I regret it , but the social acceptance helped me to justify what I did. â€Å" Should I do it or should I not ? I could blow it if I do what I think. What would people think? What do I get out of this ? † These are all questions I asked when making my decision. And I’m sure that Orwell ,in his story â€Å" Shooting an elephant â€Å", asked himself these same questions when perplexing about whether to shoot an now peaceful elephant or to make a fool of himself in front of over two thousand people who considered him a hateful political intruder. Afterward, of course , I told my teacher the truth and also explained why all the class acted like that in the most reasonable way. Although I lost a chance to make my classmates change their minds ,I found my self instead. The point is that there’re many way to confront with stereotyping, either by neglecting it or by getting upset because of it. The way I expect myself not to choose is one that distort who I really am as it did that time I lied to my teacher.