Are We Helping Stereotypes?

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Are We Helping Stereotypes?

An image to protect the general public of Vancouver, Canada states, "Are you helping thieves?..." Showing a white thug teen stealing things from a lady who is helping him just walk out with her belongings is politically and morally wrong. Why not showing an image of an open, unarmed house? Everything is unlocked, everything is just lying out. Two advertisements trying to convey the same message can be interpreted entirely different from one another just because of the people shown in this advertisement. It is about time that these images are shown to people. It is about time that people get upset with them and want to fight back. Ageism, classism, racism, and sexism will all be tackled, and this ad will be destroyed.
This advertisement portrays many stories in concern to race, class, gender, etc. It tells stories that both support and fight stereotypes. Starting with the thief, it supports stereotypes and classifications of class, sex, and age. It is classist by showing that thieves are of a lower class. It is only the financially unfortunate individuals who steal from people for whatever reason. "The number of Americans in poverty is a group so large it would take the combined populations of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, plus Arkansas to match it" (Sklar, 2007:117). Why is the Vancouver Police Department going to just put that much more negative attention on a group that needs some positive attention as well as some positive help? It is sexist by showing that thieves are males. People have somewhat turned their heads when it comes to seeing females as thieves. Females are given the innocent label of never stealing. Lastly, it is ageist. Teens and people in their early 20's are thieves. Why would anyone above, or below, that age group want or need to steal anything? Again, that is the image we have been given.
The woman in this picture must fight stereotypes of classism, sexism, and racism. This woman fights classism because we see this image of...

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