Challenging Stereotypes: Understanding Africa's Realities

Running head: IMAGES OF AFRICA 1 Images of Africa Adara J. Jordan University of Kentucky

IMAGES OF AFRICA 2 Images of Africa I have never visited Africa and my only exposure to the country is through the media and very few references throughout my educational journey. Without being exposed directly or educated, I believe that my sense of how I perceive Africa is shaped through the media via the news, television shows/movies, and social media. Being challenged in my own views of different cultures and ethnicities is something that I have not experienced before. Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes of Africa When thinking about how I perceive Africa, thoughts of tribal culture, poor economy, exotic animals, child soldiers, and lack of access to resources came to mind. Compared to the industrialized northern nation-states, I associated words such as opportunity, freedom, diversity, access to education, access to necessary resources, and money. The differences between these are obvious. I recognize Africa as being a poor and almost “wild” nation-state while seeing the latter as rich and full of resources. I am ethnocentric regarding my nation-state by having preconceived notions that the northern nation-states are superior to Africa. Stereotype is defined as “fixed ideas – often unfavorable – about what members of a group are like” (Conrad Phillip Kottak, 2019). I do believe that I have some sort of stereotypical view towards Africa. The reason I think this is because I mainly think of exotic tribal cultures. I do know that a large part of Africa consists of this, but there are parts of South Africa that are more industrialized. A large part of my stereotypic thoughts are due to media showcasing only the exotic parts of Africa. Conrad Phillip Kottak defines ethnocentrism as “the tendency to view one’s culture as superior and to apply one’s own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures” (2019). I show ethnocentrism because I apply my life here in the United

IMAGES OF AFRICA 3 States towards my views of Africa. It is hard for me to imagine a happy life in Africa because my culture is very different. It would be difficult for me to be around different behavior, opinions, and customs. I appreciated that Mirror for Humanity highlighted female genital modification and compared it to northern nation-states common male circumcision. This challenged me because I have always been opinionated on female genital modification, but I had my son circumcised at birth. I questioned if I agreed to this modification for my son for himself or because is normal in our society. As I thought more of this, I felt that it is no different from female genital modification because it is a part of many African societies. Ultimately, I appreciated this assignment because it questioned my own bias towards different parts of the world. I realized that I have a lot of stereotypes against many cultures, both national and international.

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IMAGES OF AFRICA 4 References Conrad Phillip Kottak. (2019). Mirror For Humanity. Mcgraw-Hill Education.

IMAGES OF AFRICA 5 Footnotes 1 [Add footnotes, if any, on their own page following references. For APA formatting requirements, it’s easy to just type your own footnote references and notes. To format a footnote reference, select the number and then, on the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, click Footnote Reference. The body of a footnote, such as this example, uses the Normal text style. (Note: If you delete this sample footnote, don’t forget to delete its in-text reference as well. That’s at the end of the sample Heading 2 paragraph on the first page of body content in this template.) ]

IMAGES OF AFRICA 6 Tables Table 1 [Table Title] Column Head Column Head Column Head Column Head Column Head Row Head 123 123 123 123 Row Head 456 456 456 456 Row Head 789 789 789 789 Row Head 123 123 123 123 Row Head 456 456 456 456 Row Head 789 789 789 789 Note : [Place all tables for your paper in a tables section, following references (and, if applicable, footnotes). Start a new page for each table, include a table number and table title for each, as shown on this page. All explanatory text appears in a table note that follows the table, such as this one. Use the Table/Figure style, available on the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, to get the spacing between table and note. Tables in APA format can use single or 1.5 line spacing. Include a heading for every row and column, even if the content seems obvious. A default table style has been setup for this template that fits APA guidelines. To insert a table, on the Insert tab, click Table.]

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IMAGES OF AFRICA 7 Figures title: Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Figure 1 . [Include all figures in their own section, following references (and footnotes and tables, if applicable). Include a numbered caption for each figure. Use the Table/Figure style for easy spacing between figure and caption.] For more information about all elements of APA formatting, please consult the APA Style Manual, 6th Edition .

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