Stereotypes in the media Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and especially in propaganda. According to Webster's Dictionary, a stereotype is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a certain number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations that people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behavior, and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Even though our world seems to be improving in many ways, it seems almost impossible to free it from stereotypes. Stereotypes have existed since the beginning of time in our daily lives through religion, politics and the media. Humans have a tendency to "use stereotypes in their humor, descriptions of others, and even their beliefs." One may believe that it is possible to free oneself from such habits; however, if regular propaganda promotions were taken into account, this would make this goal impossible. Stereotypes, however, are not always negative; therefore, this essay will discuss the negative and positive aspects of stereotypes used by propaganda. Propaganda is a force that can influence and affect everyone; making changes in behavior, attitudes and beliefs. The media is also known to influence their viewers by changing their judgments based on the information they receive. Substantial amounts of stereotypes transmitted through propaganda have similar effects. This essay will illustrate how stereotypes are generally portrayed and their function in propaganda. It will also further reveal how well and successfully stereotypes can work when used in propaganda tactics. The media often uses and misrepresents stereotypes; however, they are significantly accepted by people in society. TV shows like The Simpsons are full of stereotypes during their half-hour broadcast. The Simpsons has a large number of viewers who watch the show every day as it is broadcast in prime time. Characters like Apu are highly discriminated against and stereotyped. In this show Apu is characterized as an Indian immigrant, who prays to Ganesh and has a very noticeable and dissimilar accent. This is a stereotype observed by young children and perceived as funny; they apply this knowledge to those they meet in real life. Viewers of this show believe this information to be completely accurate as they have little to no knowledge about that particular group. Although the stereotypes shown on TV are usually misrepresented, they are quite well accepted by the public as truth.