Society is told to celebrate its diversity, but it is stereotypes that make society unique. Not to be confused with prejudice, which Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines as: "a preconceived judgment or opinion,"" stereotypes would not exist if there were not a need for them. A writing table is not celebrated for its flatness; it is celebrated it for its usefulness. It allows one to write more comfortably; it allows one to work off the ground. Did the table come from a need for a writing surface, or from the mind of a brilliant designer looking to expand our artistic knowledge? A table is a practical matter, and so too is a stereotype. Stereotypes were discovered because they were needed, because they existed. The implications of stereotypes help to guide society, help make decisions, and help define social standards. From the French stéréotype, from stéré- stere- + type, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines stereotypes as: "1: a plate cast from a printing surface 2: something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially: a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment."" In literature, in life and work, and even in communities, stereotypes characterize, shape and influence the world around us.
In literature, stereotypes define character, action and setting. An elf lives in the forest; is tall and thin; and has pointy ears. The word elf' brings these things to mind without prompting, but does not chain the elf character down to these things. It only serves to guide the reader and the writer into familiar waters. Women in literature internalize the male idea of the feminine and create themselves in the shape of that idea. The narrowness, the confining nature of the women's stereotypes in literature is as nullifying, as are the imagined strictures on her in real life.
