My final speech for my English

I posted on here a while ago that I was going to write a speech about the theme "assumptions and stereotypes" so basically everything that captures my blog. So I thought it would only be suiting to share it with everyone! So hope it's worth the time it takes to read! Enjoy!

An assumption on a person’s character is a natural human instinct.

Assumptions may have innocent intentions or not, but whatever you believe about “judging books by their cover”, every human is guilty of the use of stereotypes to make an assumption about that person. The stereotypes may have justifiable reasons, but not justification enough for prejudice.

Everyone has their own label. Gay. Chav. Emo. Bisexual. Stupid. Blonde...

Think about all the names you have been given to you, how many of them would you want to share with the rest of the world? How many of them you would rather forget about? Have these labels been given to you because of who you are as a person, or how they perceive and expect you to be? These labels given to you can be part of your identity, but some of these labels can highlight insecurities, making you have more self doubt. Maybe you’re one of these people that when you hear that word, your heart just sinks. Those couple of words could mean so much to you. Trying to hide the fact that they are painful to hear... No one really understands why you would even find them harmful. No one really understands.

These assumptions and labels may not have even been a thought to you.

Truly ask yourself, have you seen someone and instantly thought about how their appearance reflects their character? Even if you still think that you aren’t one of these people. Just imagine someone you would associate with the label “Chav” for example. And you instantly can imagine what they would be like, the stereotypical “Chav”. Trackies? Trainers? Or maybe you assume even more than that- maybe you associate this label with the lower class, what you expect from it’s meaning “council houses and violence.”  But what does it matter even if they were a “Chav”? I think the majority of you would treat someone differently if you didn’t agree with their label or social group. Maybe this is purely on assumptions of this label you have given these people or person. But there it is- the truth that everyone is a hypercrite, because I myself assumed that a majority of teenagers would act on stereotypes and assumptions they have made. No one can completely escape their assumptions. I mean think about the first time everyone saw Susan Boyle about to audition on Britain’s Got Talent, I know that I was cringing before hand, as well as probably most of you were. But when we saw her sing all of our collective assumptions about her were completely crushed. This was in 2009, it just shows how these expectations are still happening, and however much we assume (and hope) this isn’t still happening large scale. But these are just innocent assumptions, although they could be painful for that person to hear, there are larger assumptions that our society should already be without. Sexism... Racism... Ageism... These are when our assumptions are made into prejudice.

So what?

Who cares? Who cares about those few people having to deal with a couple of words now and then? Who cares when there are bigger challenges facing Humans right now? But put yourself in their shoes; understand that every day when they hear that word, that one word that makes you want to turn invisible. It makes you feel vulnerable. So maybe there are bigger things in the world to worry about for some people, but if you can’t even accept yourself for who you are, how can you accept these labels that are forced upon you just to open up those already sensitive wounds?

You should care.

You should care because: everyone is both a guilty and a victim of using stereotypes to interfere with how you would treat that person. Maybe you still don’t think this affects you... Have you ever thought that someone has acted out of character at any point? Well you must have assumed they wouldn’t have acted that way in order to compare what you felt you expected them to do with reality.

So think twice before you assume or give someone a label that you wouldn’t want yourself. Every human may want to assume parts of that person’s character, but that is no excuse for any prejudice.

 “Don’t judge a book by its covers” is a hard moral to stick to, it is only human. You can only fully judge the book by reading every chapter, reading ever page, reading every line. So go against your human instinct and be an example for the rest of the world to copy.

I just wanted to add a comical photo at the end, it makes the whole speech worth reading! (of course the only reason!) I just wanted to show how silly assumptions made could look/be. And it just contradicts all the serious-ness of this whole post! 

Ellie.