Stereotypes and Discrimination In a growing world that relies on education and intelligence, judgments in a social environment are still continually based on appearance. A study on the importance of external appearance was produced through a television quiz. Contestants struggled to answer questions correctly to improve their personal score. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score was asked to eliminate a team member. Although many times an unattractive player would score higher and be more advantageous than another teammate, only 27% of unattractive members were chosen to advance to the next round (Belot, Bhaskar, and van de Ven 852 -853). When society neglects qualities and characteristics of high aesthetic value, discrimination wins. The theme of stereotypes and discrimination is expressed in the plots of the stories “A&P” by John Updike and “How to date a brown girl (black girl, white girl, and halfie)” by Junot Diaz. There has not been extensive research into the use of this theme in the two stories. A&P, one of Updike's most popular stories (Johnson 658), focuses on the stereotype of attractiveness and appearance discrimination; while “How to Date a Brown Girl (Brown Girl, White Girl, and Halfie)” focuses on race. Although the research has not been conducted and popularized, it is a known thought. A stereotype is the grouping of all members of a certain common distinction into a set of standardized rules and appearances (Moore 36). Common stereotypes of people are race and gender; however, people also use sexual preference, age, religion, and attractiveness as group distinctions. The use of stereotypes is ethically wrong and not always correct. People use these judgments as a way to separate a… middle of paper… someone falls in. To be in the most desirable rank, it seems the best approach is to be a white, wealthy male. Stereotypes have also affected platonic and romantic relationships. People of a certain race or class are expected to mix with those of the same race or class unless they want to suffer discrimination. Discrimination against homosexuality, because it violates social norms, is also an example. Interracial relationships used to be the most unheard of relationships, and although they can still be questioned, today they have become common compared to same-sex relationships. Overall, stereotypes are typically false accusations and can be destructive to individual opportunities and society as a whole. Preconceived notions of race, gender and class should be a thing of the past because they only lead to unnecessary discrimination.