You would think by now that the general population of America wouldn't be basing the action of others off of old-fashioned stereotypes that would've been utilized "in the olden days." Nope. It's still a thing. The use of all kinds of stereotypes is still prevalent in modern day society. People are still being judged for their skin color, their ethnicity, their gender — things they have no control of changing whenever they feel like. Yet, we are all created equally? The Golden Rule — treat people how you would want to be treated — seems anything but golden.

One of the most current and common stereotypes is against ethnic groups. America is known as "the land of the free," but the future seems like it will be far from that. To start with, given Donald Trump's recent nomination as the Republican nominee for the President of the United States, it looks like it might be a possibility that America might be referred to as the land of restrictions. Mr. Trump's discriminatory and unfavorable views have put certain ethnic groups — more specifically, Muslims and Mexicans — into an extremely inaccurate spotlight. America's general stereotype of African-Americans is still alive and still false (the idea of them being "dangerous thugs" and "uneducated and unable.") Then, there is the Asian-American stereotype of being smart, getting good grades in every subject (especially math), and living a strict lifestyle. These are all stereotypes that are still used and made fun of in 2016. The more we keep joking about them, the bigger this issue becomes.

You might be thinking, "Well, some of these stereotypes apply to some of my friends or some people I know." Some. That is the key. Not every single individual of that ethnic group is like that. It's sickening to know that it's 2016 and these assumptions are still being made every day. We have yet to learn to become more accepting of one another and not to judge people on their physicality.

Gender role stereotypes are another common stereotype among modern society. Girls, boys, women, and men should be able to wear whatever they feel without having to deal with any strange stares and judgements. It used to be that society expected girls to dress more "feminine" and boys to dress more "masculine." Society has made huge strides in a way that gender is becoming more fluid and a majority of the general population is learning to accept those who choose to not identify with a specific gender. It was before this that girls and boys were guided to live up to unrealistic expectations as to who they were supposed to be and how they were supposed to act. Why did others' expectations matter? If girls/boys are dressing in a way that makes them comfortable with themselves, they aren't hurting anyone else — they are being their true selves. So why do people make the effort to put them down for who they are? How is it that we are in the 21st century and we cannot accept each others' differences?

Stereotypes have always been a part of our society and they most likely will be for the rest of time. The only thing we can do to make progress toward total acceptance is to keep fighting for it, even if it is just tolerance — understanding and accepting people for who they truly are. We need to discuss these issues and make them known to everyone. Shockingly, there are still people who live their life disregarding stereotypes because they are lucky enough to have never been stereotyped themselves. No matter what challenges you do or don't face, acceptance is one of the main goals we all need to keep working toward. Start with making personal strides. Begin with not making any generalizations about people solely based off of their looks. Learn to completely and fully accept people who are different than you. Different isn't bad. Accept that and live on.