I’m beginning to notice that the majority of articles I read anywhere are about how stereotypes are bad. The majority of Facebook statuses relating to anything remotely political generally have something to do with stereotypes. Sexism, racism, misconceptions of LGBTQ community – all of these issues stem directly from stereotyping. So many people speak out strongly against stereotypes and then a billion people share articles and agree that “the problem with society is stereotypes.” We've all seen it.

I just have to ask… If such a massive number of people hate stereotypes, why is sexism, racism and bigotry still rampant in our world?

I’m not trying to condemn anyone, and I'm certainly not pretending I'm innocent of this. All I’m saying is that if we’re going to post about not judging people based on a single characteristic, then we need to be prepared to back that up with our everyday actions.

To be honest, I’m definitely guilty of judging people based on external appearances. I find myself holding my purse a little tighter when I pass the teenage boy with the skateboard on the street. Trust me, I don’t always practice what I preach. But I do make a conscious effort to love people regardless of what they look like, what they wear or whether they like pumpkin spice lattes.

I wonder how many of us thought “basic white girl” as soon as I wrote “pumpkin spice latte”? I know I did. Why? I’m curious how and when this particular drink picked up such a negative connotation. What does the term “basic white girl” even mean? Let’s dissect it: basic means simple. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not being complicated, although no one's entire personality can truly be boiled down to a simple person. But thus far I don’t see anything too negative in the name. Calling someone white isn’t mean. It’s simply a fact. I’m white because, well, genetics. I am also a girl (also genetics). I certainly don’t think that calling someone a girl should ever be viewed as an insult. So if this term is not, in fact, deprecating in and of itself, why is it used as an insult?

The other day, I was scrolling through Pinterest and this came up:

We are fully aware that our society that runs - even thrives - on stereotypes. Our advertising is full of it. Our everyday interactions are full of it. And we know it. We pretend that it bothers us, and yet they're still everywhere.

We’ve screamed that, regardless of what a woman wears, rape is never the victim’s fault. We’ve yelled that it’s absurd to believe a male compromises his masculinity by admitting his struggles with self-worth. We’re cried for the world to realize that beauty has absolutely nothing to do with physical appearance. The number of voices proclaiming these messages is enormous.

But our voices can only do so much. We can scream until our throats bleed or make inspirational memes until our fingers fall off. No change will happen until we begin to love and listen to the people around us.

When we hear someone tell her story about what it's actually like to be a single mom, then we begin the journey towards breaking stereotypes. When we listen to a black man's story of racism, that's when we glimpse the path we need to take. Moving towards seeing people as people takes more than statistics, head knowledge or generalizations.

We don't change the world by yelling at people. We impact lives when we take a step back and listen to them. Empathy. Instead of posting an angry status on Facebook, listen to someone's story and treat them with unconditional love and respect. Instead of condemning the homeless person on the street as a "lazy bum," teach your children that race has no correlation whatsoever to integrity. Instead of putting yourself as number one, try taking the backseat.

That's how you get rid of stereotypes: Choose to love all people. No matter what. Even if it makes you uncomfortable, listen to the people around you. Let them tell you their story. Treat everyone with respect. Never assume the worst about anyone. Ever.

I know this article won't accomplish any great change in society. All I hope is that it encourages someone - even if it's just one person - to treat those around him or her with unconditional love and respect. Who knows? We might not change the whole world, but we still have the power to change someone's life.