Stereotypes and

Prejudices in Costa
Rica
Photo Essay: Kevin Long

A stereotype is a generalization about a person or group

of persons (Grobman, 1990), and a prejudice is an
unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or
without knowledge, thought, or reason (prejudice, 2015).
Stereotypes and prejudices are often the result of
ignorance and unwillingness of a culture or group of people
to learn about another group of people enough to gain a
better understanding of them. They also can be due to
fear towards a group of people and can be gathered from
talking with other people, television shows, and personal
experiences. These generalizations about other groups of
people sometimes have truth in them, but are not
applicable to the entire group of people. Stereotypes and
prejudices can lead to discrimination. Discrimination is
treating that group of people differently based on the
preconceived notions from stereotypes and prejudices
(Grobman, 1990). My photo essay will show prejudices,
stereotypes, and sometimes discrimination that Costa
Ricans have towards people of other cultures and races.

Afro-Costa Ricans
Most Afro-Costa Ricans came to Costa Rica originally as
free people in search of work, and many found work in
banana plantations in Limn (Lefever, 1992). Although
times have changed and the majority of Afro-Costa
Ricans do not live in Limn anymore, it still stereotyped
that Afro-Costa Ricans do only labor. Older generations
are more racist towards Afro-Costa Ricans than younger
generations generally, although racism still occurs. One
example of this was during a soccer game where an AfroCosta Rican player named Beneth Ty was playing and the
audience starting making monkey noises at him. Other
stereotypes towards Afro-Costa Ricans are that they are
lazy, do not enjoy working, and do not take care of
themselves. Instead, it is believed that they spend most
of their time partying and smoking weed (Quiros, 2015).

She is representing the Afro-Costa Rican stereotype by partying.

Her face is in the upper right sweet spot, and the photo is representing frozen
movement .

Colombians
Gang violence in Colombia has been causing a lot of
Colombians to flee to Costa Rica. Since 2000, there has
been over 12700 documented refugees to Costa Rica due
to gang violence, and the majority of them has been from
Colombia. Due to the desperate situation the Colombians
have found themselves in, they have often taken less
respectable jobs such as dancing in nightclubs and
prostitution (UNHCR, 2015). Because of this, there is a
stereotype that Colombian women are promiscuous. Ticos
believe that Colombian women often have fake boobs and
butt because plastic surgery is cheaper in Colombia and
they might need them to be a successful prostitute. Also,
Colombia has been having a lot of issues with drug
trafficking. This has caused many Costa Ricans to
stereotype all Colombians as drug abusers or sellers
(Quiros, 2015).

The pills are representing the drug stereotype of Colombians.

The purple pills are in the bottom left sweet spot

Gringos
Costa Rica is abundant with beautiful beaches and a different
culture than people from places such as the United States, which
makes it a hot tourist destination. This is one of the reasons why
people termed as Gringos are often seen as wealthy and
having a lot of money. Since many Gringos are on vacation
during their stay in Costa Rica, they do not have available as
large of a wardrobe, and Ticos often see Gringos are poorly
dressed and even dirty because of it. Ticos also view Gringos as
hopeless romantics, and they think that Gringos are here to find
their significant other with the locals. Many Gringos also do not
know Spanish, which causes Gringos to be stereotyped as
ignorant and stupid. Locals often see Gringos as cheats who try
to steal money from the locals because of the amount of
bartering that Gringos do with the locals (Quiros, 2015). Finally,
some Ticos constitute Gringos with child prostitution because
some North Americans come to Costa Rica with money to go to
prostitute houses that house primarily minors.

The left hand is of a Gringo and the right is of a Tica holding hands representing
the stereotype that Gringos are here to find a relationship.
I simplified the scene by keeping the hands on a white background and the hands
are in the upper right sweet spot.

Nicaraguans
Nicaraguans are the largest immigrant group in Costa Rica. There
have been four major influxes of Nicaraguans to Costa Rica, which
were produced by a major earthquake in Managua in 1972, civil
unrest in Nicaragua in the mid 1980s, poor economics between
1993 and 1997, and the repercussion of a Hurricane Mitch in 1998
(Costa Rica, 2010). Due to the nature of their immigration,
Nicaraguans often take less desirable jobs such as domestic labor.
They are stereotyped as unintelligent and uneducated because of
this, and a Nica Joke is one that portrays a Nicaraguan as being
dumb or silly. Also, there is a prevalence of Nicaraguan stereotypes
as criminals and kleptomaniacs in the media, and many Ticos do
not feel comfortable leaving their Nicarguan maid alone because
they think they will be stolen from. Because of their darker skin and
different facial features, they are stereotyped as a less attractive
race. Finally, Ticos receive a reduction of salary due to public
healthcare, but I was told that Nicaraguans use public hospitals
more than Ticos. This causes Ticos to view them as taking
advantage and milking the system (Quiros, 2015).

Our maid is representing the stereotype that Nicaraguans hold domestic work such as
being a maid.
Her body is on the right lane and her head is in the upper right sweet spot

People with HIV/Aids

HIV and Aids is a worldwide issue that affects the lives of
many. Costa Ricans are not often open-minded toward
people who have contacted this disease. The older
population is often ignorant and would think you could
get it like a normal sickness. Although the older
population is more prejudiced towards people with
HIV/Aids, many Ticos believe it is difficult to find people
in general who wont discriminate against people with
HIV/Aids a little bit. HIV/Aids is seen as a disease for the
poor or the homeless and not something that the upper
class has to worry about. Also, people are stereotyped
as either homosexual or a slut if they have it. The older
population often sees HIV/Aids as a deserved behavioral
punishment for being sexually promiscuous (Quiros,
2015).

The man is representing a poor, homeless person that is often stereotyped as a

person who might have HIV or Aids
His body is in the upper right sweet spot, it shows frozen movement, and there is a
leading line with the shadow of the building.

Bibliography
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