Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a certain group of people or things. There are many stereotypical images that come to mind when people from other areas think of Homestead or just Mequon in general.

The Urban Dictionary describes Mequon as “the affluent, white, waspy, country-club-going suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lots of money, out of control kids and nonprofit work.” While there may be some people who specifically fall into this category, there are also others who are put under this stereotype only for the reason that they attend Homestead.

Students of Homestead and residents of Mequon are likely to hear this stereotype when encountering people outside of the 53092 or 53097. As one of these people, I have received this stereotype in many situations, but the most prevalent is when I attend my dance studio in West Bend. Although many of the dancers there know me very well and are some of my closest friends, they all seem to have a fixed image of the people in Mequon and the students at Homestead, including myself. Madison Jochims, freshman at West Bend West High School said, “When I think of Mequon I think of rich people who have a good education, but are very stuck up and think that they are better than the general population.”

“It’s more of a suburban North Shore Conference stereotype that I receive,” Christopher Eckhardt, junior, said. “Even on my Instagram people comment things such as ‘frat’ just because I dress nicely.”

It seems as though people outside of the area seem to look at our school as a place with name brands and money falling out of our pockets. Even outside of the state, some people associate the area of Mequon with the common affluent stereotype. “One time when I was in Florida on vacation, a man who worked at a country club found out that my family and I were from Mequon, and he replied with ‘Oh. You’re from the rich and snobby part of Wisconsin,” Kalla Taylor, sophomore, said. This only further proves the point that this stereotype is widespread, with the associations that all people in this area are rich or well-off.

This view of Mequon residents is not only false in many cases, but seems to give our area a bad name. People from other zipcodes possess prejudice and bias already formed against us, without truly knowing each of our individual backgrounds, which is unfair for so many reasons. Many Homestead students work various jobs and buy their belongings by themselves. They work hard for their achievements and don’t solely rely on their parent’s money to get them where they need to go.

The way in which others view Mequon residents plays into what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, novelist, calls “the danger of the single story.” Because we live in a certain zip code, others automatically adopt a single, narrow-minded view of us: that we are spoiled, entitled and unappreciative. This view eradicates feelings of empathy in others’ minds, causing them to forget that each one of us has an individual story that may not correlate with the Urban Dictionary’s definition.
Despite their unfairness, the stereotypes never stop and probably never will. At this point, this image is deeply rooted deep into others’ minds, and there’s really no turning away from it. Embrace it or detest it, it won’t fade.