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Stereotypes in Social Class

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Published: Mar 19, 2024

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Introduction:, the development of social class stereotypes:, the impact of social class stereotypes on individuals:, the impact of social class stereotypes on society:, strategies to combat social class stereotypes:, case studies and examples:, conclusion:.

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Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

Organizations Social Impact Oct 27, 2023

How have social stereotypes changed over the last century, the words people associate with different social groups have shifted, but the underlying beliefs may be more stubborn..

Tessa Charlesworth

Nishanth Sanjeev

Mark L. Hatzenbuehler

Mahzarin R. Banaji

Michael Meier

By any measure, the last century has seen immense progress for people of color, women, people with disabilities, the LGBTQI+ community, and other marginalized social groups. But how much have those gains actually upended harmful stereotypes?

A new paper by Tessa Charlesworth, an assistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School, explores that complex question by computationally analyzing language usage over 115 years, from 1900 to 2015. In particular, Charlesworth and her colleagues—Nishanth Sanjeev of New York University and Mark L. Hatzenbuehler and Mahzarin R. Banaji of Harvard University—looked at how the traits associated with various social groups have changed over time.

They investigated both the overt and implied meanings of these stereotypes. “I often give the analogy of an iceberg,” Charlesworth says. “There’s the tip of the iceberg that we can see above the water line. These are the actual words we use to describe different groups”—what the researchers call “manifest” content. “But then hiding under the surface of the water are the hidden meanings, like how positive or negative, or competent or incompetent, those words are”—the “latent” content.

Overall, the researchers discovered, group stereotypes have changed significantly in their manifest content, but their latent content has remained much more stable. For example, “you can think of some archetypal examples of how our stereotypes of Black Americans have changed over time, from lazy in the 1900s to helpless in the 1990s,” Charlesworth explains. “It’s a different word, but it’s got the same meaning of incompetence and negativity. We can think of similar examples with women—they used to be called hysterical ; now they’re emotional .”

To Charlesworth, this pattern suggests that surface-level descriptors may change in meaningful ways, but deep-rooted feelings and beliefs are more stubborn.

“It’s a really interesting social phenomenon,” she says. “Society can reinvent itself and, on the surface, pretend to be changing and making progress—despite the fact that there are hidden messages that continue to persist.”

How word embeddings capture social biases

To understand how stereotypes both have and haven’t changed over time, the researchers used word embeddings. This type of computational text analysis involves representing words in space based on how frequently they occur together in a given body of text. Word embeddings allow scholars to measure the relatedness of two words based on how close or far apart they sit. The technique allows a computer system that has no concept of what words mean to determine that dog is closer to cat than it is to refrigerator ; it’s also how systems like ChatGPT learn to generate such human-sounding text.

Previous research has shown that word embeddings also correlate with experimentally documented biases. For example, the Implicit Association Test demonstrates that people more quickly associate terms related to youth with pleasantness than unpleasantness (and vice-versa for terms related to age). Word embeddings show the very same patterns: terms related to youth sit closer to words like pleasant than words like unpleasant , while the opposite is true for terms related to older age.

“Society can reinvent itself and, on the surface, pretend to be changing and making progress—despite the fact that there are hidden messages that continue to persist.” — Tessa Charlesworth

And because word embeddings can be quantified numerically, changes over time can be quantified numerically too—which is exactly what Charlesworth and her colleagues did.

By looking across time at the traits most closely associated with different social groups, as well as the latent meaning of those traits, the researchers could understand how stereotypes have changed—and how they haven’t.

A century of language change

To begin their study, Charlesworth and her colleagues amassed a huge trove of text that spanned 115 years and included both fiction and nonfiction works. Their data set included Google Books, The New York Times archive, and the Common Crawl, a massive repository scraped from the internet.

Then, they devised a list of social groups they wanted to study. The 72 groups they chose fell into four different categories: sociodemographic groups (e.g., black, white, young, old, gay, straight), body-related (e.g., fat, thin, disabled, abled), mental-health-related (e.g., depressed, happy, bipolar), and occupational (e.g., employed, unemployed, educated, uneducated).

The researchers also created a list of synonyms for each group, making sure to include a range of historically specific terms. For example, the term schizophrenic was not popularized until the early 19th century, so they also included psychosis , which was commonly used to describe the same set of symptoms before that time.

Next, they compared how those 72 social groups (and their synonymous terms) were related to some 600 trait adjectives that have been widely used in other psychology research.

For each decade between 1900 and 2015, they determined which ten trait words sat closest to each of the 72 groups. “Are they words like lazy and helpless , or are they words like warm and kind ?” Charlesworth explained.

Finally, she and her colleagues assigned scores—numerical measurements of positivity, warmth, and competence—to the top 10 trait words associated with each group at each point in time. This allowed them to calculate how much the latent meaning of the stereotypes changed, in addition to the actual turnover of individual manifest words.

Stereotype continuity and change

Across all 72 groups, manifest stereotypes—that is, the actual language used—changed meaningfully, while latent content—the underlying associations—remained much more stable. However, Charlesworth notes, “it’s not the case that every single group is changing in manifest content and not changing in latent valence. There’s actually a lot of variability.”

For example, sociodemographic group stereotypes changed considerably more than body-related group stereotypes.

Charlesworth and her colleagues suspect this may have to do with how cohesive stereotypes are at any given point in time. For example, if novels, the New Yorker , and the National Review are all portraying the same group in the same way at the same time, there’s little room for stereotypes to change in the future. But if there’s more variability across sources, it suggests that the consensus view is breaking down.

And that’s essentially what the researchers found for body-related versus sociodemographic groups, Charlesworth explains: “Everyone’s saying the same kind of negativity about being fat or being disabled. And that kind of cohesiveness means that those stereotypes can remain uncontested.” Meanwhile, she adds, “there’s a little bit more variability in how we talk about sociodemographic groups, which can open the door to social change.”

How often a group was mentioned at all also emerged as a predictor of manifest (and to a lesser extent, latent) stereotype change. “Groups that we talk about more are also going to be groups that change more, because there are just more opportunities to intervene on attitudes that we talk about than on attitudes that we ignore” Charlesworth says. “And maybe that’s our best source for intervention going forward. Groups that we can bring front of mind in activism and policy are going to be the ones we can move the needle on.”

Changing hearts (and words)

Charlesworth says the research sheds light on one of the most persistent paradoxes of modern life: despite immense progress for many marginalized social groups, profound inequities and biases remain.

“It resolves some of the ambiguity about how we can have both evidence of some change . . . and really persistent discrimination,” she says. “The words we’re using to describe these groups are changing, but under the surface, there are hierarchies that are just so persistent.”

Figuring out what can be done is an issue she hopes to address in future research. “How do you address the latent, underlying meaning of our group stereotypes? How do you disrupt the idea that we feel functional or even legitimate reasons to stigmatize groups?” she says. “That, I think, will be the key point of intervention, and the main open question.”

Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations

Susie Allen is the senior research editor of Kellogg Insight .

Charlesworth, Tessa E. S., Nishanth Sanjeev, Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, and Mahzarin R. Banaji. 2023. “Identifying and Predicting Stereotype Change in Large Language Corpora: 72 Groups, 115 Years (1900–2015), and Four Text Sources.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology .

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The terrifying power of stereotypes – and how to deal with them

Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University

Disclosure statement

Magdalena Zawisza receives funding from British Academy, Innovate UK and Polish National Science Centre.

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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From “girls suck at maths” and “men are so insensitive” to “he is getting a bit senile with age” or “black people struggle at university”, there’s no shortage of common cultural stereotypes about social groups. Chances are you have heard most of these examples at some point. In fact, stereotypes are a bit like air: invisible but always present.

We all have multiple identities and some of them are likely to be stigmatised. While it may seem like we should just stop paying attention to stereotypes, it often isn’t that easy. False beliefs about our abilities easily turn into a voice of self doubt in our heads that can be hard to ignore. And in the last couple of decades, scientists have started to discover that this can have damaging effects on our actual performance.

This mechanism is due to what psychologists call “ stereotype threat ” – referring to a fear of doing something that would confirm negative perceptions of a stigmatised group that we are members of. The phenomenon was first uncovered by American social psychologists in the 1990s.

In a seminal paper, they experimentally demonstrated how racial stereotypes can affect intellectual ability. In their study, black participants performed worse than white participants on verbal ability tests when they were told that the test was “diagnostic” – a “genuine test of your verbal abilities and limitations”. However, when this description was excluded, no such effect was seen. Clearly these individuals had negative thoughts about their verbal ability that affected their performance.

Black participants also underperformed when racial stereotypes were activated much more subtly. Just asking participants to identify their race on a preceding demographic questionnaire was enough. What’s more, under the threatening conditions (diagnostic test), black participants reported higher levels of self doubt than white participants.

Nobody’s safe

Stereotype threat effects are very robust and affect all stigmatised groups. A recent analysis of several previous studies on the topic revealed that stereotype threat related to the intellectual domain exists across various experimental manipulations, test types and ethnic groups – ranging from black and Latino Americans to Turkish Germans. A wealth of research also links stereotype threat with women’s underperformance in maths and leadership aspirations .

Men are vulnerable, too. A study showed that men performed worse when decoding non-verbal cues if the test was described as designed to measure “social sensitivity” – a stereotypically feminine skill. However, when the task was introduced as an “information processing test”, they did much better. In a similar vein, when children from poorer families are reminded of their lower socioeconomic status, they underperform on tests described as diagnostic of intellectual abilities – but not otherwise. Stereotype threat has also been shown to affect educational underachievement in immigrants and memory performance of the elderly .

It is important to remember that the triggering cues can be very subtle. One study demonstrated that when women viewed only two advertisements based on gender stereotypes among six commercials, they tended to avoid leadership roles in a subsequent task. This was the case even though the commercials had nothing to do with leadership.

Mental mechanisms

Stereotype threat leads to a vicious circle . Stigmatised individuals experience anxiety which depletes their cognitive resources and leads to underperformance, confirmation of the negative stereotype and reinforcement of the fear.

Researchers have identified a number of interrelated mechanisms responsible for this effect, with the key being deficits in working memory capacity – the ability to concentrate on the task at hand and ignore distraction. Working memory under stereotype threat conditions is affected by physiological stress, performance monitoring and suppression processes (of anxiety and the stereotype).

Neuroscientists have even measured these effects in the brain. When we are affected by stereotype threat, brain regions responsible for emotional self-regulation and social feedback are activated while activity in the regions responsible for task performance are inhibited.

In our recent study, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience , we demonstrated this effect for ageism. We used electroencephalography (EEG), a device which places electrodes on the scalp to track and record brainwave patterns, to show that older adults, having read a report about memory declining with age, experienced neural activation corresponding to having negative thoughts about oneself. They also underperformed in a subsequent, timed categorisation task.

Coping strategies

There is hope, however. Emerging studies on how to reduce stereotype threat identify a range of methods – the most obvious being changing the stereotype. Ultimately, this is the way to eliminate the problem once and for all.

But changing stereotypes sadly often takes time. While we are working on it, there are techniques to help us cope. For example, visible, accessible and relevant role models are important. One study reported a positive “Obama effect” on African Americans. Whenever Obama drew press attention for positive, stereotype-defying reasons, stereotype threat effects were markedly reduced in black Americans’ exam performance.

Another method is to buffer the threat through shifting self perceptions to positive group identity or self affirmation. For example, Asian women underperformed on maths tests when reminded of their gender identity but not when reminded of their Asian identity . This is because Asian individuals are stereotypically seen as good at maths. In the same way, many of us belong to a few different groups – it is sometimes worth shifting the focus towards the one which gives us strength.

Gaining confidence by practising the otherwise threatening task is also beneficial, as seen with female chess players . One way to do this could be by reframing the task as a challenge .

Finally, merely being aware of the damaging effects that stereotypes can have can help us reinterpret the anxiety and makes us more likely to perform better. We may not be able to avoid stereotypes completely and immediately, but we can try to clear the air of them.

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Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society Essay

Stereotypes are the constructions set by society which happen to be the gauge with which members of society measure themselves up. These designations come up due to the hierarchical structures in the society which define ones position in that society and mostly are based on prejudice. They are based on judgments and that it is time that brings them out (New 577).

For instance there is the social stratification whereby a person either belongs to the higher social status (superior) or the low social class (inferior). Both groups have got significant adjectives with which they describe the other. For example, those in the high social class describe those from the low class as stupid, lazy and lots of other negative adjectives. On the other hand those in the high social class are thought to be hard working, intelligent and so many other positive adjectives.

Structures of power in society do to a great deal influence stereotyping in society. For instance the case of Coffey and his family are immigrants into Canada in Brian Moore’s novel The Luck of Ginger Coffey. Having settled in Canada, as a people of the immigrant community, they are visitors and therefore proximity to job opportunities are quite a challenge. This is worsened by the educational background of Ginger (New 577).

Therefore it can be seen that a person’s level of education can be a determinant in the kind of job opportunities to his or her exposure. Education is given a priority to be a determinant of the kind of job an individual can access. Society has therefore stereotyped good jobs for instance white collar jobs to be available to those with high academic qualifications and those without qualification or less qualification get blue collar jobs. This inequality of power leads to social stereotyping of job opportunities.

Gender constructions are also designed by society whereby the society decides on who is to do what and to what extent thus pointing to behaviors in society. For example, in the family set up, a man is the expected breadwinner of the family and therefore when a family fails to achieve success in the social structure, then the man is the one to be blamed for that family’s failure.

The expectations of society are therefore reflected in behavior, values exhibited by both men and women, roles played by both genders both of which have got no sexual or biological affiliations (New 575).

By not being able to provide adequately for his family, Ginger can be seen as a failed man and thus failed marriage because his wife goes ahead and gets married to Gerry Grosvenor who is better placed to take care of her more than Ginger can. A man is therefore depicted as the one who is to determine the direction which his family is to take in view of being economically stable.

The family of Ginger thinks that life on the other side of Montreal is far much better than life in Ireland. This leads to their relocation from Ireland to Canada. Their expectations are so high such that they expect life to turn out to be good overnight. On the contrary this never happens. This can be associated with the common analogue “living the American dream” whereby successful life is thought to be automatic with crossing the boarders into the “promised land” but once they get there; life turns out for the worst.

They are not only met by the culture shock but also with the expensiveness that comes with adopting to the schedules of life there. In six months, life has not changed for this family and even after trying so much it is not getting any better (New 608). This applies to the present times whereby, life in the western countries has been stereotyped to be better than life in the other parts of the world which has led to the influx of people to the western countries.

But once immigrants get there, it turns out to be as difficult as they could have never imagined more especially when it comes to settling down and getting jobs. It is even worse when whole families relocate to these western countries. Life in the long run turns out to be a nightmare. Ginger and his family therefore find life difficult and struggle for survival doing odd jobs here and there.

The Irish people are also thought to be nationalistic and Catholicism, therefore Grosvenor expects that all Irish people behave and act in the same way: “bigoted, untrustworthy and conventional and also imaginative, romantic and creative (New 582)”. The stereotyped typical Irish man has therefore both the positive and negative attributes.

The negative attributes are seen through the people Grosvenor meets before the Coffeys and the positive attributes are seen through the Coffeys.Those before the Coffeys are seen to be staunch Nationalists as well as practice Catholicism strictly. This explains the character associated with a particular group of people especially through their character towards what they strongly believe in.

As illustrated in the story, the Irish people are associated with Catholicism and which maybe could have been taken negatively by other people in society who might have originated from other backgrounds. Religion in this context is therefore seen to be associated with a particular group of people which distinguishes them from other people. Patriotism on the other hand is helping bring out the character trait of the Irish as being nationalistic therefore explaining the fact about social stereotyping.

The social context during which this text was written prescribed gender roles and dictated the roles of both men and women in society. When the Ginger family moved to Montreal, Ginger aimed at supporting and providing for his family adequately and also making something for himself (New 583), Veronica sees him as the one to support the family and Paulie thinks that daddies are the ones to get jobs in order to support their families.

This is the reason why he is ready to work hard to please his daughter and wife. He is determined that things are going to be okay someday and holds on to the hope that he will become a journalist and be able to win his wife back. So when Veronica shows concern over getting a job, he does not like the idea and thinks that her role should be as a home maker because that is what society had conspired to make women to be.

Ginger resents the fact that Veronica has gotten a job as a sales lady; he even says that she won’t find it easy trying to become a bread winner. Therefore, we can say that at the time it was quite unrealistic for a woman to feed her family because society had defined gender roles belonging to both males and females that is why it was not easy for Ginger to be convinced that his wife could leave the confines of home and go out to work.

Veronica finds financial independence and freedom when she is able to provide for her family for example buying new things for Paulie and generally providing for the whole family in general. This upsets Ginger so much but nonetheless her family becomes economically and financially liberated.

She can now afford a new look as well because she has got good clothes and to crown it all has occupied a new space in a new cultural context. This helps bring out a lot more different meaning to gender roles in society. This family now with the help of Veronica is far much better off than it was before she got a job (New 591) this can best shade light on the importance of both men and women striving to compliment each other in all aspects so as to help in the bringing up of a family.

Society should therefore allow both men and women play equal roles where possible in order to bring this to a reality. With her own job where she is boss over her income she even changes her hair style and wore make-up which makes her a lot more sophisticated and beautiful something Ginger sees in her himself

The same society which the text portrays is a society whereby a woman should not leave her husband for another man regardless of any situation and circumstance. Faced with the threat of a failed marriage Ginger finds solace in traditional values whereby the ideal family should stick together always.

Paulie also shares in the same sentiment that “Catholics are not supposed to divorce.” With the face of problems in their marriage, Paulie acts as the link between the two of them through whom they communicate. This basically shows the importance of children in a family set up. They can help in solving problems in a family and become a reason why families can be held together in the face of challenges of divorce and separation.

Society has therefore prescribed it that families, especially Christian families are to stick together. With the issue of divorce coming up, Ginger tends to blame his wife for what is happening to them, he does not see it as a problem of his making because he sees the woman as the source of the problems that face them.

Both men and women should rise above the social prejudices in order to bring out their potentialities to compliment each other for their own benefit more especially in a family set up. With the rise of feminism awareness whereby women seek to liberate themselves from the traditional yokes of pride more especially in men, they should be supported by the whole society because their position is as helpful as that of men (New 608).

As long as gender liberation is geared towards making life better for both genders, support for each other is quite necessary. In as much as religion and tradition are important as the gauge with which human life is regulated, getting to move with the times is as important too.

Gone are the days when women were considered home makers whose position was in the hose for their children and in the kitchen for their husbands, that men were to go out o fend for their families, but in the advent of education also as a leveling ground that determines an individuals position in society, women are getting liberated each passing day and therefore men should be ready to accommodate them.

Social stereotypes designed by human beings should also not be taken as the ultimate mirrors with which life should be measured against. Men were thought to be the stereotypes that were to provide for their families but Veronica proved otherwise and made life for her better than it was before.

Works Cited

New, William. Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada . University of Toronto. Toronto 2002

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IvyPanda. (2019, August 20). Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-stereotypes/

"Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society." IvyPanda , 20 Aug. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/social-stereotypes/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society'. 20 August.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society." August 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-stereotypes/.

1. IvyPanda . "Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society." August 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-stereotypes/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Concept of Social Stereotypes in Modern Society." August 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-stereotypes/.

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11.3: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

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The terms stereotype, prejudice, discrimination, and racism are often used interchangeably in everyday conversation. Let us explore the differences between these concepts. Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about groups of people. Stereotypes can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation—almost any characteristic. They may be positive (usually about one’s own group, such as when women suggest they are less likely to complain about physical pain) but are often negative (usually toward other groups, such as when members of a dominant racial group suggest that a subordinate racial group is stupid or lazy). In either case, the stereotype is a generalization that doesn’t take individual differences into account.

Where do stereotypes come from? In fact new stereotypes are rarely created; rather, they are recycled from subordinate groups that have assimilated into society and are reused to describe newly subordinate groups. For example, many stereotypes that are currently used to characterize black people were used earlier in American history to characterize Irish and Eastern European immigrants.

Prejudice and Racism

Prejudice refers to the beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes someone holds about a group. A prejudice is not based on experience; instead, it is a prejudgment, originating outside actual experience. A 1970 documentary called Eye of the Storm illustrates the way in which prejudice develops, by showing how defining one category of people as superior (children with blue eyes) results in prejudice against people who are not part of the favored category.

While prejudice is not necessarily specific to race, racism is a stronger type of prejudice used to justify the belief that one racial category is somehow superior or inferior to others; it is also a set of practices used by a racial majority to disadvantage a racial minority. The Ku Klux Klan is an example of a racist organization; its members' belief in white supremacy has encouraged over a century of hate crime and hate speech.

Institutional racism refers to the way in which racism is embedded in the fabric of society. For example, the disproportionate number of black men arrested, charged, and convicted of crimes may reflect racial profiling, a form of institutional racism.

Colorism is another kind of prejudice, in which someone believes one type of skin tone is superior or inferior to another within a racial group. Studies suggest that darker skinned African Americans experience more discrimination than lighter skinned African Americans (Herring, Keith, and Horton 2004; Klonoff and Landrine 2000). For example, if a white employer believes a black employee with a darker skin tone is less capable than a black employer with lighter skin tone, that is colorism. At least one study suggested the colorism affected racial socialization, with darker-skinned black male adolescents receiving more warnings about the danger of interacting with members of other racial groups than did lighter-skinned black male adolescents (Landor et al. 2013).

Discrimination

While prejudice refers to biased thinking, discrimination consists of actions against a group of people. Discrimination can be based on age, religion, health, and other indicators; race-based laws against discrimination strive to address this set of social problems.

Discrimination based on race or ethnicity can take many forms, from unfair housing practices to biased hiring systems. Overt discrimination has long been part of U.S. history. In the late nineteenth century, it was not uncommon for business owners to hang signs that read, "Help Wanted: No Irish Need Apply." And southern Jim Crow laws, with their "Whites Only" signs, exemplified overt discrimination that is not tolerated today.

However, we cannot erase discrimination from our culture just by enacting laws to abolish it. Even if a magic pill managed to eradicate racism from each individual's psyche, society itself would maintain it. Sociologist Émile Durkheim calls racism a social fact, meaning that it does not require the action of individuals to continue. The reasons for this are complex and relate to the educational, criminal, economic, and political systems that exist in our society.

For example, when a newspaper identifies by race individuals accused of a crime, it may enhance stereotypes of a certain minority. Another example of racist practices is racial steering, in which real estate agents direct prospective homeowners toward or away from certain neighborhoods based on their race. Racist attitudes and beliefs are often more insidious and harder to pin down than specific racist practices.

Prejudice and discrimination can overlap and intersect in many ways. To illustrate, here are four examples of how prejudice and discrimination can occur. Unprejudiced nondiscriminators are open-minded, tolerant, and accepting individuals. Unprejudiced discriminators might be those who unthinkingly practice sexism in their workplace by not considering females for certain positions that have traditionally been held by men. Prejudiced nondiscriminators are those who hold racist beliefs but don't act on them, such as a racist store owner who serves minority customers. Prejudiced discriminators include those who actively make disparaging remarks about others or who perpetuate hate crimes.

Discrimination also manifests in different ways. The scenarios above are examples of individual discrimination, but other types exist. Institutional discrimination occurs when a societal system has developed with embedded disenfranchisement of a group, such as the U.S. military's historical nonacceptance of minority sexualities (the "don't ask, don't tell" policy reflected this norm).

Institutional discrimination can also include the promotion of a group's status, such in the case of white privilege, which is the benefits people receive simply by being part of the dominant group.

While most white people are willing to admit that nonwhite people live with a set of disadvantages due to the color of their skin, very few are willing to acknowledge the benefits they receive.

Racial Tensions in the United States

The death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO on August 9, 2014 illustrates racial tensions in the United States as well as the overlap between prejudice, discrimination, and institutional racism. On that day, Brown, a young unarmed black man, was killed by a white police officer named Darren Wilson. During the incident, Wilson directed Brown and his friend to walk on the sidewalk instead of in the street. While eyewitness accounts vary, they agree that an altercation occurred between Wilson and Brown. Wilson’s version has him shooting Brown in self-defense after Brown assaulted him, while Dorian Johnson, a friend of Brown also present at the time, claimed that Brown first ran away, then turned with his hands in the air to surrender, after which Johnson shot him repeatedly (Nobles and Bosman 2014). Three autopsies independently confirmed that Brown was shot six times (Lowery and Fears 2014).

The shooting focused attention on a number of race-related tensions in the United States. First, members of the predominantly black community viewed Brown’s death as the result of a white police officer racially profiling a black man (Nobles and Bosman 2014). In the days after, it was revealed that only three members of the town’s fifty-three-member police force were black (Nobles and Bosman 2014). The national dialogue shifted during the next few weeks, with some commentators pointing to a nationwidesedimentation of racial inequality and identifying redlining in Ferguson as a cause of the unbalanced racial composition in the community, in local political establishments, and in the police force (Bouie 2014). Redlining is the practice of routinely refusing mortgages for households and businesses located in predominately minority communities, while sedimentation of racial inequality describes the intergenerational impact of both practical and legalized racism that limits the abilities of black people to accumulate wealth.

Ferguson’s racial imbalance may explain in part why, even though in 2010 only about 63 percent of its population was black, in 2013 blacks were detained in 86 percent of stops, 92 percent of searches, and 93 percent of arrests (Missouri Attorney General’s Office 2014). In addition, de facto segregation in Ferguson’s schools, a race-based wealth gap, urban sprawl, and a black unemployment rate three times that of the white unemployment rate worsened existing racial tensions in Ferguson while also reflecting nationwide racial inequalities (Bouie 2014).

Multiple Identities

Golfer Tiger Woods has Chinese, Thai, African American, Native American, and Dutch heritage. Individuals with multiple ethnic backgrounds are becoming more common. (Photo courtesy of familymwr/flickr)

Prior to the twentieth century, racial intermarriage (referred to as miscegenation) was extremely rare, and in many places, illegal. In the later part of the twentieth century and in the twenty-first century, as Figure shows, attitudes have changed for the better. While the sexual subordination of slaves did result in children of mixed race, these children were usually considered black, and therefore, property. There was no concept of multiple racial identities with the possible exception of the Creole. Creole society developed in the port city of New Orleans, where a mixed-race culture grew from French and African inhabitants. Unlike in other parts of the country, “Creoles of color” had greater social, economic, and educational opportunities than most African Americans.

Increasingly during the modern era, the removal of miscegenation laws and a trend toward equal rights and legal protection against racism have steadily reduced the social stigma attached to racial exogamy (exogamy refers to marriage outside a person’s core social unit). It is now common for the children of racially mixed parents to acknowledge and celebrate their various ethnic identities. Golfer Tiger Woods, for instance, has Chinese, Thai, African American, Native American, and Dutch heritage; he jokingly refers to his ethnicity as “Cablinasian,” a term he coined to combine several of his ethnic backgrounds. While this is the trend, it is not yet evident in all aspects of our society. For example, the U.S. Census only recently added additional categories for people to identify themselves, such as non-white Hispanic. A growing number of people chose multiple races to describe themselves on the 2010 Census, paving the way for the 2020 Census to provide yet more choices.

THE CONFEDERATE FLAG VS. THE FIRST AMENDMENT

To some, the Confederate flag is a symbol of pride in Southern history. To others, it is a grim reminder of a degrading period of the United States’ past. (Photo courtesy of Eyeliam/flickr)

In January 2006, two girls walked into Burleson High School in Texas carrying purses that displayed large images of Confederate flags. School administrators told the girls that they were in violation of the dress code, which prohibited apparel with inappropriate symbolism or clothing that discriminated based on race. To stay in school, they’d have to have someone pick up their purses or leave them in the office. The girls chose to go home for the day but then challenged the school’s decision, appealing first to the principal, then to the district superintendent, then to the U.S. District Court, and finally to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Why did the school ban the purses, and why did it stand behind that ban, even when being sued? Why did the girls, identified anonymously in court documents as A.M. and A.T., pursue such strong legal measures for their right to carry the purses? The issue, of course, is not the purses: it is the Confederate flag that adorns them. The parties in this case join a long line of people and institutions that have fought for their right to display it, saying such a display is covered by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. In the end, the court sided with the district and noted that the Confederate flag carried symbolism significant enough to disrupt normal school activities.

While many young people in the United States like to believe that racism is mostly in the country’s past, this case illustrates how racism and discrimination are quite alive today. If the Confederate flag is synonymous with slavery, is there any place for its display in modern society? Those who fight for their right to display the flag say such a display should be covered by the First Amendment: the right to free speech. But others say the flag is equivalent to hate speech. Do you think that displaying the Confederate flag should considered free speech or hate speech?

Stereotypes are oversimplified ideas about groups of people. Prejudice refers to thoughts and feelings, while discrimination refers to actions. Racism refers to the belief that one race is inherently superior or inferior to other races.

Section Quiz

• all of the above
• Biased thoughts against an individual or group
• Biased actions against an individual or group
• Belief that a race different from yours is inferior
• Another word for stereotyping
• It needs to be eradicated by laws.
• It is like a magic pill.
• It does not need the actions of individuals to continue.
• None of the above

Short Answer

• How do redlining and racial steering contribute to institutionalized racism?
• Give an example of stereotyping that you see in everyday life. Explain what would need to happen for this to be eliminated.

Further Research

How far should First Amendment rights extend? Read more about the subject at the First Amendment Center:openstaxcollege.org/l/first_amendment_center

Learn more about institutional racism at www.splcenter.org

Learn more about how prejudice develops by watching the short documentary “Eye of the Storm”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjSHOaugO-0

Bouie, Jamelle. (August 19, 2014). "Why the Fires in Ferguson Won't End Soon." Slate.com. N.p., Retrieved October 9, 2014 (www.slate.com/articles/news_a...mmunity.2.html)

Herring, C., V. M. Keith, and H.D. Horton. 2004. Skin Deep: How Race and Complexion Matter in the “Color-Blind” Era (Ed.), Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Hudson, David L. 2009. “Students Lose Confederate-Flag Purse Case in 5th Circuit.” Retrieved December 7, 2011 (www.firstamendmentcenter.org/...in-5th-circuit).

Klonoff, E., and H. Landrine. 2000. “Is Skin Color a Marker for Racial Discrimination? Explaining the Skin Color-Hypertension Relationship.” Journal of Behavioral Medicine . 23: 329–338.

Landor, Antoinette M., Leslie Gordon Simons, Ronald L. Simons, Gene H. Brody, Chalandra M. Bryant, Frederick X. Gibbons, Ellen M. Granberg, and Janet N. Melby. 2013. "Exploring the impact of skin tone on family dynamics and race-related outcomes." Journal Of Family Psychology . 27 (5): 817-826.

Lowery, Wesley and Darryl Fears. (August 31, 2014). "Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson, the friend who witnessed his shooting". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 9 , 2014. (www.washingtonpost.com/politi...093_story.html)

McIntosh, Peggy. 1988. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies . Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College Center for Research on Women.

Missouri Attorney General’s Office. (n.d.) "Racial Profiling Report." N.p. Retrieved October 9, 2014 (ago.mo.gov/VehicleStops/2013/reports/161.pdf).

Nobles, Frances, and Julie Bosman. (August 17, 2014). "Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least Six Times." The New York Times . Retrieved October 9, 2014 (www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/us...t-6-times.html)

Yerevanci. 2013. "Public Opinion of Interracial Marriage in the United States." Wikimedia Commons . Retrieved December 23, 2014 (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...ted_States.png).

July 8, 2020

Stereotypes Harm Black Lives and Livelihoods, but Research Suggests Ways to Improve Things

Management researcher Modupe Akinola explains on how stereotypes hurt Black Americans and what we can do to counter them

By Katy Milkman & Kassie Brabaw

Modupe Akinola speaks on stage at the New York Times 2015 DealBook Conference at the Whitney Museum of American Art on November 3, 2015, in New York City.

Neilson Barnard Getty Images

The Black Lives Matter protests shaking the world have thankfully brought renewed attention not just to police brutality but to the broader role of racism in our society. Research suggests some roots of racism lie in the stereotypes we hold about different groups. And those stereotypes can affect everything from the way police diagnose danger to who gets interviewed for jobs to which students get attention from professors. Negative stereotypes harm Black Americans at every turn. To reduce their pernicious effects, it’s important to first understand how stereotypes work and just how pervasive they are.

Modupe Akinola , an associate professor at Columbia Business School, studies racial bias, workforce diversity and stress. Recently, Katy Milkman , a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, got to chat with Akinola about how stereotypes are formed, how they affect consequential decisions and how we can combat negative stereotypes .

[ An edited transcript of the interview follows. ]

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Let’s start at the beginning. What is a stereotype?

A stereotype is a snap judgment we make about a person or about a thing that can influence our decision-making. Every day we get millions and millions of bits of information in our head that associate good and bad with certain people or groups or things. And anytime we then see those people, groups or things, that association comes immediately to our mind.

Why do you think we do this?

We’re processing so much information all the time; we need these mental shortcuts to allow us to navigate the world. If not, we wouldn’t be able to function, quite frankly. We have to make quick judgments to make life easier and to simplify. But any type of shortcut can have its pros and cons.

Could you talk about some of the research connecting stereotyping with racism?

One of my favorite sets of studies examines stereotyping as it relates to policing. I grew up in New York City. And we heard a lot about Amadou Diallo, who was an unarmed Black man who was shot by police, because they thought he was carrying a gun—when in actuality, he raised his hand, and he had a wallet.

Joshua Correll, [now at the University of Colorado Boulder], and his colleagues wanted to look at whether the stereotypes associating Black people with danger could play a role in how a mistake like that could be made. The news we see regularly shows crime rates being higher for certain populations, mostly minority populations,. And so this creates an automatic stereotype that a Black man would be more linked to danger than a white man, because you don’t see those same associations for white people.

Correll came up with a computerized shooter bias exercise that showed pictures of targets, Black and white men, carrying objects, either weapons or regular objects like a Coke can or a wallet. When you saw a person and the object, you had to click on whether or not to shoot. He found that civilians were more likely to shoot unarmed Black men, relative to unarmed white men and even armed white men, which was attributed to the stereotypes associating Black people with danger.

I found that study fascinating, because it showed just how powerful these associations can be. I did some follow-up research, because I wanted to see if stress affects that decision-making process. I stressed out police officers and had them engage in the shooting exercise.

The interesting thing is: I saw that under stress, officers were more accurate. They were able to discern whether to shoot an armed Black man and did that better in terms of not shooting unarmed Black men. However, they were less likely to shoot armed white men, which I think demonstrates the power of stereotypes, because there isn’t a stereotype of white and danger.

Stereotypes work in two ways: they can harm some groups, and they can protect others.

Are there any other studies about stereotyping that you think people might find illuminating?

My favorite are audit studies, where you observe real-world behavior. There have been audit studies where people go to car dealerships to see if people are treated differently and about who gets mortgages and things like that.

One audit study was testing ads in the newspaper, which were advertising entry-level positions. [The researchers] sent candidate résumés to these job ads, which were identical, and changed the names on the résumés to signal race. “Lakisha” and “Jamal” were Black-sounding names that were tested and pretested to ensure they would signal race versus a name like “Catherine,” which would be a more white-sounding name. They waited to see who called back for which candidates. The Lakishas and Jamals received fewer callbacks for an interview than the white-sounding names.

Again, this behavior is attributed to stereotypes. We make presumptions and snap judgments about who might be more qualified for a job, who might do well in a job, even in the context of identical information.

Would you be willing to describe a little bit of the work we’ve done together on the role of stereotyping in academia?

Certainly. We—you, I and Dolly Chugh [of the Stern School of Business at New York University]—wanted to see if racial or gender stereotypes impact the pathway to academia. As you’re applying or thinking about getting a Ph.D., often you’ll reach out to a professor and ask, “Are you taking graduate students?” or “Can I learn more about your research?” We get these e-mails, all the time, asking for time on our schedule. And we wanted to see if professors would differentially respond to these requests, depending on the race and gender of the requester.

We sent e-mails to around 6,500 professors across the country, at both private and public universities. We sent these e-mails that were identical, except we varied the race and gender of the name of the applicant.

These e-mails said, “Dear professor so-and-so, I’ll be on campus on XYZ day, on a Monday or Tuesday, and was wondering if I could take some time to learn about your research.” The names on these e-mails were Chinese names, Indian names, African-American-, Latino- and white-sounding names. We pretested all these names to ensure that they did signal the race and gender we thought they would.

We expected to see more stereotyping or discrimination (i.e., fewer responses) to nonwhite males when asked to meet next week versus today. Why? Today everyone’s pretty busy, and so there’s no time for the stereotypes or snap judgments to come into your mind about who might be a more qualified student, who you might want to respond to and meet with.

However, in a meeting request for next week, you might go through more scrutiny about whether the candidate is worthy of your time. We thought that’s when stereotypes would set in. Maybe for some categories, it’s “Do they have English-language proficiency?” For other categories, given the lack of minorities in academia in general, there might be the question of “Can they cut it?”

As we predicted, we did find fewer responses for all of the other categories, relative to the responses to white males, for a meeting request for next week. The question then was whether we’d see this when we matched the race and the gender of the professor with the race and the gender of the student. We still found that requests for next week, regardless of the race of the professor, are lower for candidates other than white males.

As an African-American professor, in the early days of my teaching, I’d often find myself setting up to teach a class, and somebody, usually a prospective student, would come in and say, “I’d like to sit in and learn more about this class. Where’s the professor?” They would say that to me as I was setting up, looking like the professor—on the computer, getting everything ready. That, for me, was a perfect example of how stereotypes can play a role.

The stereotype of what a professor looks like—an older white man with gray hair—is one of the factors that might make somebody come in, see a person at the podium preparing for work and wearing a suit, and ask who the professor is. I love those moments, in some ways, because one of the ways in which you change people’s stereotypes is by having counter-stereotypical exemplars.

Let’s talk more about that. How can we combat stereotypes or try to reduce the harm they cause?

I think one of the ways we can reduce the harm of stereotypes is just being aware. Sometimes you’ll be walking down the street, and you’ll make a snap judgment and not even realize it. But I think one of the critical aspects is noticing, “Oh wow, that came up for me. That’s interesting,” and thinking, “Where did that come from?” We can change our behavior when we’re more aware that our behavior is being influenced by stereotypes.

The other way is by being exposed to counter-stereotypical exemplars. As an African-American, female professor, a student’s mere exposure to me means that the next time they go into a classroom with an African-American woman setting up, or someone else who might defy the stereotype of what a professor looks like, they won’t automatically say, “Where’s the professor?”

I often tell my students they have a beautiful opportunity to be the walking, breathing and living counter-stereotypical exemplars in their work environments. I ask them to think about the stereotypes that exist about them, the stereotypes that exist about people around them, the stereotypes that exist about people on their teams— and to realize that, every day, they have the opportunity to defy those stereotypes.

Katy Milkman is a behavioral scientist and James G. Dinan Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at the Wharton School . She is co-director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative .

Kassie Brabaw is a journalist writing about health, relationships and astronomy. Find her work at Health, SELF.com, Women’s Health, VICE.com and Space.com.

How Stereotypes Impact Our Social Interactions

The impact of stereotypes can be profoundly shaped through social interactions..

Posted May 24, 2023 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

• Little is known about the brain and developmental factors shaping stereotypes' impact on social interactions.
• A new study links stereotype effects to individual variation in a crucial prefrontal brain structure.
• Early-life exposure to social interactions shapes the ability to moderate stereotype tendencies.

Stereotypes are generalizations about groups of people that allow us to quickly judge individuals without having to spend a lot of time getting to know them. This ability for rapid categorization likely carried evolutionary advantages, aiding our ancestors in efficiently navigating their environments and making swift decisions.

However, over-reliance on stereotypes can prove problematic when they do not align with the actual characteristics or behaviors of the person we are interacting with. For example, a teacher’s didactic tone may come across as patronizing when it turns out that the young person being spoken to is also an educator rather than a student.

Yet our current scientific understanding of how stereotypes truly shape our social interactions, particularly in the face of contradictory evidence, remains limited. This understanding is needed if we want to address the biases associated with stereotypes and foster a more inclusive and equitable society.

Interaction Games

A new line of research is shedding light on this matter. At the heart of this research lies the recognition that computer-mediated interaction games offer a unique toolset. Because study participants cannot see or hear one another during gameplay, researchers can experimentally alter individuals’ beliefs about their interaction partners. This enables subsequent assessment of participants’ tendencies to behave in accordance with those preconceived beliefs.

To illustrate this idea, researchers can design a game where participants interact with two distinct partners: a 5-year-old child and an adult. The twist is that both of these ‘roles’ are performed by the same individual, who remains unaware of which role they are assuming in each interaction. This setup ensures that any perceived disparities between the child and adult partners are solely attributable to the participants’ stereotype-driven beliefs about their capabilities, rather than actual differences in behavior and understanding between the two partners.

Previous research using this experimental setup has shown that participants instinctively make subtle adaptations when they believe they are interacting with the ‘child’ partner. Much like how we naturally modify our communication style with children by adjusting the tone and inflection of our voice, participants in these games tend to place more emphasis on important portions of the digital game board when engaged with the presumed child partner.

Sources of Individual Variation

Interaction games thus present a promising avenue for capturing the behavioral effects of stereotypes in a controlled and systematic manner. This enables researchers to explore whether individuals vary in their capacity or propensity to utilize preconceived notions about people during their social interactions.

A study aimed at addressing this question investigated patients with prefrontal lobe damage, a brain region situated above the eyes that is known for its involvement in social behavior. The findings of this study revealed that patients with prefrontal damage did not demonstrate slower or clearer behaviors while engaging with the presumed child partner. This discovery highlights the crucial role of the prefrontal lobe in shaping individuals’ responses to stereotype-related cues within social interactions.

In a separate study, researchers examined whether the development of this social ability is influenced by environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status and the extent of exposure to social interactions within and outside the family setting. The study specifically targeted 5-year-old children, as this age is known for well-developed social skills and allowed for a comprehensive assessment of the child’s social environment.

The study revealed a significant relationship between the amount of time children spent in daycare (days per week) from birth until the age of 4 and the extent to which they spontaneously organized their interactive behaviors according to their beliefs about their partner at age 5. These initial insights shed light on the factors that contribute to individual variations in this crucial aspect of human interaction.

A Sensitive Developmental Period

The study involving 5-year-old children offers evidence supporting the longstanding notion that our ability to interact with others develops through social interactions. However, it remains unclear whether the consequences of social experiences acquired in a daycare environment extend beyond early development.

Humans differ from other primates in both the extent and nature of social interactions encountered from early infancy. Unlike chimpanzee infants, who typically remain under their mother’s care until around 5 years old, human infants are regularly exposed to interactions with a variety of individuals from an early stage. This striking contrast has prompted anthropologists to propose that these early-life social experiences may play a crucial role in the development of human interactional abilities that endure into adulthood.

A rare opportunity presented itself to investigate a unique cohort of 17-year-old adolescents who had been meticulously tracked since infancy. These individuals had consistently reported their social statistics annually, including details such as the number of friends and or siblings they had, the extent of time spent with them, and notably, the amount of time they had spent in daycare during their earliest years.

By acquiring participants’ brain scans and employing the same interaction game utilized in the aforementioned studies, this investigation yielded two insights. First, the study identified a specific sub-region within the prefrontal lobe known as the anterior cingulate gyrus, which remarkably predicted an individual’s tendency to act in accordance with stereotypes associated with their interaction partners. This finding aligns with previous observations of impaired adaptation in patients with prefrontal damage encompassing the anterior cingulate gyrus.

Second, participants who had a long history of daycare exposure demonstrated a heightened capacity to adapt their communication style to match the actual behavior and understanding of both child and adult partners. These individuals treated both partners equally and showed reduced reliance on stereotypes as they gathered interaction-based evidence against their preconceived assumptions about their partners.

In conclusion , these observations highlight the important role of interaction-based evidence in shaping the impact of stereotypes. Our ability to align the influence of stereotypes with evidence derived from social interactions develops through engagement in social interactions, particularly in early life.

By the same token, these findings underscore the real-world significance of utilizing interaction games as research tools, highlighting the importance of studying stereotype beliefs within the context of live social interactions, where they matter most.

Stolk, D’Imperio, di Pellegrino, Toni (2015). Altered communicative decisions following ventromedial prefrontal lesions. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.03.057

Stolk, Hunnius, Bekkering, Toni (2013). Early social experience predicts referential communicative adjustments in five-year-old children. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072667

Koch, Tyborowska, Niermann, Cillessen, Roelofs, Bašnáková, Toni & Stolk (2023). Integrating stereotypes and factual evidence in interpersonal communication. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.23.540979v1

Arjen Stolk, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College, where he directs the Mutual Understanding Laboratory. His research focuses on communication, social interactions, and autism spectrum disorder.

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Essay on Stereotypes

Students are often asked to write an essay on Stereotypes in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Stereotypes

What are stereotypes.

Stereotypes are fixed beliefs about a particular group of people. They are often negative and oversimplified. Stereotypes can be based on race, gender, religion, or nationality.

How Stereotypes are Formed

Stereotypes are often formed from personal experience. For example, if someone has a negative experience with a member of a particular group, they may start to believe that all members of that group are negative. Stereotypes can also be formed from the media. If people see negative images of a particular group on TV or in movies, they may start to believe that those images are true.

The Dangers of Stereotypes

Stereotypes can be dangerous because they can lead to discrimination. When people believe that a particular group of people is negative, they may be less likely to interact with them or give them opportunities. Stereotypes can also lead to violence. If people believe that a particular group of people is dangerous, they may be more likely to attack them.

Breaking Down Stereotypes

Stereotypes can be broken down by education and contact. When people learn about different cultures and meet people from different backgrounds, they start to realize that stereotypes are not true.

250 Words Essay on Stereotypes

What is Stereotype?

A stereotype is a fixed idea or belief about a particular group or person. It is often an oversimplified, inaccurate, and prejudiced generalization. Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral. They can be about a person’s age, gender, race, religion, occupation, or any other group affiliation.

How Stereotypes are Formed?

Stereotypes are often formed through socialization, the process of learning the values, beliefs, and behaviors of a particular culture or group. Children learn stereotypes from their parents, teachers, peers, and the media. They may also learn stereotypes by observing the behavior of others.

Impact of Stereotypes

Stereotypes can have a negative impact on individuals and groups. They can lead to discrimination, prejudice, and social inequality. Stereotypes can also affect the way people think about themselves and their place in society.

Challenging Stereotypes

Stereotypes can be challenged through education, awareness, and contact with diverse groups of people. It is important to teach children about the dangers of stereotypes and to help them develop critical thinking skills. It is also important to provide opportunities for people to interact with people from different backgrounds.

Stereotypes are harmful overgeneralizations that can lead to discrimination and prejudice. It is important to challenge stereotypes by learning about the dangers of prejudice and by promoting diversity and inclusion.

500 Words Essay on Stereotypes

What is a stereotype.

A stereotype is an idea about a person or a group of people that is not true for all the people in the group. It is like a label that we sometimes put on people based on their race, gender, age, religion, or other characteristics. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they are always harmful because they are not true.

How Do Stereotypes Form?

Stereotypes can form for many reasons. One reason is that we are all born with a tendency to categorize things. This helps us to make sense of the world around us by putting things into groups. However, sometimes we can over-categorize and start to think that everyone in a group is the same. This is where stereotypes come from.

Another reason stereotypes can form is through the media. The media often portrays people in certain ways, and these portrayals can reinforce stereotypes. For example, if we see a lot of images of women in the media who are thin and beautiful, we may start to think that all women should look that way.

Stereotypes can be very harmful. They can lead to discrimination and prejudice. When we stereotype people, we are judging them based on their group membership and not on their individual qualities. This can lead to unfair treatment and discrimination.

Stereotypes can also be harmful to the people who are stereotyped. They can make people feel like they don’t belong or that they are not good enough. This can lead to low self-esteem and depression.

How to Challenge Stereotypes

The best way to challenge stereotypes is to learn more about the people who are stereotyped. When we get to know people as individuals, we start to realize that they are not all the same. We also need to be aware of our own stereotypes and challenge them when they come up.

We can also challenge stereotypes by speaking out against them when we see or hear them. We can also support organizations that are working to break down stereotypes.

Stereotypes are harmful because they are not true and they can lead to discrimination and prejudice. We can challenge stereotypes by learning more about the people who are stereotyped and by speaking out against stereotypes when we see or hear them. We can also support organizations that are working to break down stereotypes.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Statue Of Liberty
• Essay on Statistics In Everyday Life
• Essay on Startup Culture Boon Or Bane

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What Are Gender Stereotypes?

• How They Develop
• How to Combat

Gender stereotypes are preconceived, usually generalized views about how members of a certain gender do or should behave, or which traits they do or should have. They are meant to reinforce gender norms, typically in a binary way ( masculine vs. feminine ).

Gender stereotypes have far-reaching effects on all genders.

Read on to learn about how gender stereotypes develop, the effects of gender stereotypes, and how harmful gender stereotypes can be changed.

Davin G Photography / Getty Images

Meaning of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are ideas about how members of a certain gender do or should be or behave. They reflect ingrained biases based on the social norms of that society. Typically, they are considered as binary (male/female and feminine/masculine).

By nature, gender stereotypes are oversimplified and generalized. They are not accurate and often persist even when there is demonstrable evidence that contradict them. They also tend to ignore the fluidity of gender and nonbinary gender identities.

Classification of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes have two components, which are:

• Descriptive : Beliefs about how people of a certain gender do act, and their attributes
• Prescriptive : Beliefs about how people of a specific gender should act and attributes they should have

Gender stereotypes can be positive or negative. This doesn’t mean good or bad—even stereotypes that seem “flattering” can have harmful consequences.

• Positive gender stereotypes : Describe behaviors or attributes that align with accepted stereotypical ideas for that gender, and that people of that gender are encouraged to display (for example, girls should play with dolls and boys should play with trucks)
• Negative gender stereotypes : Describe behaviors or attributes that are stereotypically undesirable for that gender and that people from that gender are discouraged from displaying (such as women shouldn’t be assertive, or men shouldn’t cry)

The attribute is undesirable for all genders but more accepted in a particular gender than others. For example, arrogance and aggression are unpleasant in all genders but are tolerated more in men and boys than in women, girls, or nonbinary people .

Gender stereotypes tend to be divided into these two generalized themes:

• Communion : This stereotype orients people to others. It includes traits such as compassionate, nurturing, warm, and expressive, which are stereotypically associated with girls/women/femininity.
• Agency : This stereotype orients people to the self and is motivated by goal attainment. It includes traits such as competitiveness, ambition, and assertiveness, which are stereotypically associated with boys/men/masculinity.

Basic types of gender stereotypes include:

• Personality traits : Such as expecting women to be nurturing and men to be ambitious
• Domestic behaviors : Such as expecting women to be responsible for cooking, cleaning, and childcare, while expecting men to do home repairs, pay bills, and fix the car
• Occupations : Associates some occupations such as childcare providers and nurses with women and pilots and engineers with men
• Physical appearance : Associates separate characteristics for women and men, such as women should shave their legs or men shouldn’t wear dresses

Gender stereotypes don’t exist in a vacuum. They can intersect with stereotypes and prejudices surrounding a person’s other identities and be disproportionately harmful to different people. For example, a Black woman experiences sexism and racism , and also experiences unique prejudice from the intersectionality of sexism and racism that a White woman or Black man would not.

Words to Know

• Gender : Gender is a complex system involving roles, identities, expressions, and qualities that have been given meaning by a society. Gender is a social construct separate from sex assigned at birth.
• Gender norms : Gender norms are what a society expects from certain genders.
• Gender roles : These are behaviors, actions, social roles, and responsibilities a society views as appropriate or inappropriate for certain genders.
• Gender stereotyping : This ascribes the stereotypes of a gender group to an individual from that group.
• Self-stereotyping vs. group stereotyping : This is how a person views themselves compared to how they view the gender group they belong to (for example, a woman may hold the belief that women are better caregivers than men, but not see herself as adept in a caregiving role).

How Gender Stereotypes Develop

We all have unconscious biases (assumptions our subconscious makes about people based on groups that person belongs to and our ingrained associations with those groups). Often, we aren’t even aware we have them or how they influence our behavior.

Gender stereotyping comes from unconscious biases we have about gender groups.

We aren’t preprogrammed at birth with these biases and stereotypes. Instead, they are learned through repeated and ongoing messages we receive.

Gender roles, norms, and expectations are learned by watching others in our society, including our families, our teachers and classmates, and the media. These roles and the stereotypes attached to them are reinforced through interactions starting from birth. Consciously or not, adults and often other children will reward behavior or attributes that are in line with expectations for a child’s gender, and discourage behavior and attributes that are not.

Some ways gender stereotypes are learned and reinforced in childhood include:

• How adults dress children
• Toys and play activities offered to children
• Children observing genders in different roles (for example, a child may see that all of the teachers at their daycare are female)
• Praise and criticism children receive for behaviors
• Encouragement to gravitate toward certain subjects in school (such as math for boys and language arts for girls)
• Anything that models and rewards accepted gender norms

Children begin to internalize these stereotypes quite early. Research has shown that as early as elementary school, children reflect similar prescriptive gender stereotypes as adults, especially about physical appearance and behavior.

While all genders face expectations to align with the stereotypes of their gender groups, boys and men tend to face harsher criticism for behavior and attributes that are counterstereotypical than do girls and women. For example, a boy who plays with a doll and wears a princess dress is more likely to be met with a negative reaction than a girl who wears overalls and plays with trucks.

The Hegemonic Myth

The hegemonic myth is the false perception that men are the dominant gender (strong and independent) while women are weaker and need to be protected.

Gender stereotypes propagate this myth.

Effects of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes negatively impact all genders in a number of ways.

Nonbinary Genders

For people who are transgender / gender nonconforming (TGNC), gender stereotypes can lead to:

• Feelings of confusion and discomfort
• A low view of self-worth and self-respect
• Transphobia (negative feelings, actions, and attitudes toward transgender people or the idea of being transgender, which can be internalized)
• Negative impacts on mental health
• Struggles at school

Unconscious bias plays a part in reinforcing gender stereotypes in the classroom. For example:

• Educators may be more likely to praise girls for being well-behaved, while praising boys for their ideas and comprehension.
• Boys are more likely to be viewed as being highly intelligent, which influences choices. One study found girls as young as 6 avoiding activities that were labeled as being for children who are “really, really smart.”
• Intentional or unintentional steering of children toward certain subjects influences education and future employment.

In the Workforce

While women are in the workforce in large numbers, gender stereotypes are still at play, such as:

• Certain occupations are stereotypically gendered (such as nursing and teaching for women and construction and engineering for men).
• Occupations with more female workers are often lower paid and have fewer opportunities for promotion than ones oriented towards men.
• More women are entering male-dominated occupations, but gender segregation often persists within these spaces with the creation of female-dominated subsets (for example, pediatrics and gynecology in medicine, or human resources and public relations in management).
• Because men face harsher criticism for displaying stereotypically feminine characteristics than women do for displaying stereotypically male characteristics, they may be discouraged from entering female-dominated professions such as early childhood education.

Despite both men and women being in the workforce, women continue to be expected to (and do) perform a disproportionate amount of housework and taking care of children than do men.

Gender-Based Violence

Gender stereotypes can contribute to gender-based violence.

• Men who hold more traditional gender role beliefs are more likely to commit violent acts.
• Men who feel stressed about their ability to meet male gender norms are more likely to commit inter-partner violence .
• Trans people are more likely than their cisgender counterparts to experience discrimination and harassment, and they are twice as likely to engage in suicidal thoughts and actions than cisgender members of the Queer community.

Stereotypes and different ways of socializing genders can affect health in the following ways:

• Adolescent boys are more likely than adolescent girls to engage in violent or risky behavior.
• Mental health issues are more common in girls than boys.
• The perceived “ideal” of feminine slenderness and masculine muscularity can lead to health issues surrounding body image .
• Gender stereotypes can discourage people from seeking medical help or lead to missed diagnosis (such as eating disorders in males ).

Globally, over 575 million girls live in countries where inequitable gender norms contribute to a violation of their rights in areas such as:

• Employment opportunities
• Independence
• Safety from gender-based violence

How to Combat Gender Stereotypes

Some ways to combat gender stereotypes include:

• Examine and confront your own gender biases and how they influence your behavior, including the decisions you make for your children.
• Foster more involvement from men in childcare, both professionally and personally.
• Promote and support counterstereotypical hirings (such as science and technology job fairs aimed at women and campaigns to gain interest in becoming elementary educators for men).
• Confront and address bias in the classroom, including education for teachers on how to minimize gender stereotypes.
• Learn about each child individually, including their preferences.
• Allow children to use their chosen name and pronouns .
• Avoid using gender as a way to group children.
• Be mindful of language (for example, when addressing a group, use “children” instead of “boys and girls” and “families” instead of “moms and dads,”).
• Include books, toys, and other media in the classroom and at home that represent diversity in gender and gender roles.
• View toys as gender neutral, and avoid ones that promote stereotypes (for example, a toy that has a pink version aimed at girls).
• Ensure all children play with toys and games that develop a full set of social and cognitive skills.
• Promote gender neutrality in sports.
• Be mindful of advertising and the messaging marketing sends to children.
• Talk to children about gender, including countering binary thinking and gender stereotypes you come across.
• Take a look at the media your child engages with. Provide media that show all genders in a diversity of roles, different family structures, etc. Discuss any gender stereotyping you see.
• Tell children that it is OK to be themselves, whether that aligns with traditional gender norms or not (for example, it’s OK if a woman wants to be a stay-at-home parent, but it’s not OK to expect her to).
• Give children equal household chores regardless of gender.
• Teach all children how to productively handle their frustration and anger.
• Encourage children to step out of their comfort zone to meet new people and try activities they aren’t automatically drawn to.
• Put gender-neutral bathrooms in schools, workplaces, and businesses.
• Avoid assumptions about a person’s gender, including children.
• Take children to meet people who occupy counterstereotypical roles, such as a female firefighter.
• Speak up and challenge someone who is making sexist jokes or comments.

Movies That Challenge Gender Stereotypes

Not sure where to start? Common Sense Media has compiled a list of movies that defy gender stereotypes .

Gender stereotypes are generalized, preconceived, and usually binary ideas about behaviors and traits specific genders should or should not display. They are based on gender norms and gender roles, and stem from unconscious bias.

Gender stereotypes begin to develop very early in life through socialization. They are formed and strengthened through observations, experiences, and interactions with others.

Gender stereotypes can be harmful to all genders and should be challenged. The best way to start combating gender stereotypes is to examine and confront your own biases and how they affect your behavior.

A Word From Verywell

We all have gender biases, whether we realize it or not. That doesn’t mean we should let gender stereotypes go unchecked. If you see harmful gender stereotyping, point it out.

YWCA Metro Vancouver. Dating safe: how gender stereotypes can impact our relationships .

LGBTQ+ Primary Hub. Gender stereotyping .

Stanford University: Gendered Innovations. Stereotypes .

Koenig AM. Comparing prescriptive and descriptive gender stereotypes about children, adults, and the elderly . Front Psychol . 2018;9:1086. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01086

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Gender stereotypes .

Hentschel T, Heilman ME, Peus CV. The multiple dimensions of gender stereotypes: a current look at men’s and women’s characterizations of others and themselves . Front Psychol . 2019;10:11. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00011

Eagly AH, Nater C, Miller DI, Kaufmann M, Sczesny S. Gender stereotypes have changed: a cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. public opinion polls from 1946 to 2018 . Am Psychol . 2020;75(3):301-315. doi:10.1037/amp0000494

Planned Parenthood. What are gender roles and stereotypes?

Institute of Physics. Gender stereotypes and their effect on young people .

France Stratégie. Report – Gender stereotypes and how to fight them: new ideas from France .

Bian L, Leslie SJ, Cimpian A. Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests . Science . 2017;355(6323):389-391. doi:10.1126/science.aah6524

Save the Children. Gender roles can create lifelong cycle of inequality .

Girl Scouts. 6 everyday ways to bust gender stereotypes .

UNICEF. How to remove gender stereotypes from playtime .

Save the Children. Tips for talking with children about gender stereoptypes .

By Heather Jones Jones is a freelance writer with a strong focus on health, parenting, disability, and feminism.

Beyoncé Is Boldly Defying Country’s Stereotypes

E very Black woman has been called a Jezebel. The term, which originates from the Bible, is one of the oldest examples of misogyny in the world. Instead of being heralded for her reign as Queen, the Phoenician princess (after whom the term was named) was slut-shamed and subjected to whorephobia. To this day, her name conjures up images of promiscuity. 

For those raised in the church, young women and girls are encouraged to not have a “jezebel spirit” because a church girl can never be a whore. But for many Black women and girls, there is not an option to cast out or distance oneself from the Jezebel spirit, because according to America, we’ve been whores since 1619 . Although the hypersexualization of Black women did not come from the Bible, the ideal of a modern, chaste woman did. When the Bible found itself stateside, those ideals and beliefs began to disseminate throughout the 13 original colonies; any woman who was not white and shapely was a Jezebel . A woman meant to be feared. A woman meant to be isolated. A woman not meant to be seen. Because if this woman was seen, perceived, and respected, it would certainly be a sign of hell on Earth.

Black women have been raising hell on Earth, particularly in the South, for generations. Rissi Palmer, Holly G of Black Opry, and Kamara Thomas of Country Soul Songbook have been leading the charge through their activism to create better conditions for Black women not just in the South, but in country music. And with the release of Cowboy Carter , the second album in the Renaissance trilogy, Beyoncé has become the latest artist to challenge these norms.

Read More: Beyoncé Has Always Been Country

When Beyoncé arrived at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, a visible change had occurred. Although the general public did not know at the time that she was officially making her foray back into country, she was leading the charge with her fashion. No longer was she adorned in the glistening silver chrome looks of Renaissance , Beyoncé, in her white shirt, Stetson hat, and oversized Black leather jacket and skirt, had become an outlaw. And country music loves an outlaw . 

The problem is that country music only loves an outlaw when they are white. The outlaw movement , which started as a staunch rebuke against the red tape of Nashville, allowed white men in country music, such as Willie Nelson, to be seen as rebellious—but in a way that was not anti-Nashville. From Johnny Cash to George Jones to Merle Haggard , these hell raisers have not only been warmly embraced in country music but championed. And the way these artists would often display this defiant spirit was through their dress.

Historian and scholar Dr. Francesca Royster writes about country’s outlaw movement in Black Country Music : Listening for Revolutions : “As the Man in Black, Johnny Cash could stand up for injustices against incarcerated folks and other outsiders, his Black shirt, hat, and jeans trademarks for his heroically critical stance.” Royster continues, “Blackness’s association in mainstream white culture with danger, illegality, and outsiderhood was put to use in Cash’s career to lend an element of authenticity. These moments reveal how, for these white male outlaws, proximity to Blackness—particularly metaphorical Blackness—is the ultimate expression of outsiderhood.``

Yet it is Beyoncé’s Blackness that country took issue with in the first place. The most telling part of her Grammy outfit was not her choice to wear Pharrell Willliams’ Western-inspired menswear collection for Louis Vuttion, but the red manicure that accompanied it. The manicure, featured on the singer’s Instagram post from the night, was most noticeable when she gave her red nails a bite. Fashion and costume historian Shelby Ivey Christie equates Beyoncé’s red nails to setting off a flare, making everyone in Nashville aware about her re-entry into country music. 

“There’s a Shakespearean saying about biting your thumb at someone, and that's to make fun of them,’” says Christie. “I feel that imagery is kind of that. She's biting her thumb at you. She's teasing you.”

It’s a tease that continued when Beyonce appeared at Super Bowl LVIII with Dolly Parton-esque hair and a Texas bombshell-inspired outfit . Compared to the Grammys, where the singer donned a straightforward western look, this felt more sultry, more seductive—almost as if the singer was invoking the spirit of the Jezebel.

The Jezebel has been known by many names, one of them being Jolene. In the country music lexicon, Jolene was immortalized by Parton as a beautiful red-headed woman with emerald green eyes and ivory skin who has the ability to take Parton’s man away from her. Similar to how the Jezebel Root has been historically used in Hoodoo practices to attract men of wealth and high status, Jolene became known as the woman to avoid unless you want the destruction of your household. 

“Women in country can be seen as more bombshell glam,” says Christie. “I think [the Super Bowl] was kind of [Beyonce’s] moment to give us that and to show us that the country genre wasn’t something that was on her. It’s in her.” But compared to her first foray into country music where Beyoncé wore what culture journalist Victoria M. Massie noted was a “ voluminous Antebellum-style dress cut from African wax print ” in the visuals for “Daddy Lessons,” her second attempt into country is being done the Renaissance way. 

The visuals for Cowboy Carter tell a story between the two, seamless acts. In act i, Beyoncé slyly introduced the country outlaw aesthetic by donning herself in a black fringed leather jacket for the album’s teaser trailer . At this year’s Gold Party , Beyoncé and Jay Z’s annual Oscars party, she fronted a more masculine aesthetic in a black Givenchy structured blazer and flared trousers. Both outfits were accompanied by a black cowboy hat—a playful homage to her Texas roots, which then took center stage in her album cover for Cowboy Carter . In a red, white, and blue latex outfit, a nod to her American and Texas roots, the singer’s posture feels reminiscent of painter Kehinde Wiley’s majestic compositions. (Wiley’s approach to painting, similarly to Beyoncé’s approach to country, is to bridge the gap between the past and present through the creative arts.) From her usage of Americana aesthetics to her platinum blonde locks, Beyoncé is giving the public an insight into her “ un-American life .”

The one thing that stands out most in Beyoncé's country era is her bleach blonde hair. Taking note from Parton, to be a blonde in Southern culture, in particular, has always been regarded as tacky and not tasteful. But as Parton famously said: “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap,” and with her new locks, Beyoncé is turning that stereotype on its head, too.

In the South, the societal norms that police women’s bodies, especially Black women’s bodies, stem from Christianity . And in country music, women are expected to present themselves in a particular way that adheres to those rules, despite not receiving adequate resources from their record labels. Even more-so, the sexual violence inflicted onto  Black women’s bodies because they are curvier or more voluptuous are thought to be justified. As a result of these societal, cultural, and political forces, Black women are socialized to keep their distance from anything that could perceive them as Jezebel-like. 

“Instead of men controlling themselves, respecting women's bodies, and having boundaries, it is the woman's responsibility to do that, by covering herself, by contorting herself into whatever boundary or rules are created to make them more palatable around men and to make them more palatable to the women peers around them,” says Christie. “That extends to color.”

There is a reason why Beyoncé decided to use the color red for “ Can’t B Broken ,” her Super Bowl commercial with Verizon. She wanted to be seen. She wanted to be heard. She wanted to tell Nashville that she is doing country her way, all the while honoring the legion of Black women in country music who came before her. 

In the official visualizer for “ Texas Hold ‘Em ,” Beyoncé in a mixture of black and silver walks onto the screen in a beehive, side ponytail and bang, a clear homage to Linda Martell , the first Black female country star. The style, which was immortalized in the May 1970 issue of Ebony, shows Martell on a press tour at WSM Radio alongside fellow country music legend Jeannie C. Riley on the heels of Martell’s  first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 1969. With this performance, Martell made history as the first Black female artist to perform on the highly esteemed music show.

But despite Martell’s legendary career, she experienced intense mistreatment and harassment by the country music industry. While at Plantation Records, the record label that she was signed to, Martell expressed discomfort with the label’s name because of its racist history. In addition to racial discomfort, she fell victim to a predatory contract. When she left Plantation Records, Shelby Singleton, the label founder, blacklisted Martell from any opportunities in the country music industry.

Read More: How Beyoncé Fits Into the Storied Legacy of Black Country

When Beyonce sweeps up her hair into an illustrious beehive and side swept bangs, it is a homage to Martell. Without saying a word, she is honoring the pioneering efforts of Martell and the Black women country artists of that time, while also sounding an alarm to the country music genre:that she expects to be treated with respect. For the entire world has their eyes on Beyoncé as she enters the country music industry for the second time. But it is not Beyoncé who should be in fear—it is Nashville. 

In a celebratory dinner with her husband Jay Z to commemorate Valentine’s Day, Beyonce appeared in mourning dress . Her Black Southern Gothic look drew inspiration from the post-Civil war period where widows wore a mourning veil for an alloted period of time. The question is: whose death is she calling into existence? The death of the country genre? The death of the barriers that restrict Black women from achieving success in country? Or has she become death itself? An omen of what’s to come.  

If Jezebel has to be one to kill the country genre, so be it. It is time for the church girl and the Jezebel to be seen as one in the same. It is time for the structures that govern and police Black women’s bodies to die. And it’s time we bury the old ways country music has been governed by into the ground.

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The American Society of Magical Negroes’ ending compromises in places it shouldn’t

Some things magic can’t fix

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The American Society of Magical Negroes is an uncomfortable film for many reasons — most of them deliberate . The title spells this intention out plain as day. The film’s protagonist, a biracial Black sculptor named Aren ( Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves co-star Justice Smith), tiptoes through an art gallery — and his own life — as though he were perpetually walking across eggshells, consciously and unconsciously agonizing under the weight and expectations of the white gaze. Incapable of asserting the value of his work as an artist or his worth as a person — or simply unwilling to — he radiates an aura of discomfort that immediately draws the attention of Roger (David Alan Grier), a kindly older Black man who just so happens to be, you guessed it, a “ Magical Negro .”

Kobi Libii’s writing and directing debut attempts to strike a balance between presenting a satirical secret society of Black men and women with magical powers, exploring Aren’s awakening awareness of his own needs and desires, and confronting the fragility of white expectations in the face of any attempts to highlight racism’s presence in everyday society.

Unfortunately, the film’s reach exceeds its grasp, resolving in a final act that feels like an contrivance born out of desire for a happy ending more than a satisfying or meaningful conclusion. The movie satirizes the prioritization of white people’s comfort above any other considerations, but then sidesteps those potentially high stakes for the sake of a pandering, facile resolution.

Early on in The American Society of Magical Negroes , Aren is recruited into a secret network of Black men and women who — in keeping with the trope Spike Lee identified in 2001 — comfort and support white people while voluntarily putting their own lives and desires on hold. Libii reveals a reasoning that explains the trope: The Society wants to mollify white people so they’ll be less likely to lash out against people of color.

Aren’s natural obsequiousness makes him the perfect candidate for this sort of work. His first client, Jason ( The Other Two ’s Drew Tarver), a disgruntled employee of a social media company called MeetBox, seems like a relatively easy fit for Aren’s particular skill set. But when the film introduces a love interest, MeetBox’s star employee Lizzie ( After Yang ’s An-Li Bogan), the film’s satirical focus begins to splinter into a romantic-comedy-adjacent fantasy that foreshadows the fatal misstep of the film’s ending.

Throughout the film, Aren is torn between his feelings for Lizzie and his responsibilities to the Society, which strictly forbids him from pursuing a relationship with her once Jason takes an interest in her. During Aren’s initiation into the Society, he’s told that its magic is sustained by its members’ collective agreement to abide by the rule to appease white people, even at the cost of their own happiness.

He’s told that any failure to uphold this directive will compromise the abilities of everyone in the Society — so members who prioritize their own desires in any way will be immediately expelled, with their powers removed and their memories wiped. Faced with this ultimatum, Aren is forced to decide whether to continue repressing his own feelings and serve the interests of the Society, or eschew his responsibilities and risk forgetting he ever knew Lizzie.

[ Ed. note: Significant spoilers for The American Society of Magical Negroes follow from this point.]

It’s a compelling conflict, one that forces Aren to consider his commitment in solidarity of a righteous cause (making the world safer for Black people) and his discomfort around the way coddling white fragility impacts his own life and happiness as a Black person. The American Society of Magical Negroes asks audiences to question why the “Magical Negro” trope exists in the first place, and the forms in which that trope continues to exist today. It asks whether the “Magical Negro” is an intrinsically American concept, and if so, why? These are interesting, provocative questions, ripe for the analytical clarity afforded by satire. That makes it all the more disappointing that Libii’s film balks in the face of its own challenge.

Aren ultimately decides to tell Lizzie his true feelings, in spite of the consequences. But when he’s unable to find her, he’s pushed to his breaking point by Jason, who expects Aren to serve as a token of diversity during a livestreamed global presentation of MeetBox’s new rebrand.

Insulted, Aren confronts Jason during the stream and chastises him for his casual racism. His growing frustration with Jason’s inability to see how his words and actions impact other people climaxes with Aren giving an impassioned speech on the livestream. Finally, he asserts his own worth as a person, and speaks up for the validity of his thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

It’s a moving, cathartic moment, a necessary full-circle culmination of Aren’s character arc that eschews the Society’s servility in favor of brutal, vulnerable honesty. Knowing the Society will punish him for his insubordination, Aren uses his magical powers to whisk Lizzie away from MeetBox and confess his feelings for her, before he’s whisked away himself to face his punishment.

As Aren’s mentor, Roger is tasked with erasing Aren’s memories as part of his expulsion from the Society. But he can’t perform the spell, because Aren’s act of defiance has inspired other members of the Society to act in turn, fracturing the group’s solidarity and weakening their magic. Aren, having parted with the Society with his memories intact (and possibly his own magical powers? It’s unclear), reunites with Lizzie, and they walk off into the horizon together.

It’s meant as a feel-good ending — but even if it feels good in the moment, it quickly sours upon reflection. Allowing Aren to retain his memories on account of a technicality undermines the significance of his decision to be honest about his feelings and overcome his discomfort at the cost of losing his memories of Lizzie. He knows he might never see her again, but he still stands up for himself, and grows as a person because of it.

The complete lack of consequences for that choice — and the fact that Roger doesn’t seem to learn anything or make any similarly bold choice in turn — feels like a cop-out. The ending feels as false as a Magic Negro appearing out of nowhere to solve the hero’s problems: The twist is just shy of a deus ex machina, allowing Aren to have his cake and eat it too. In the end, The American Society of Magical Negroes prioritizes Aren’s relationship with Lizzie above his growth as a person, with Libii choosing to turn the film into a crowd-pleasing, fantastical romantic comedy rather than an incisive or satisfying satire.

There’s also the matter of the Society itself: By the end of the movie, its existence and philosophy remains fundamentally unchanged, with Aren’s defiance affecting almost nothing. The film presents this ludicrous, horrifying setup where magical Black people indenture themselves to white people to mediate racism, but it does very little to examine what’s wrong with that idea on a societal basis. It only considers how this setup doesn’t work for Aren specifically. The American Society of Magical Negroes leaves its biggest, most important questions unasked, and its potentially most relevant messages unexpressed. It’s evidence of a lack of courage to navigate difficult truths, a lack of clarity of purpose in its ultimate intent. No amount of magic can fix that.

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