Stereotyping in society

Assessment

In your Assessment at the end of this Unit, you will be asked to:

  • Describe ways stereotyping is encouraged in society

This will help you satisfy assessment criterion 3.3 for this Unit. You’ll find lots of useful information on this page to help you complete this part of your Assessment.

When stereotypes and labels are encouraged, they continue to exist – this is particularly true if a particular stereotype has existed for a long time, because people are more likely to believe it to be based on facts and it then becomes very difficult to change these views.

There are many ways in which stereotypes can be encouraged – click through the slide panel to see some examples.

  • Through families and other groups

    Many stereotypes continue as they are shared with family members or friends. For example, if female family members do all of the cooking and cleaning in a particular family, while the male family members wash the cars and cut the grass, then younger family members will believe that this must always be the case and the stereotype would continue. Similarly, if a person sees and hears their friends talking about particular stereotypes that they have, the person will believe these views and adopt them as their own.

  • Through the media

    The way that views are expressed in the media (for example, in adverts, TV programmes, films, news articles) can encourage stereotypes. For example:

    • The way in which toys are advertised specifically to appeal to either boys or girls
    • The majority of ‘superheroes’ being played by male actors in films, while female roles are often see as less strong characters
    • Media reports suggesting that minority groups are related to trouble or incidents – for example, travellers, people with drug problems, people with strong religious beliefs, etc

    The more we see these views being expressed in the media, the more the stereotypes will continue to exist.

  • Traditions and rules

    Certain groups have particular rules or traditions that cause stereotypes to continue – for example, a traditional golf course might continue to have parts of the club house that women are not allowed to use, or there may be a club that you can only join after completing a particular physical challenge (which would exclude those people who are not physically able to complete the challenge).

  • Clothes and appearance

    The way we look and dress can lead to others making judgements about us – for example, our appearance can be linked to our gender, our religion, our interests and so on. The way we look can lead to assumptions being made about many different things, such as how much money we have, where we work, what we like to do in our spare time, our culture/religion/ethnic origins, etc (these assumptions may or may not be accurate).

  • Communication

    The way we communicate can lead people to form stereotypes about us (this can relate to how we speak or to the body language that we use). For example:

    • If someone speaks with a ‘posh’ accent, people may form judgements about that person in relation to their lifestyle, background, place of work, etc.
    • If someone speaks English with a foreign accent, then people may discriminate against that person as they will be labelled as a ‘foreigner’.
    • The way we use body language can also lead to judgements being made about us – if someone avoids eye contact or looks down when they are speaking, they are labelled as being ‘shy’; men are more likely to greet each other with a handshake or a slap on the back and women will kiss and hug each other.