Stereotypes are not only harmful to the people they directly describe but they are also damaging to all who propagate them. Above all, stereotypes are created with bad intentions. The most prominent stereotypes (connecting Jews with greediness, women with poor driving, and gay men with a high pitched voice) were all created with a conscious aim: to denigrate, shame and suppress. This makes stereotyping a rallying cry for those who wish to wage war against a specific demographic. Consider how many racist anti-immigration groups come together under the misconception that immigrants are lazy and only burden society. Anti-gay groups employ a similar approach by labeling all gay people as morally bankrupt and debauched, and then use these stereotypes to support their otherwise faulty positions.

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: stereotypes are simply not accurate. I’m sure that most readers will agree without much second thought, but it is still important to remind ourselves that no one fits perfectly into the mold that society would like to assign them based on their identity. Not all lesbians are butch, not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all black people enjoy fried chicken; but people who organize their worlds in terms of these stereotypes act as if these descriptions are accurate.

First impressions are important. When you meet someone for the first time, stereotypes can prefigure your perception of her even before she has a chance to make an accurate impression. Social relations that could have been fruitful will be closed off. If you think that a Mexican person is lazy, then everything they do will only work to confirm that idea. Regardless of how hard that person works, your image of them-warped by a stereotype-will prevent you from ever seeing that person in a positive light. This disrupts the formation of what could be a meaningful relationship. Presuming that your Asian friend is good at math simply because she is Asian not only insults her but can also lead to awkward situations and the foreclosure of what might have been an otherwise fruitful friendship.

There are further consequences when the group perceived as inferior actually begins to accept stereotypes as a reality. This process pushes some members of a group to conform to the negative stereotype, while those who refuse to accept the stereotype become excluded from the group. If gay men are taught to believe certain stereotypes about themselves and accept the very notion of a homogenous group, then they are likely to look down on anyone who does not fit within this imagined group. Stereotypes create exclusionary cliques that actively preclude people from forming connections with each other. On the surface stereotypes would seem to build a community, but in fact they achieve the opposite. A community is about forming bonds with similar and dissimilar people. Stereotypes, however, prevent crucial dissimilar relationships that stifle diversity. It is this diversity, the ability to share and learn from a radically different perspective than your own, that makes a community worthwhile. A community, even at the University of Michigan, requires individuals to accept those who are outside of their imagined stereotypes.

Stereotypes can also have real effects on an individual’s actions. When people are forming their own identities, they often look to constructed group norms as a guide. When I was coming to terms with my sexuality, I was unsure how to act as an openly gay person. At first, I thought it would be a good idea to act out the stereotype, with effeminate hand motions, a higher voice, a catty disposition, and so on. But it was not authentic; it did not capture who I was. The pressure to conform to a certain identity has cookie-cutter effects. People feel pressured to act like each other, adopting stereotypes and erasing individuality. Identity categories do not exist independently but rather intersect with other such categories. We are multifaceted beings and define ourselves along a variety of dimensions: age, sex, race, religion, and so on. When people accept an identity based on stereotypes, they preclude the possibility of thinking of themselves in different ways. Someone who identifies primarily as gay, for instance, seriously hinders his ability to reflect on and realize the racial, gender, national, and class components of his identity.

We’ve all heard the occasional racist joke, the offhand gay slur. Comedians use them all the time, and they work. People laugh. Sometimes making light of prejudice and not taking your own identity too seriously is a good thing. But is this benefit greater than the costs of accepting stereotypes as reality? To those who are the targets, it might not be too funny. It is hurtful when we make fun of someone for being lazy because she is Mexican or when we derisively label an effeminate man as gay. These and countless other instances of prejudicial humor and behavior are not simply innocent words that dissolve as soon as they are spoken. They have power, and they serve to perpetuate a system of stereotypes that harms everyone, marginalized and privileged alike.

You must be logged in to leave a comment.