2) Attributions of Characteristics within Stereotyping

While I could easily come up with more stereotypes to discuss in this forum, these are the five upon which I will concentrate:

1.      Poor people are just lazy

2.      Homosexual men are effeminate

3.      Women are more caring than men

4.      Blondes are stupid

5.      Men are better at using technology

The differing stereotypes here all tend to rely on the attribution of dispositional characteristics, at least in the sense that they are both stable and consistent in how they are portrayed in our media culture if nowhere else.  I can say that the first two on this list are usually considered to be under the control of the individual, but I also know a sense among people persists that the final three on the list “just are the way they are” and not something to be changed or overcome. (“Men are just born with a natural ability to use technology.” or “She’s blonde; she can’t help it.”) Misinformation still dangerously lingers, even if the burden of the stereotype does not rely on the stereotyped to eradicate it, but list items 3-5 do allow for more nondispositional characterization than items 1 and 2.

Considering the division above between the first two items and the final three, I would say that there is in fact a differing in treatment of groups depending upon whether those characteristics fall into the dispositional or nondispositional category.  In fact, we have seen both hate crimes as well as legislation within our nation targeting punishment of the first two groups for their perceived features, but I have yet to see the anti-blonde amendment or the rule at our school that says only men should take Computer Science.  Socially, we more often have a “that’s the way it is” attitude toward the nondispositional category and don’t seek to actively change or punish that side.  Either way, stereotyping remains a lose-lose situation.

Melanie Dawn Rosen = (MeDaRo)