Question

Define the term stereotype.

Answer 1

Stereotype is an idea or image of a person or group that leads to the placing of a large number of people under one category. It is the generalisation of a group or class of people. When we stereotype a person, we believe him/her to have a particular set of characteristics that all members belonging to that group have. So, we tend to ignore his/her individual traits by categorising them into different groups. Stereotypes are mostly negative in nature. Some stereotypes are mentioned below:

1) Gender stereotype: It is when one generalises a particular attribute to a particular gender. Examples of gender stereotyping are girls not being considered as athletic as boys and that boys do not cry.

2) Racial stereotype: It is when one identifies a whole racial group with a particular trait. For example, saying that all Asians are good at math or all Americans are generally tolerant, is a type of racial stereotyping .

3) Religious stereotypes: It is when one identifies a person belonging to a particular religion to have certain characteristic traits. For instance, saying that all Christians are generous or all Hindus are superstitious is a type of religious stereotyping.