Suffocating Stereotypes & Baseless Biases

ste·reo·type

transitive verb \ˈster-ē-ə-ˌtīp, ˈstir-\
: to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same

bi·ased

adjective \ˈbī-əst\
: having or showing a bias : having or showing an unfair tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others

 

The image above is pretty striking. In an article published once in Glamour magazine, (from which this image is taken) it said how women judge each other based on appearance. How say an overweight person is more likely to be construed as being lazy and sloppy or someone slim is thought of being bitchy or superficial. They conducted a poll and asked people to respond to pictures of women of varying sizes and the responses were amazing – harsh stereotyping existed for both fat and thin people.

This is just one of the examples about how a person's appearance leads people to make make snap judgements. If not a judgement then create their own perception of the person in the given situation, if you will. We have all done it. Men and women. Consciously and sub-consciously. And I'm not just talking about weight but also other factors like height, the clothes you wear etc. In the spirit of honesty I must confess on occasion when I see someone wearing a lot of make-up my first thought has been 'high maintenance' or think that they are trying too hard. Is it true, probably not. Is it right, nope. Is it any of my business, definitely not! It is none of ours.

We find stereotypes all the time in fairytales (the good plump fairy vs. a thin mean witch), in movies (with the short guy being the sidekick) and of course the all pervading race stereotypes and much more like people who are extremely muscle laden are often thought of as thick in the head too, attractive women as considered dumb etc. I was once told by someone that they thought that I was pretty and smarter than I look – said with a look of surprise. .

picture - daily mail uk

While general perceptions take place all the time and we are all entitled to our thoughts, it becomes immensely damaging and unfair in certain situations like employment and the work-place for example. Studies show that when interviewing candidates, employers are often likely to pick potential employees based on their perception of attractiveness; for example with two possible candidates having the same experience and educational qualifications the one who is slimmer is more likely to be picked. In fact they might be paid more as well! It is also seen that taller people are picked more over those who are shorter and are often promoted to more authoritative positions and again paid more. Shorter people are also dismissed more easily or treated in a more child-like manner.

While lines may be blurry and maybe not always on a conscious level, it cannot be denied that we as a society are basing people's capabilities, intelligence, social skills and so much more based on their appearance.

What is even worse is that this bias is extended to kids as well. Studies have shown that teachers do sometimes favour kids who are more 'attractive', think they have more potential and even give them better grades. I once had a teacher who had her favourite in class; a charming very popular kid who got away with a lot more than anyone else could. Which would have still been okay, but the teacher used to encourage this kid to make fun of another girl in our class and the way she talked in front of everyone and laughed as he did so! A more nondescript and quiet kid who wouldn't have complained of course. I remember being horrified as a 13 year old thinking you are our teacher for heaven's sake! But I digress...

Slob, conceited, weak, mean, powerful ….. the labels abound. The stereotypes and biases abound. We make a lot of judgements based on a person's appearance. Do you think there is a way to combat this? Or is it another frustrating thing we have to suck up and should chalk up to human behaviour? Have you faced it or is it something you admit to doing far more often than you should?