The Negative In Positive Stereotypes

NPR:

In an interview earlier this year, Sen. Harry Reid argued that it’s time for a woman to run for president.

“Women have qualities that we’ve been lacking in America for a long time,” he told New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney. For instance, he said, “Women are much more patient.”

Reid’s remarks reflect a positive stereotype — a belief that attributes a favorable characteristic to a group. In this case, it’s that women have patience. Women are also stereotypically thought to be nurturing, Asian-Americans to be good at math, African-Americans to be good athletes, and so on.

These stereotypes are positive in one sense, but they also seem to validate thinking about others in terms of their sex, race or ethnicity, and not as individuals. Harry Reid’s comments about the presidency, for example, were offered in reference to Hillary Clinton, but they failed to tell us anything about her as a unique individual. And they implicitly endorsed the view that sex is a meaningful category when it comes to possessing the characteristics of a good leader.

So, might positive stereotypes do more harm than good?

Read the whole story: NPR