Groups Think 0
Afshan Jafar, professor of sociology at Connecticut College, discusses how stereotypes reinforce stigma and bigotry. He’s discussing contemporary stereotypes of Muslims, but he could as easily be discussing any other group target for bigots to take the blame.
Here’s a bit; follow the link for the rest.
As a professor of sociology at Connecticut College, this is a lesson I teach my students early, by asking them to finish the sentence: “Muslim women are … ?” which they do readily and predictably (by using words such as “oppressed,” “silenced,” “passive,” “subjugated” and sometimes by using what they consider to be positive words such as “beautiful” or “strong”). I then ask them to imagine instead that the question is “Christian women are … ?” The second question makes no sense, they say. How, they ask, could we speak for all Christian women or make a universal remark about them?