Group Prejudice Ch. 2
Racism, Sexism, and Antigay Prejudice
What is most salient (noticeable) when you first meet someone?
Activity: Flash pictures briefly & students write what they notice
Gender is first, skin color, age are also most likely
These characteristics are more informative re: underlying personality traits than clothes or adornments
If we know these things we assume from the category that we know about the person
Salience
Salience has to do with context- you would notice one old person in a group of youth- age predominates
Salience may depend on membership in an unusual social group (Maori)
Salience may depend on what stands out about them (tattooing)
“Cultural Default Values”
“Cultural Default Values” in US society: White, male, heterosexual, young, nondisabled
Departure from those attracts attention & puts one in a category
Once you’re in a category, you could be subject to prejudice
Once stigmatized as undesirable, almost everything about them is interpreted in terms of their “Master
status”
(Find study where researcher complains of ‘hearing voices’ to get himself institutionalized. He wants to
know what has to happen in order to be diagnosed as cured and get out. But once he is stigmatized,
everything he does is interpreted in terms of the context of mentally ill.)
(In The Help Blacks are stigmatized as dirty, carrying disease, so can’t be allowed to use the Whites’
toilets in the home, even though it’s all right for them to cook White’s food and clean their homes. In
“42” Jackie Robinson is stigmatized as stupid and dirty, so team players don’t want him on the team,
don’t want to shower with him, eat at the table with him.)
Forms of prejudice are based on departure from the “Cultural Default”:
Racism- Prejudice based on race
Sexism- Prejudice based on gender
Antigay prejudice- Prejudice based on sexual orientation
Racism- What is race:
When Black and White students were interviewed re: racism, a critical difference in attitudes was seen:
Whites saw it as an historical thing; Blacks focused on current mistreatment (Being treated in a store as
if they were thieves when they shop; being unfairly stereotyped and excluded today.) Racism for Blacks
is personal, not historical.
As recently as 1983 in Louisiana, a woman filed a suit to change her racial status from Black to White
(Susie Guillory Phipps) because the only Black person in her genealogy was a Black woman who was with
an 18th century White plantation owner 5 generations back. LA law said a person is Black if s/he has 1/32
Black blood (the One Drop Rule) She lost the case in 1983…
Race is an elusive conceptRace as a Biological Construct (Find video of people who class themselves as Black with no Black
background)
Race as a Social Construction- Race can be based on color, heritage- it’s still a Social Construction.
Race can hardly be defined on the basis of DNA- there is so little DNA difference between people.
Biologists can’t agree on what traits characterize a race. This is purely arbitrary, so there’s no agreement
on what is critical. Traits often overlap between races. Skin color depends on as many as 4 – 5 genes,
and varies on a continuum. Racial characteristics even change within a single person over the lifetime
(Michael Jackson-not all the changes he showed were due to plastic surgery)
Because we can’t agree on characteristic traits, we can’t agree on how many races there are.
3- Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid to as many as 37 races
Race is meaningless as a biological concept
Race as a Social Construct
We act as if race is definable, so it has great power socially.
So many states held that if you had a single great grandparent who was Black you were Black, regardless
of how you looked. So in the past, many light skinned Black people would move North, cut off ties with
family, and Pass as White. There were more opportunities for jobs and education and the freedom from
bigotry. Many Black GIs decided not to come back to the US after World War II because they had a taste
of slightly more color-blind societies’ treatment in England and France. But African American families
are tight, so many chose to come back to the US and try to readapt to the constraints of Jim Crow
society. (Film- The Human Stain- shows how much guilt came with Passing.)
Hypodescent- The One Drop Rule
Children of mixed parentage are assigned the status of the subordinate parental category. What says
which category is dominant? It may not be the most numerical majority of people (think of South Africa
under apartheid, or the Indian people under British domination until the middle of the 20th century)
The dominant category is the one that sets the rules to “preserve their own caste purity.” This ideology
lead to the eugenics movement in the early 20th century. In the 20th century, Australia had a plan to
extinguish the Aborigines by kidnapping the lighter, mixed race children, raising them in camps to act as
European as possible so they could get jobs as servants for White people. Then they expected them to
intermarry with Whites and eventually there would be no more Aboriginal people. (Rabbit Proof Fence
film) Carried to the extreme, you have the Nazi justification for the Holocaust, extinguishing more
varieties of people they deemed inadequate.
Brazil- has a much more complex system of classification of race
Pigment of skin is not the single determiner of race. Other features count- eye color, hair texture
Light to dark continuum:
Loura- light skin color, blonde hair, blue/green eyes, narrow nose, lips
Branca- “white” but may be seen as non-white in the US- light skin, eyes any color, hair any texture, but
tight and curly
Morena- dark eyes, dark/wavy/curly hair, tan skin, full nose and lips
Mulata- tight curly hair, darker skin and hair color
Preta- darker brown skin, broad nose, thick lips
Other categories:
Sararu- light skin, tight curly blonde or red hair, broad nose, thick lips
Cabo verde- straight black hair, dark skin, dark eyes, narrow nose/ lips
These categories are so distinctive because the heritage of their people is so broad- Spanish, Indians,
Portuguese, African
Quote by Jefferson Fish: “Race is like an avocado- which may be classified as a vegetable or fruit
depending on who’s doing the classifying.”
In the US, avocados are thought of as a vegetable and eaten in salads
In Brazil, avocados are thought of as a fruit, eaten for dessert with sugar
So the person/vegetable doesn’t change, but his classification may, depending on the cultural context
Why is Skin Color Socially Marked?
It goes back to initial days of slavery.
There were indentured servants who went free after 7 years- mostly White immigrants from Europe
Slaves were from Africa and they were never free unless owners freed them.
So skin color marked a person as slave or free (Which was also why the Fugitive Slave Law was so
dangerous to Free Black people in the North.)
Linked to this idea were psychological and behavioral differences that were defined (as a justification for
the slave’s different treatment. The dominant group assigns traits to the enslaved group to justify
further enslavement.)
The dominant group also exaggerates differences between groups to justify oppression of the other
group. (African Americans are described as inferior beings who need the European Americans to control
and care for them.)) Thomas Jefferson held anti-slavery sentiments but wrote of the inferiority of Blacks
and had a long term relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings. This shows the internal conflict even of
members of the dominant group.
What About Ethnicity?
Ethnicity- a group of people recognized as a distinct social group on the basis of cultural characteristicsnationality, language, customs, and religion.
People with similar physical characteristics may have different ethnicities (Catholics and Protestants in
Northern Ireland)
And people with different physical characteristics may hold the same ethnicity (All Jamaicans may come
from different backgrounds yet still think of themselves as all Jamaicans)
Some groups today are ethnicities, but used to be thought of as races- Immigrants such as Irish, Italians
So there is a push to dispense with the term ‘race’ and just use ‘ethnicity’
And within that, specify ethnic origins: Cuban-American, Mexican American, Korean-American.
What Is Racism?
Racism- any attitude, action, or institutional arrangement that subordinates another group based on
group-linked physical characteristics.
Racism includes prejudice and discrimination and is defined by consequences to the subordinate group.
Even an action that favors one group is racist (legacies to a school or fraternal organization)
Racism is based on these assumptions:
1) Humans differ on genetic inheritance
2) These biological differences are directly linked to intellectual and psychological characteristics
3) Because of these biologically based differences, some groups are innately superior to others
This thinking is based on biological essentialism – the idea that racial differences are the outcomes of
differences in biology- innate, unchangeable
It’s racist because if one group is thought to be superior there must also be one group that is inferior.
‘Scientific racism’ in the 19th Century was “proven” by studies that measured the size of skulls
(craniometry.) So based on this ‘evidence’ White skulls were largest, then Jews, and last Hindus
(Also based on this, women’s skulls were smaller than men’s, which justified not letting women vote.)
Rushton (1995) study correlated brain size and IQ and on the basis of that he believed Whites were
superior to Blacks. Of course seeing the gender difference he concluded that women weren’t dumber
than men. These racism-justifying studies come forth every generation or so (See The Bell Curve by
Herrnstein and Murray, 1994)
Rutledge M. Dennis suggests that through soundbites of works like Jensen's famous study on the
achievement gap, and Herrnstein and Murray's book The Bell Curve, the media "paints a picture of
Blacks and other people of color as collective biological illiterates—as not only intellectually unfit but
evil and criminal as well," thus providing, he says "the logic and justification for those who would further
disenfranchise and exclude racial and ethnic minorities."[32]
Noam Chomsky in 1972, in an earlier debate with Herrnstein, argued that even if there is a correlation
between race and intelligence, this would have no "social consequences except in a racist society in
which each individual is assigned to a racial category and dealt with not as an individual in his own right,
but as a representative of this category … In a non-racist society, the category of race would be of no
greater significance [than height].[23]
In 1995, Chomsky criticized the book's accusations about race, saying that there is little evidence that IQ
is genetic but that it is influenced by the environment. He goes on to criticize the notion that Blacks and
people with lower IQs having more children is even a problem and criticized solutions the authors
propose to stop it:
There's an easy solution to the problem: simply bring here millions of peasants driven from the
countryside in China ...and radically reduce Browne's income...while Black mothers are placed in
Manhattan high rises and granted every advantage. Then the Asian influx will raise the IQ level; and as
serious inquiry demonstrates, the fertility rate of Blacks is very likely to drop while that of the children of
the journalistic elite, Harvard psychology professors, and associates of the American Enterprise Institute
will rapidly rise. The problem is solved;[24]
Types of Racism
Overt vs. Covert
Intentional vs. Unintentional
Individually vs. Collectively
1) Individual Racism- attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of an individual that result in unequal
treatment of people on the basis of racial/ethnic group membership (Believing your ethnic
group is superior is racist.)
2) Institutional Racism- a pattern of racism embodied in policies/practices of a social institutioneducational, legal, economic, family, state, religion that has a negative impact on other groups.
Carmichael & Hamilton (1967, p.4): “When White terrorists bomb a church and kill five Black
children, that is an act of individual racism…But when in the same city- Birmingham, Alabama- five
hundred Black babies die each year because of lack of proper food, shelter and medical facilities,
and thousands more are destroyed and maimed physically, emotionally, and intellectually because
of conditions of poverty and discrimination in the Black community, that is a function of institutional
racism.”
Racism can be intentional or unintentional, overt or covert, but the purpose is to exploit, dominate and
control another group of people.
Institutional racism today- Security at airports profiling/assessing more Middle Eastern looking people
as potential threats; Mortgage discrimination; traffic cop stops (stop and frisk policies); job interviews/
offers based on ethnic sounding names on resumes.
Cultural racism- includes both individual and institutional racism. It results in devaluation of another
racial or ethnic group’s different values and modes of behavior. It’s reflected in beliefs that the
subordinate group’s problems (lower educational achievement, higher unemployment, lower SES) are
due to their inferior cultural characteristics. The belief that “our way is the best way” is also seen in the
tendency to ignore the achievements and contributions of another ethnic group. (So many of Black
accomplishments in this culture were unknown until Black History Month was instituted and these
things began to be advertised and taught.) When Romney went to Israel and compared Palestinians
unfavorably to Israelis based on their cultural differences this was perceived as racist.
Racism is not just an individual problem but a societal problem coming from institutional policies that
maintain inequality.
Sexism- even though females are not a numerical minority, they have been treated in a subordinate
fashion for hundreds of years. Women have been excluded from political and economic power or
access, employment, education.
M/F pay gap remains- Females earn $.73/ 1.00 that Males earn
African American females earn $.63/ 1.00
Latina females earn $.54/ 1.00
Women of color experience both racism and gender discrimination.
Discrepancies exist even when controlling for education and years of employment. Men more often are
promoted even with poorer evaluations. This occurs because the power structure is male-dominated.
Females are in pink collar jobs- clerical, nursing, education, service jobs, which are lower paid, lower
prestige. Even in female-dominated careers, men are paid more and promoted faster. This gender
inequality adds up. Females develop lower retirement accounts due to earnings gap over their working
lifetime.
Sexism- any attitude, action or institutional arrangement that subordinates a person on basis of gender.
Sexism is the longest ranging prejudice- it goes back further than any other prejudice.
Similarities Between Racism and Sexism
Sex- characteristics of individuals rooted in biology- DNA, anatomical structural differences between
men & women- a biological construct
Gender- culturally agreed upon characteristics considered appropriate for men and women- a social
construct. Many behaviors and social cues (flirting behaviors), social roles, clothes, nonverbal behaviors,
job preferences.
Activity: How did you display your gender today? Dress, behavior, job role, jewelry, personal space,
scent, etiquette
Early in a relationship- have you behaved in a stereotypical fashion even if it wasn’t your first choice of
behavior?
Do you think your behavior dating today is different from dating behavior 30 years ago? 50 years ago?
Gender is dynamic and changing in a complex society.
Gender construction is not cross cultural.
US American gender is divided into M/F
NW American Indian cultures also recognize other groups- Berdache- biological male who dresses and
acts as the other gender- they receive special status, position in culture. Other N American Indians
recognize females who assume the 3rd gender role- “Amazons” or “Two-Spirits.” They dress as males,
may females, and perform rituals. Navajo recognize many gender categories- Male, Female, Males who
act like females, females who act like males, and intersexed people (with ambiguous genitalia)
But European Americans in US are disturbed by ambiguous genitalia, so they tend to surgically alter a
child at birth (video)
Cultural beliefs about roles: Westerners believe males are more aggressive. But the Vanatinai in New
Guinea don’t’ believe males are more aggressive and in that culture there are no measurable differences
between males and females in aggression.
Culture very strictly defines what roles M/F fulfill according to their myths- Adam and Eve- Even is
created as a help mate to Adam, Adam is leader, putting Even in a subordinate position and that is
supported by basic religious/ moral traditions. Once the belief is in place, science can be used to justify
or prove the reason for discrimination.
Biological Essentialism- Scientific Racism
Biological Essentialism- the belief that differences between M/F are rooted in biology results in making
female subordinate positions inevitable.
Sandra Bem shows how scientific explanations portray females as deficient. Feminists in the late 19th
century (Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott) challenged legal inequities at the time
and many colleges began to open up to females.
Theorists began suggesting that higher education is dangerous to female reproductive systems. The idea
was that all that energy funneled into brain development would leave less energy for reproductive
systems.
Brain research “found” that females had smaller frontal lobes and larger parietal lobes- that was
interpreted as the cause of female deficiencies. When newer findings determined that parietal lobes
were the seat of intelligence, then females’ lobes were determined to be smaller (whatever you have to
do to justify your prejudicial beliefs and behaviors.)
Today research focuses on hemispheric specialization. The female brain is ‘less specialized’, more
homogeneous in function- this is said to be the cause of female spatial reasoning deficits. It could also
be ‘explained’ as male brains being less integrated! Males could be said to have language deficits
because of more issues with stuttering, lack of language rehabilitation following strokes, etc.
Newer studies have found no sex differences in brain specialization. Science is part of culture and as
such can affirm prejudice. What you expect to find, you can structure studies to find….the cultural filter
is powerful.
Beliefs about men and women:
Rosenkrantz et al, in the 1970s defined traits generally assigned to M/F:
Two basic dimensions:
Agentic- Male stereotypes of aggressiveness, independence, competition, confidence
Communal- female stereotypes of emotionality, expressiveness, talkativeness, awareness of other’s
feelings
Because agentic traits are more favored in society, the male stereotype is viewed more favorably (check
new studies showing females are perceived more favorably today after 10 years of war)
Today- female stereotypes are seen more favorably than male stereotypes. There are more positive
attitudes toward females today. Why has this changed? Communal traits are viewed positively
generically but because the roles ascribed to women don’t hold as much value culturally, these traits
aren’t seen as critical to the power structure.
Cultural perceptions are often based on division of labor. Today women are seen in more professional
roles, but female’s roles are still associated with the home and with children. Male roles are more
associated within the public sphere. So we see more males acting agentic in the workplace and we
notice females more with children. These cognitive filters allow society to perpetrate biases because the
filter reinforces stereotypic assumptions. Social roles shape our stereotyped perceptions. As people
perceive females more positively, does that mean there is less prejudice against females?
Is there Still Prejudice against females?
One form is in devaluing women’s work. Even women are prejudiced against other females. Prejudice
against women especially erupts when females attain leadership roles. M/F do not differ in leadership
effectiveness, but people tend to react more negatively to females in leadership roles (possibly because
it’s more unexpected.)
Female group leaders receive more negative nonverbal behaviors from members of the group than male
leaders do- even when they make the same suggestions.
Female leaders are often devalued in leadership roles, particularly in traditional male roles- military,
politics, but also if their style is masculine- directive, not team-oriented. They may be respected but
disliked, so it may impair promotion. Prejudice against females is more covert today but it still functions.
Some people experience both racial and gender prejudice which can be a double whammy in
employment.
Antigay Prejudice
Prejudice is so strong that it has resulted in legislation designed to abolish equal rights for gays.
1992- CO Amendment 2 was passed by popular vote to explicitly deny civil rights to lesbians and gay
men- it was declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.
Sexual intimacy is declared illegal in many states- called sodomy laws. Recent (check the state- Daily
Show- AR?) state legislator tried to make oral and anal sex illegal for everyone, even legally married,
consenting adults. Being denied the legal right to marry results in a huge financial loss (i.e. the current
case with the Supreme Court today.) Being gay has been justification for dishonorable discharge in the
military, due to beliefs that they represent a security risk. President Clinton tried to let gays have equal
rights in the military but it resulted in such a controversy, he instituted Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Only under
Obama has that discrimination been disallowed.
Hate Crimes- most extreme form of antigay prejudice- actions intended to harm/intimidate people
because of their group membership.
Rates of hate crimes over the last 20 years (find current chart) Rates of hate crimes over the last 20
years had been going up, but the Matthew Shepard murder shined a bright light on antigay hate.
Heterosexism is a system that stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form of behavior or identity. Institutions
privilege heterosexuality and marginalize homosexuality (this bias is also justified by a few verses in the
Bible.)
How does heterosexism manifest institutionally?
1) Laws banning sexual relations between same sex people (1986- US Supreme Court upheld
Georgia’s antisodomy laws)
2) Marriages until recently are exclusively heterosexual- denies gays/ lesbians spousal benefits
Openly homosexual people haven’t been able to serve in the military until recently
3) Many religious organizations condemn homosexuality and wont’ let gays join the clergy
4) Media portrayals of gays are typically negative until recently- positive gay characters began with
Ellen, then Will and Grace.
Sexual expression opened up in the late 19th century (even so it was a risk to be found out- Oscar
Wilde) Some things were understood, but not talked about- Boston Marriages.
Homosexual communities developed in some cities- they included porn and prostitution (deep
Throat) Crusaders tried to shut that down. Doctors tried to demonize and reduce masturbation,
birth control (although later many doctors promoted making abortion legal in order to save
women’s lives) Society demonized “sexual inverts” – anyone who deviated from heterosexual
scripts- feminine males and masculine females, cross dressers, gays, even feminists.
Sexual behavior was sanctioned.
Sodomy- anal intercourse between men, oral sex, masturbation- any non-procreative sexual
behavior. Once again, these sanctions were argued on the basis of certain verses in the Bible. They
were described as a sin, later as a crime and the behavior targeted as illegal. Later same sex
behavior was seen as a threat to marital reproduction. So it was reconfigured as a health issue- a
disease or mental illness (DSM listed it as a mental illness from 1952 – 1968) They pathologized
homosexual behavior- which privileged heterosexuality.
Sexual orientation as a concept developed in the late 1800s. Homosexual acts were transformed
into a species of people- with a mental illness.
Other cultures don’t think about it that way- Sambian tribe in New Guinea takes 10 year old boys to
live with older men, performing oral sex “to get strong and virile” but in their 20s, these boys take a
wife and live as a heterosexual. They don’t develop a homosexual identity; it’s simply a cultural life
path. The homosexual acts are considered a path to heterosexuality.
Other cultures consider roles one plays, not one’s sexual partner. There may be homosexual
behavior, but only the person who is penetrated is considered homosexual.
So sexuality is a social construction- the meaning of acts is defined by society. The problem with
pathologizing homosexuality was the barbaric treatments tried on these people to “fix” them. One
of the more lethal forms of homosexual oppression (Katz, 1976) Even today they are still trying to
change sexual orientation in some churches and church clinics. (Recent law in CA was passed- to
prevent using psychological techniques to “fix” homosexual youth)
Treatments have included ECT, hormone treatments, aversion treatments, castration,
clitorectomies, lobotomies. The worst was in the 1950s when McCarthy was crusading against
communists. Kinsey’s survey came out showing 37% M and 13% F had engaged in homosexual
behavior. This shocked people at how common it was. Hooker’s (1957) study showed that there
were no differences in homosexual psychological tests from heterosexual males.
On 12/15/73 the APA voted to remove homosexuality from its list of disorders – “Disease was
cured”!
Today especially youth have shown much less discrimination and prejudice against gays. Older
generation still hold negative opinions of gays (Find chart of attitudes toward homosexuality by age)
Beliefs that homosexual relations are “Always Wrong” have declined from 70% in 1973 to 56% in
1996. Even in 1994, 46% thought homosexuals shouldn’t be hired as teachers
Characteristics of heterosexuals who hold strong anti-gay attitudes:
Male rather than female
Hold traditional views of gender roles
Hold conservative attitudes toward sex in general
Belong to conservative religions
Racially prejudiced and authoritarian
Have few gay friends or acquaintances
Why do heterosexual males hold more negative news than females? The genders don’t differ
regarding lesbians, but heterosexual males did feel more negative toward homosexual men. Men
hold more permissive attitudes regarding sex than females, but more negative attitudes toward
homosexual behavior. Males and females don’t differ regarding gay civil rights. There are gender
differences regarding gays in the military.
Why do males hold more positive views of lesbians?
Deviations from stereotyped sex roles make people suspect
Gay men are stereotyped as effeminate/ lesbians are stereotyped as masculine. They are judged
more harshly than those who display more heterosexual characteristics. Gender roles are more
narrowly defined for men. So men who deviate from the norm are judged more negatively than
females who violate gender norms.
Psychodynamic theories suggest that rejection of homosexuality is a cover for sexual attractions to
same sex people. (reaction formation) Adams, Wright & Lohr (1996) found homophobic men
showed greater physical arousal to male homosexual activity than non-homophobic men. (So
homophobic men are repressing homosexual attraction.)
Also lesbianism holds erotic value for heterosexual males- the sexualization of lesbianism.
How much of a minority are gay people?
Gay rights movement has been about securing equal rights and freedom from discrimination. This
includes repeal of sodomy laws, equal rights for same sex partners, and legalization of same sex
marriage. Gays have been victimized legally all through US history- the consequences included death
penalty in the 17th century. In the 18th century the consequences included whippings, burning with
irons, imprisonment. Thousands of gays were killed during the Holocaust- 2nd only in number to the
Jews. Today gays are often targeted with physical and verbal assault, and vandalism of their
property. As many as 44% of gays have suffered discrimination in employment. 32% have suffered
discrimination in housing.
Believers in legal discrimination against gays are rooted in a belief that being gay is a choice, an
alternative lifestyle as opposed to having a biological cause. (The idea is that if people choose this
lifestyle they aren’t entitled to any legal protection) There is more evidence that the cause is
biological with some early experiences possibly associated. Even if it were a choice, other choices
are protected- religious freedom, protesting, abortion.
Traditionally gays have tried to conceal their sexual orientation but there’s a high emotional cost.
The lies, hiding from people they love, not having the ability to love and live with a person they love.
It all associates with depression and anxiety. Because more people have come out in recent years, it
has made gays more visible and people now know that they know gay people. It humanizes the issue
(Senator Rob Portman coming out for gay marriage after he knows his son is gay.)
Gender and race are overt and obvious, easier to recognize and target. Sexual orientation is covert
and easier to hide, easier to discriminate. Categorization of people sets up an Us vs. Them ideation.