Stereotypes
1) Personal experience
o What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘stereotype’?
o Have you ever made up a stereotype? Why? Towards who?
o Have you ever been subject to stereotyping? Have you ever been offended by any
stereotypes based on your culture or country?
o Do you think you are a stereotype? Do you stereotype people?
o Does stereotyping help you in some way?
o Why do you think people stereotype?
o How is your country stereotyped?
o Do you think that it is a good idea to stereotype people?
o Do you think the stereotypes about your country are true or false?
2) Types of stereotypes, stereotypes in the real world
o How are various nationalities stereotyped?
o How can being stereotyped hurt your job opportunities?
o What is the difference between stereotypes and prejudices?
o Are stereotypes offensive? Funny? Realistic?
o What are stereotypes and how do they affect people's lives?
o Can you think of any events in history that were influenced by stereotypes and
biases?
o How do people learn to make stereotypes? How might they unlearn them?
o How can the media (newspapers, television, movies) help to reduce stereotyping?
o Do you think certain groups are more subject to stereotyping than others?
o What do you think an individual can do to help reduce bias and stereotyping?
o What do people think of when they think of your country?
o What comes to mind when you think about America?
o Do you know of any stereotypes about British people?
o What are some stereotypes you know of about women? What are some stereotypes
about men? Where do we learn these gender stereotypes?
o What stereotypes exist about people who are blonde?
o What stereotypes exist about religion?
o Do gender stereotypes annoy you?
o What are the stereotypes of men and women?
o Is there a group of people who are guiltier than most of creating stereotypes?
o Are caricatures in political cartoons dangerous forms of stereotype?
o What stereotypes do Hollywood, Bollywood and Hong Kong create?
o Do movies show different nationalities as stereotypes?
o From what age can people become a stereotype?
o Do you think information technology has reduced or increased racial stereotyping?
o What stereotype were you at school?
o Have you ever met someone who was the perfect image of a stereotype you had in
your mind?
3) Truth, advantages, disadvantages
o How can stereotypes be damaging?
o Do you think some stereotypes are true?
o What are the advantages of making a stereotype?
o What are the disadvantages of making stereotypes?
o What do you think an individual can do to help reduce bias and stereotyping?
o Are stereotypes usually accurate?
o Are the stereotypes you have of people fair?
o What is the stereotype of someone from your country? Is it fair?
o Are stereotypes good or bad?
o Where do stereotypes come from?
o Which people today do you think are being unfairly stereotyped?
o Do you think there are any stereotypes that are good?
o Should stereotyping be made illegal?
Vocabulary:
- controversial
- offensive
- accurate portrayal
- culture
- perception
- prejudice
- false assumptions
- oversimplified conception of
- bias
- generalisation
- preconceived
- to assume
- to categorise