Stereotypes

Stereotypes are established patterns of thought, also known as clichés. Pattern thinking provokes a stereotypical attitude towards different groups of people. For example, there is a stereotype that left-handed people are creative and that their minds work in a special way. This generalization may sound positive and approving, but it isn’t based on scientific evidence. However, stereotypes can also be negative. For example, there is a common gender stereotype that “girls should be gentle and fragile, and boys should not cry.” However, everyone has the right to self-expression, as well as the right to express their emotions and feelings.

Stereotypes are inherently a very dangerous phenomenon because they create a background for stigmatization – the “branding” of people who have certain traits which can be perceived as negative. Stigmatization, in turn, creates discrimination – prejudice against people, favoring one social group and humiliating and oppressing others. Discrimination, in turn, leads to aggression and, consequently, violence, which poses a danger to all of us.