Stereotype

The wandering Jew, engraving of Gustave Doré, caricature based on stereotypes.

An 18th century Dutch engraving of the peoples of the world, which represents the inhabitants of Asia, America and Africa as savages. Below are showing an English, a Dutchman, a German and a Frenchman.

It is known by the name of stereotype (from the Greek: στερεός [stereós], “solid”, and τύπος [typos], "impression, mold") to the perception, with part of the details and simplified, that one has about a group of people (or things) that share certain characteristics, qualities and abilities, that seeks to "justify or rationalize a certain behavior in relation to to a certain social category". Regularly, stereotypes are a generalized preconception that obeys a set of beliefs about qualities and attributes that are assigned to a group of people, where cultural, social and economic elements are mixed that result in the rigid and false or inaccurate representation of reality.

The term is often used in a negative sense, considering that stereotypes are illogical beliefs but some people give them the importance that is transmitted by generation making them limit creativity and that can only be changed through personal reasoning on that subject. Stereotypes include a wide variety of claims about various racial groups and predictions of behavior based on social status or wealth. They are thought schemes or preconstructed linguistic schemes shared by individuals from the same social or cultural community.

There is a tripartition that allows us to understand how stereotypes work in societies. On the one hand, there is a cognitive component that allows us to recognize a stereotype because it fits with previous knowledge that we already have about it, it is a category that allows us to easily identify and recognize certain groups. On the other hand, there is also an affective component, where the feelings we experience in relation to that stereotype come into play, which can be prejudice or hostility, or be positive. Finally, in every stereotype there is a behavioral component that involves putting into practice actions associated with those feelings experienced in the face of certain stereotypes. For example, when someone is denied a job because they belong to a certain group. These three components do not necessarily all appear together; one can associate negative characteristics to some groups without feeling hostility or reluctance towards them and without excluding them from social spheres such as work.

Representing someone with certain characteristics refers to a stereotype, expressing contempt or hostility for their group of belonging is related to prejudice, and finally carrying out actions based on those prejudices supposes discrimination.

Common use

Villain stereotype.

They are made up of preconceived opinions, prejudices, attitudes, experiences and beliefs imposed by the social and cultural environment; that are applied in a general way to all people belonging to a category, nationality, ethnic group, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, ideology, geographical origin, etc.

In literature and art, stereotypes are clichés, predictable characters or situations. For example, a stereotypical devil is evil, with horns, a tail, and a trident.

Originally a stereotype was an impression taken from a lead mold that was used in printing instead of the original type. This usage led to a metaphor for a set of preset ideas that could be carried from one place to another without change (just as was possible with portable type).

In ethics and human values, stereotypes are used that help and contribute to the way of representing the problems that arise in society daily and continuously throughout the world.

In the media

The media play a fundamental role in the construction and reproduction of stereotypes. From the images and ideas that circulate in the media, the public accesses certain stereotypes that they reproduce and build in their environment. Formats such as advertising and programs aimed at children use stereotypes, since they allow an effective message, since they are quickly identified and recognized. As Ruth Amossy and Anne Herschberg Pierrot point out, “The vision we have of a group is the result of repeated contact with representations entirely constructed or well filtered by media discourse. The stereotype would be mainly the result of social learning." Even what we perceive in everyday life (and not only through the media) also uses previous knowledge and ideas, and therefore, it is not totally objective, but rather Thought is shaped by the culture to which we belong and from which we perceive reality.

It is very common to see stereotypes directly related to social classes, where, in television, cinema and advertising, it is constant to see imaginary perfect worlds, where situations of typical American comedies occur, with protagonists who have Eurocentrist profiles, in addition to capture extreme wealth and modernity in its environment. Things that repeat themselves over and over again.

An example of this would be the Amazon series Brutas Nada, which introduces Cristina, (Tessa Ia) a successful and wealthy young publicist who faces big problems such as losing sponsorships, rivalries and the deceit of her engaged one day before their wedding. Recorded in the most exclusive areas of Mexico City, "De brutas nada" is the clear example of series that are made in Mexico and the most Mexican of the series is the fictitious advertising company "limón con chile". They also represent an imaginary about the social life and work life of a professional in Mexico.

Definition and evolution of its meaning

The word stereotype, formed by the Greek words stereós (solid) and typos (character, type or model), is a neologism created in the 18th century in the scope of typography to designate a set of solid or fixed types. Specifically, it appeared in France in 1796 —steréotype—, translated as a stereotype that is used as an adjective and noun to describe the solid mold or something printed with the fixed type procedure. The expansion of the word went hand in hand with the rapid diffusion of the technique and almost identical equivalents arose in the vast majority of modern languages. In Spain the term "stereotype" is used for the objective and "stereotype" for the process. The last term evolves to "stereotypy", which was recognized by the Royal Spanish Academy in 1843.

The original meaning and its derivatives were extended to an increasingly figurative concept. Therefore, a new meaning appeared that represents a bridge between its typographical origin and its current meaning within the social sciences; This meaning refers to anything that is repeated systematically, without variation. In summary, the terms referring to stereotypes refer in principle to impressions that come out of a mold and little by little they are being applied to everything that seems to come out of a mold, ready-made, invariable.

Other definitions refer to a stereotype as an image or idea commonly accepted by a group or society with an immutable character and a conventional image or a preconceived idea that does not have a rational basis. It is a popular conception of a group of people and is a way of categorizing groups of people according to their appearances, behaviors, and customs.

With stereotypes, the law of cause and effect is not usually fulfilled, rather the reverse is true. Furthermore, they usually seem to follow a logic, but when analyzed they are found to be irrational and implausible. The image created is usually a way to make a value judgment about a group, usually based on race, profession or gender.

It is common to attribute the creation of these stereotypes to society, but the media are really great vehicles for disseminating them. In a certain way, the mass media reinforce the general opinions making use of the exposition and reiteration of coexisting ideas. Stereotypes have a certain connection with social conditions, this adds strength to them. By being able to locate a grain of truth in them, their dissemination becomes effective. Despite the fact that not everyone accepts stereotypes as true, they are usually approved by large groups. The stereotype is true and false at the same time and is based on the prejudices of one group towards another.

Advertising discourse is an inexhaustible source of stereotypes. Advertising messages use iconic stereotypes to install us in a dreamlike universe that we will access, of course, after purchasing the advertised product.

Stereotypes in Children's Literature

The earliest known account tells the story of two brothers, Anup and Bata, in a papyrus from about 3,250 years ago. According to a study by Kurt Ranke, the story has undergone more than 700 different versions. Greek mythology is the great carrier of characters and legends that, evolved through the centuries and under the influence of different cultures and traditions, are the origin of many of the stories we know today. In Spain, the origin of the tale is influenced by Arab culture, which introduced a large number of stories, which were compiled by Don Juan Manuel, Regent of Castile, in his work El conde Lucanor o libro de los ejemplos. In the work we find a characteristic characteristic of these stories, the moral that served to give a moral answer to the doubts that were being raised.

Children's stories, regardless of the era, implicitly carry stereotypes in their characters that reflect the cultural aspects of the era from which they come. The characters are representations of good or evil as an example to imitate or repudiate, due to their moralizing character. The values of the characters change over time and adapt to the sociocultural structures of the moment. The hero and the villain of the tales of Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm have qualities or defects that are different from each other, and furthermore, they are also far from the qualities that are considered today. The possible interpretation of some common characters is as follows:

• The witch: represents the regressive part of every human being, the evil that must be destroyed and fought.
• The stepmother: depicts destruction within the family and accommodates heroicity in the helpless child or child.
• The princess: the defenseless maiden who is to be protected and/or rescued.
• The wolf: the fear of night and darkness.

For centuries, in classical antiquity, there was a belief that there were women capable of transforming themselves at will and transforming others into animals, they were called witches and the stereotyped image of tales defines them as bitter and malevolent old women.

Most of the wonder tales come from ancient tales of peasants subjected to feudal rule. The social values of this time are the value and respect for the established order, where the only improvement for the lower class is embodied in the young peasant capable of passing tests and getting the hand of the princess.

In the 18th century, with the Industrial Revolution, new heroes and villains emerged more in keeping with the man from the city who had abandoned the countryside. Pirates, gunmen, bandits appear... as new heroes who confront the established order and the villain becomes an element of the system such as bourgeois society, wealthy customs or the army.

The 20th century, due to its warlike nature, provides new elements, for example, the American influence proposes new villains, personalized in Japanese and German, against whom the hero has to fight to defend the freedom of the world.

The story has evolved from those villains of yesteryear to villains with a more everyday character such as the school teacher or the bullying inside the classroom or outside. The story has become integrated into real life.

Stereotypes in the media

In Mexico, a country characterized by its production of soap operas since 1950, where through repetitive stories that represented the reality of a select group of privileged Mexicans with absurd, empty stories that marked social differences from the beginning of their transmissions. The rich also cry (1979), is a clear example of this, since it had as its protagonist a Verónica Castro with beautiful green eyes, white, naive, vulnerable and weak who was rescued from poverty by a Rogelio Guerra is a man, stocky, powerful and privileged, a formula that has been remastered time and time again on Mexican television, as well as being a stereotypical benchmark of Mexican society.

Trancart (1996), in various studies in the French media (press, radio and TV), discovered that one in two women is quoted without stating their profession, while in the case of men this only occurs one in ten times. As Martín Serrano (1995) says, "one of the most repeated schemes on television is that of women associated with the body, and men with the head." This is demonstrated in television programs such as The Wheel of Luck, in which women are presented as a simple object of beauty. «Unfortunately, and in a large percentage of cases, when women appear in images, they often do so by representing certain stereotypes that have stood the test of time and are still present in most societies. Thus, we can find the woman in the role of seductress, alluding to concepts related to beauty, eroticism, and provocation, or as a tempting serpent. In short, she in the subject turned into an object ».

In the United States, The National Federation of Press (Gallagher, 2001) shows how women have seen their percentage of occupation of management or decision-making positions increase by only 1% each year since 1977. For their part, Professor David Weaver concludes that American female journalists have made significant gains in editorial control in recent times. It is also observed how, despite the fact that in the classrooms of journalism colleges and universities in the United States, women outnumbered the male presence, -a fact that is also observed in Spain- they continued to have a minority presence in the rooms press and especially, in management positions.

In France, in Gallagher (2001) it is stated that in French journalism the female condition is a restriction to access responsibilities in journalism. He points out that the distance from the great responsibilities in this professional field and the important columns translates into less probability of meeting famous people, facilitating instead greater access to more anonymous characters and less brilliant reporting, which in short produces a journalism typified as female. That is to say, what women write is not always related to feminine sensibility, but on many occasions they do not have access to write something different, due to the power structures they come across in this hierarchical profession.

In the United Kingdom, Gallagher (2001) points out how men who study journalism get a job in the media more quickly than women. This has led some companies to adopt policies and action programs to balance this situation, but he points out that this adoption is more common in radio and television than in the press and that it occurs more often in public media than in the private media sector..

In South Africa, Green (2001) recalls how in a study of employment equality carried out a decade after the proclamation of the end of apartheid, the number of black people who held positions of power in the academic and administrative world only amounted to a 10% of the total. What was surprising about the study was that among the remaining 90% white people who held these high-ranking positions, there was a near-absence of white women in power structures and on campus. Seven years after the end of apartheid and under the new law of equality for blacks and women, she finds only three women who hold the position of editors in newspapers in the country, two of them white and the other black. She also points out that under a majority black government running the country, most businesses and professions are controlled by white hands.

In Australia, in 1996 a study was carried out that revealed that 23% of women journalists in the media had left their jobs for reasons that had to do with the discrimination that the female gender had been suffering in their job promotion. Likewise, in 1991 The International Federation of Journalism (IFJ) admitted that 27% of journalists working in the media were women, in 2001 they already exceeded 38%, however this study also recognizes significant differences depending on the country analysed. For example, while in Finland and Thailand they were close to 50%, in Sri Lanka and Togo women journalists were less than 6% (Peters, 2001).

Regarding the presence of women in the different media, such as the radio, announcers are above women, especially during the morning. According to Cramer, women are preferring to work on the news than on the radio news. With regard to the online media, despite the revolution that has taken place in this medium, the large communication multinationals seem to have lost the opportunity to revolutionize the organization and culture of newsrooms, above all, due to what refers to gender equality in management positions that are responsible for managing these (Thiel Stern, 2006).

Most of the interviewees do not think that the shortage of women in management positions in the online medium is due to sexism or discrimination. Even so, the underrepresentation of women is problematic. Senior positions are so few and costly to access that there is "not enough pie to go around".

Stereotypes in advertising

Stereotypes in advertising are simplified ideas of reality that have been accepted by society or by a certain group of people. They are not simply trying to sell us the product they refer to, they are selling us social success or competitiveness. Many times at first they can be forced or even funny, but in the end they end up being accepted. The advertisement must be represented with a topical vocabulary that reflects the values and arguments on which the stereotype of the brand is based. This will create some defined stereotypes that do not appear so simply in reality.

In short, advertising is one of the main causes of stereotypes, since through many commercial strategies they manage to establish behavior models that people will try to imitate, it makes us believe that if we consume the advertised product we will be able to obtain the same characteristics.

In the advertising world we find different types of stereotypes, although the main one is gender. This is used for all kinds of products and even for those that have nothing to do with it. It is a stimulus that the receiver accepts positively and quickly. The role of women in advertising has been highly stereotyped, always representing them as a wife, mother, housewife or even as an object woman. The image of a dependent and weak woman is shown but, above all, beautiful. In this way, the woman is represented not only as the object of the man's desire but, as García Oyarzun (2014) affirms, as part of the consumption of the advertised object. Despite the fact that the objectification of women is still abundant in advertising, examples of the superwoman woman who does not need the help of men are also beginning to appear today. In men, the established stereotype exerts greater social pressure towards an image that reflects strength, aggressiveness, dominance, courage, but without neglecting their physical appearance either. In turn, they are portrayed as shallow and very superficial, essentially incompetent.

However, in the case of both men and women, one of the most exploited values is beauty. Advertising creatives always resort to attractive models to attract the attention of the public and with this they want the public to believe that, when consuming their product or services, their physique will be as shown in the advertisement and that in this way their life will be better. In many cases, this generated need to reach the physical ideal shown in advertising gives rise to eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia) and other psychological problems, especially in adolescents, who are an easy target for this type of pressure.

Within children's advertising, the stereotype that develops the most is that of gender roles, marking supposed differences between boys and girls. Girls are usually represented as obedient, delicate and orderly, who help the mother in the home, assuming responsibilities from a very early age. In the same way, all the toys focused on girls are related to the world of cosmetics and the home. On the contrary, children tend to show themselves as restless and rebellious, although at the same time they are enterprising. And in this way, children's toys usually have to do with the world of construction, the automobile, or even more aggressive fields such as war. Children are also often used as a hook to sell products to adults, using the sympathy or tenderness they produce.

Sometimes advertising also encourages certain racial stereotypes. In this way, most of the time they can come to underestimate one race over another, as happened in the ad for a fast food chain in Germany, which outraged Mexicans. In addition, the ideal physique shown in advertising also has certain racial components. This happens because, as a general rule, the models used not only share their thinness and beauty, but they tend to be people with Caucasian features, white skin and, often, blonde hair and light eyes. This helps foster the idea that there is one race more perfect or superior than the rest.

In summary, the use of stereotypes is negative when they begin to become prejudices and conditions. Currently this problem is beginning to change as consumers are more aware of this phenomenon, but even so, the vast majority continue to be manipulated by advertisers.

Stereotypes in the cinema

An example of stereotype in cinema is the actress Salma Hayek (always give her roles that represent a character of Latin American origin).

According to a study carried out by the Observatory of Culture and Communication of Fundación Alternativas, the cinema produced by the major studios in the United States represents approximately between 70% and 80% of the world market. This same study affirms that Hollywood dominates the collective imagination. This cultural imperialism derives in a cinematographic market –especially the western one– with references and rough stereotypes.

With respect to Spain, the best market share in the history of national cinema was that obtained in 2014, with 25.5%, more than 6 percentage points above that obtained in 2013 (19.2%). Within this percentage, auteur cinema has hardly any place. This limitation contributes to promoting the consumption of Hollywood-style films, which are more profitable in economic terms. In this way, when it comes to talking about stereotypes in the cinema, we mainly talk about those that appear reflected in North American cinema and that, by extension, reach a larger number of the population.

As Parini points out, "the stereotype –in its different forms and meanings– represents an instrument and a solution to the objective requirement, present in the media, to reduce a complexity that is not easy to disseminate". But resorting to the stereotype reinforces clichés, generally far from the reality that it appears to represent, since, for Pérez Serrano “cinema contributes to the formation, maintenance or elimination of stereotypes, depending on whether or not they support socially accepted beliefs. In addition, it generates models that influence the creation of social identity."

Cultural stereotypes

"For much of the century, film theory in Europe and North America seems to have lived under the illusion of being totally non-racial." This phrase from the theorist Robert Stam (1999) defines not only the theory, but also a reality.

As far as North American cinema is concerned, the main roles played by Asians are that of a gangster and a martial arts expert – or both at the same time, generally. For their part, Latinos are usually poor with a special talent for dancing, seducing or tricking traffickers and people close to them. African-Americans are represented by funny characters, with character and/or a good voice. The Russians often appear as agents, ex-secret agents or mobsters willing to endanger world security. The Jewish people are represented as a greedy and greedy group, while the Arabs, as terrorists.

Light-skinned westerners are often the stars of movies and play different, also stereotypical roles, mainly around gender. It is worth mentioning here the American hero, a staunch defender of what is correct, freedom and justice and some of the most frequent clichés around Europeans: the Germans are related to beer and a large size, the Spanish with the party and the flamenco –and sometimes with Mexican costumes– and the Italians with seduction, the mafia, pasta and the Vespa. In short, the reflection that commercial cinema makes is not that of the individual, but that of the clichés.

If we look at Spanish cinema, Gordillo concluded in a work on intercultural dialogue in contemporary Spanish cinema that «Spanish cinema currently shows deficient intercultural relations between the native and the immigrant who arrives fleeing poverty, due –above all– to the ethnocentric gaze and negative social and cultural prejudices».

For Rodrigo Alsina, professor of Communication Theories at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, «within Spanish cinema we find a profound lack of information about the ethnic groups, cultures and peoples that are beginning to live in our cities. In reality, one of the causes of social rejection and racism is ignorance of the other culture, which gives rise to the stereotype, one of the marks that are presented when reflecting the features of intercultural dialogue in Spanish cinema. Although stereotypes help to order and make sense of facts that go beyond our knowledge, they are a problem when they are used to support supposedly serious ideas and opinions. Prejudices and stereotypes are always used to analyze reality and we must be aware of this."

Gender stereotypes

Main article: Gender stereotypes

For Williams and Best, «one of the stereotypes that throughout history has been maintained with more strength and reliability is that of sex. In multiple works, some already classic and others closer, there are descriptions of groups of men and women that include similar characteristics in contexts as diverse as North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. These descriptions portray women as sensitive, warm, dependent, and people-oriented, while men are seen as dominant, independent, work-oriented, and aggressive."

The modern film industry represents women through a stereotype in which they conform to the canon of beauty, who are generally dressed in seductive clothing and whose role is found between being the object of desire or a faithful companion, tender and understanding character of the leading male figure. Older or unattractive women only opt for secondary roles or are relegated to roles such as witches or cleaning ladies when, on the contrary, men of the same condition do opt for leading roles and always appear surrounded by attractive young women. who, in the words of Gila and Guil Sevilla, either fall in love with them or sell themselves to their power. The same authors acknowledge, however, that "there is Spanish and European cinema that escapes these topics", but that "its influence is much less as it is seen significantly less by viewers".

However, society has been experiencing an empowerment of women in recent decades, which portends some changes in the film industry, if we follow the criteria of González Gabaldón, who states that "a specific form of stereotype change is It occurs when the roles of a group change and when this happens, the stereotypes adapt quickly and start to reflect the new performances." the woman as an object instead of a subject.

Several authors consider that a holistic approach to raising awareness at all levels about the society-film industry binomial would not only make it possible to continue advancing towards the restoration of the integrity of the figure of women with full rights, but would direct the use of a dissemination tool such as the film industry towards higher, universal and exemplary reasons for society than strictly commercial ones.

Recommendations for the elimination of stereotypes

Despite the fact that the prevalence of stereotypes is continuous over time and is strongly rooted in our culture and in our daily lives, the use of these humiliating figures must come to an end, since they only contribute, in many cases, to disfigure a varied and rich reality with complexes and unfounded fears or reservations. Their disappearance is a goal for which all social agents must strive, joining efforts for their eventual eradication.

The following is a list of some of the recommendations of scholars on the subject to make stereotypes disappear from the media:

• The media must represent the pluralism of images and discourses that society generates, equally plural and diverse, in the service of equality and justice, in order to enable all parts of it to be properly represented.
• Positive and continuing relations with organizations and with the help of professionals are to be created to improve the image and positioning of disadvantaged minorities. In the specific case of newspapers, it might be interesting to create a specific section aimed at sensitizing the public about these areas, or even to launch a magazine that addresses this issue. With regard to audiovisual matters, television, given its nature as a mass medium, which achieves greater coverage and impact, could be interesting to carry out television programmes or debates, aimed at providing information on stereotypes, contrasting, providing data, so as to enable audiences to dismantle them by themselves.
• To achieve impact, that the news, reports and investigations carried out by those members of the disadvantaged minorities reach the main means by recounting the facts from their point of view, giving projection and therefore thus influencing the related policies of countries, both at the national and international levels.
• Creation of courses, seminars and similar on the guidance of these issues for media professionals in order to discourage insensitive information on minorities.
• Develop agencies, associations, information centres, offices, both national and international to promote social change, with a direct and open channel of communication with the main means to plan effective policies and action plans.
• To have the involvement of channel directors, producers, publicists; that is, all the audiences involved, both decision makers and those who contribute to generating public opinion.
• Creation of an ethical code of conduct that specifically addresses these issues, focused on mass media.
• Creation of multicultural media teams.

Recommendations for the written press

Language is not an arbitrary creation of the human mind, but a social and historical product that influences our perception of reality, hence its great importance.

• It is important to note that the audience is not necessarily homogenous and consists of women and men of different cultural aspects, beliefs, customs and origins. The information needs of the wide range of audiences and the plurality of interests that they represent must be addressed. The so-called neutral human being has no real existence and therefore no place in the media.
• Consider the great changes experienced by the collectives, advances and setbacks, abuses and aids, and transfer this to the information so that a correlation in the media.
• Diversify the sources, give voice to the affected and avoid limiting themselves to the interlocutors and hierarchical heads of the institutions, which provide data, cold and faceless figures, rather than looking for the people behind them.
• Introducing perspective, understood this as assuming each collective, each individual from his differences; highlighting that we have been socialized in a different way and often educated in different or even opposite values. This socialization has forcibly introduced varieties of behavior, attitudes, beliefs, style or life forms.
• Be careful in adjective. The search must prevail for bringing new informational features to the news and dismissing the sensationalist sense, avoiding derogatory and rude allusions or too lauding that do not provide new information content.

Special recommendations for information professionals

• Know cultures.
• Make rationality prevail; not always guided by emotions alone. Encouraging honesty and professionalism.
• Empathy is important: to get in the place of the other. Try to understand others.
• To assume that all human beings, by the simple fact of being, deserve respect and dignity.
• Use critical thinking and not succumb to the pressure of a group.
• Guided by human rights and democracy, as well as the values they promote.
• Appreciate the people who struggle for a fairer world and combat discrimination.
• Do not fall into the trap of stereotypes; they are only false and simplified images.
• Accept the individuality of each human being.

In computing

It is a concept within the Unified Modeling Language, where it is used to encapsulate behaviors. Therefore, a stereotype used as a vehicle to communicate software requirements and designs lacks the current negative connotation given to it in general usage.

In Internet culture

• Bright – Person who adheres to and promotes the naturalistic vision of the world, including equality of civil rights, and acceptance of people who share that vision of the world.
• Friki – People interested obsessively in the themes of the so-called Friki culture: science fiction, fantasy, video games, comics, computer science, etc.
• Nerd – Person engaged in study and scientific, computer and intellectual work, to the point of showing disinterest for social, physical and sporting activities.
• Gamer – Video games player with great dedication and interest and with good knowledge of this type of products.
• Otaku – Refers to any fanatic who dedicates time, money and/or interest in his hobbies to manga and anime, as well as to Japanese culture.
• Hipster – middle-class youth associated with independent cultural trends, alternatives or removed from the predominant, progressive or left-wing political positions, organic food consumption, artisanal products and second-hand clothing.

Group stereotype

The fact that an individual belongs to a certain social group makes them relate to a prototype of life, assigning them a behavior model that carries a set of characteristics that are similar or common to the members of this group and thus establish differences significant with members of other categories. Group stereotypes are one of the most frequent forms of social representation, defined as a simplified mental image of some category of people, institution or event, which is shared by a large number of people in its essential characteristics (Henri Tajfel, 1982).. To the extent that a subject is added to a social or group category, certain characteristics are attributed to it. You are expected to think, feel, and generally behave consistent with the characteristics of that group. The subjects are not taken as individuals, but as part of a group and are perceived as similar to each other. The stereotype is responsible for making generalizations about the members of a group. Generalizations can be viewed positively (women are cute) but at other times they are viewed negatively and resistant to change (Aborigines are wild). Normally stereotypes facilitate prejudice and discrimination.

Group Stereotype Examples

• Woman: housewife, mother, always beautiful, patient, delicate, dependent, sensitive, frivolous, tender, etc.
• Man: worker, smart, strong, not crying, brave, head of family, supplier, like risks, aggressive, etc.
• Elders: they are called useless, sick, dependent, and unproductive.
• Racial: they are based on ethnic and cultural differences considering inferior to people of different skin colour, place of origin or culture, by labeling them as terrorists, criminals or fools.
• Social classes: they generalize the poor with ignorance and crime, the rich with pride and prepotence, to single mothers with light conduct.
• LGBT: they give them qualifications as: rare, confused, sick, diverted etc., plus there is a constant invalidation of their person and their lifestyle.

It is good to note that these stereotypes in many cases lead to discrimination.