Negative Stereotypes Behind Bad & Ugly Gossip: Workplaces

If you use negative stereotypes about people who are different from you, you are inviting everyone who hears you to use negative stereotypes about you. Below are some of the negative stereotypes other people could use about you in your workplace.

My collection of stereotypes comes from books, magazines, newspapers, movies, television shows, radio programs, news shows, conversations, etc. Sources can be 10s to 100s to 1000s of years old.

Stereotypes and categories overlap at times. I create categories of stereotypes as I have stereotype examples to put into those categories.

The research into gossip goes back at least to the middle of the 20th century. Both men and women research gossip. Putting all of their research together, gossip is talk and writing about people — both other people and ourselves — in family, social, workplace, and public settings.

Much of the research shows that gossip is both positive and negative. I define gossip as good, bad, or ugly. Good gossip ignores or breaks stereotypes while bad and ugly gossip are based on negative stereotypes.

Negative stereotypes exist about everyone, no matter their age, gender, race, religion, profession, etc. These stereotype blog posts will help you understand the negative stereotypes about you. Each post will focus on one or two or a few characteristics.

Stereotype Updates

I add stereotypes as I come across them.

I will add the new stereotypes at the bottom of each listing, putting ~~~~~ between the older stereotypes and the new stereotypes.

More Stereotypes

Negative Stereotypes Behind Bad & Ugly Gossip: People In General

Negative Stereotypes Behind Bad & Ugly Gossip: Ethnic, National, & Racial Stereotypes

Negative Stereotypes Behind Bad & Ugly Gossip: Romance

Negative Stereotypes Behind Bad & Ugly Gossip: Poverty

Soft Skills Are Power Skills On Facebook

~~~~~

Soft skill power strategies can help you overcome stereotypes about you.

softskillstrategycourses.com

~~~~~

People Who Do Their Jobs Well

hall monitor
tattle tale
troublemaker
trying to get coworkers in trouble
hormonal
rebellious
stroppy
time of the month
bad tempered
argumentative

Half White / Half Black

Performs better than Black

Businessmen

aggressive
materialistic
mercenary

Nice Guys

finish last

Businesswomen

less happy with success
unattractive
aggressive
unpopular
less likely to maintain a steady relationship
egoist
dominant
hide feelings
less feminine
more masculine
less desirable

Women Bosses

petty
envious
power-mad
too aggressive

Women Are Seen As Unsuitable For Management Positions

when their hair is long, curly,  extreme in color, in the face, fastened with barrettes and ribbons

when they wear extreme amounts and colors of makeup, soft or tight sweaters, low necklines, ruffled blouses,
dangling or ostentatious jewelry,  and don’t wear a jacket

when they are attractive

Women Who Cry On The Job

weak
vulnerable
crack under pressure

Interns

untrustworthy

Attractive Women

stupid
should be trophy wife instead of career woman
interested in sex
schemers
less trustworthy
more expendable
should smile at everyone
less competent

Handsome Men

ambitious
threat to management self-interest
opinionated

Feminine Dressing Women

low managerial skills
low interest in work
illogical
overemotional in critical decision making
financially responsible
helpless
dependent on the influences of others
sexy
flirtatious in social relations
not  assertive
low independence
low self-confidence

Successful Black Women / Career black women

arrogant
hard
controlling
self-centered
uppity

Women Who Use The Title Ms.

more motivated
more masculine
less likable

Women Who Use The Titles Miss Or Mrs.

lacking personality characteristics of a successful middle manager

Women Who File Sexual Harassment Charges

whiners
complainers
incompetent

Men Who File Sexual Harassment Charges

not real men
sexually deviant

Women Running For Political Office

young girls
little housewives who don’t know anything
incompetent

Secretaries

materialistic
pregnant workers
overly emotional
often irrational
physically limited
less than committed to the job
don’t perform well
not valuable or dependable as a worker

Older Workers

absent more
lower productivity levels
less flexible in their behavior
unable to learn new skills
prone to job-related accidents

Overweight Workers

blameworthy
guilt-ridden
untrustworthy
incompetent
salesclerks
pushy
insensitive
insincere
fawning

Construction Workers

ordinary
unremarkable

Truck Drivers

hog the right of way
drive dangerously
cause most car truck accidents

Soldiers

shell shocked soldiers are neurotically susceptible and infantile

American Soldiers

mean
aggressive killers

Military Historians

right wing
morally suspect
just plain dumb

Female Scientists With Children

breeders

Journalists

callous
cavalier
hound celebrities
interested in human weakness
chew up private lives for entertainment

Pilots

alcoholic

Clothing Designers

aggressive

Cheerleaders

slutty
queen-bees
wear short skirts

Male Dancers

sissies

Men Who Work In Stereotypical Female Professions

taking a step down
receive preferential treatment for hiring and promotion — a glass escalator

Male Nurses

gay (which assumes that being gay is bad)

Male Librarians

wimpy
asexual

Male Social Workers

feminine
passive

Male Elementary School Teachers

pedophiles
failures as men

Male Managers

domineering
challenging

Workers With Disabilities

incompetent
vulnerable
ineligible for jobs

CEOs

need to be compensated with huge sums of money to
motivate them to do their jobs well

Lawyers

untrustworthy
contemptible
fast talkers
dishonest
subverters of justice
look for loopholes

Truckers

bullies
menace on the highway

Low Income Workers

will not be motivated by higher salaries to do their jobs well or work harder

will only be motivated by the threat of their jobs being moved overseas

Sex Surrogates

prostitutes

Giving Raises, Health Care, & Retirement Benefits To Workers

will increase inflation
squeeze profit margins
end economic prosperity

Giving Stock Options, Bonuses, & Multimillion Dollar Salaries To CEOs

will lower inflation
increase profit margins
lead to  economic prosperity

Whistleblowers

squealers
rats
stoop-pigeons
finks
loose cannons
dangers to businesses damaging to career of fellow workers
habitual liars
irresponsible
masters of deceit
committed crimes
fudged resumes

In General Women Workers Are Stereotyped As

less competent
not good as leaders
incapable of assertiveness
less knowledgeable
having less authority
being deviant for showing competence and assertiveness
being deviant for interrupting a man
too emotional to do important work

In General Women’s Work Is Stereotyped As

less important
less authoritative
less convincing
less valuable
needing to be rejected
ignored or unrecognized
inferior to men’s work

Because Of The Stereotypes, Employed Women Experience

less pay
lower performance evaluations
fewer promotions
fewer opportunities
less power
fewer resources
less autonomy
less approval for efforts and more disapproval of efforts
more pressure
less accommodation
less cooperation
more interruptions
less authority
less respect
less credit for their work

When Men Succeed On The Job, The Stereotyped Reasons Include

the ability and talents of the men

When Women Succeed On The Job, The Stereotyped Reasons Include

unstable or external causes

When Men Fail On The Job, The Stereotyped Reasons Include

lack of effort
a difficult situation
bad luck

When Women Fail On The Job, The Stereotyped Reasons Include

lack of talent and ability

Research On The Impact Of Parental Work

work-family issues are concerns for women

focuses on the mother having a job or the father losing a job

Entrepreneurship

criminal activity

Points to Ponder about Men in the Workplace

Men in women’s fields enjoy a glass escalator of preferential treatment for hiring and promotion and are over represented in managerial positions. But choosing a career in a traditionally female field means you’ll face stereotypes of failure and criminality.

Points to Ponder about Women in the Workplace

If you are a woman, be careful to never use any of the negative stereotypes about women in the workplace against other women. If you do, you will be giving permission to everyone else to:

Pay you less

Lower your job performance evaluations

Pass you over for promotions

Deny you opportunities

Deny you power

Deny you resources

Deny you autonomy

Deny approval for your efforts to disapprove your efforts

Put you under more pressure

Be less accommodating with you

Be less cooperative with you

Interrupt you more

Deny you authority

Deny you respect

Deny you credit for your work

Points to Ponder about Pay & Benefits

Did you notice the following?

Money and benefits supposedly motivate CEOs but not the
workers that keep the company going.

Raises for CEOs supposedly benefit the economy but raises
for ordinary workers supposedly harm the economy.

Secretaries cannot be motivated by raises but are materialistic
while CEOs need big pay raises to be motivated but are not
materialistic.

Perhaps we should ask the CEOs who get the top pay and benefits to explain why programs that give money to the poor have created so many benefits that dozens of countries have those programs.