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

My collection of stereotypes comes from books, magazines, newspapers, movies, television shows, radio programs, news shows, conversations, podcasts 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, this is my definition:

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. Bad gossip uses stereotypes. Ugly gossip manufactures 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.

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.

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: Workplaces

Negative Stereotypes Behind Bad & Ugly Gossip: Romance

Negative Stereotypes Behind Bad & Ugly Gossip: Poverty

~~~~~

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~~~~~

Africans

noisy
produce kitchen odors

African American / Black / Negro People

violent criminals
ignorant
lazy
dirty
quick tempered
superstitious
hostile
on welfare or jobless
unintelligent
negative personality
mean
corrupt
stupid
ostentatious
lewd
dishonest
submissive

African American / Black / Negro Women

angry
entitled
single mothers

African American / Black / Negro Men

tall men are brutes
tall men are threatening
hoodie and sweats wearers are lazy
hoodie and sweats wearers are unintelligent

“African American” Suggests To Many People

more concern for one group than for society
less persuasive ability
not as likable
tend to complain about small things

Liberals Often Feel Excluded By The African American Label, Feeling It Focuses

attention on the label rather than on larger issues

Americans

intrusive
forward
pushy
stingy
selfish
hoarders
aggressive
materialistic
mercenary
crazy
governed by buffoons
arrogant
self-indulgent
hypocritical
unwilling or unable to engage in dialogue with other cultures

Arabs

aggressive
cunning
gook
chink
Kung-Fu fighters

Belgians

egotistical
unhelpful
unscientifically minded
inefficient

Canadians

would be living in igloos without America

Chinese

superstitious
sly

Cubans

bring exotic diseases to the United States

Dutch

negative
egoistical
dominant
less intelligent
lacking individualism

British

aggressive
egoistical
unfriendly
unhelpful
snobbish
cold

British Coppers

uneducated
seldom read books

French

rude
egoistical
aggressive
dominance
~~~~~
sly

Germans

lacking empathy
dominant
aggressive

Haitians

undesirable blacks
peasants
uneducated
unskilled
poor
wild
weird
bring exotic diseases to the United States

Hispanics / Latinx

greasy
lazy

Immigrants

dangerous
dirty
threatening
criminals
dishonest
complainers
aggressive
violent
lazy
noisy
involved in crime
ruin neighborhoods
don’t want to work
take our houses
take our jobs
abuse social security and welfare systems
cause problems at school
have a different mentality
cause dirtiness
cause urban decay
should be sent back
have too many children
treat women badly
~~~~~
know nothing about God

Iraqis

refugees
criminals

Irish

pugnacious
quick tempered
extremely nationalistic
stupid
improvident
sloppy drunks

Italians

not intelligent
unreliable
aggressive
dominant
unscientific
clannish
Mafia
emotional
quick-tempered
impulsive

Japanese

sneaky
sly

Jews

aggressive
materialistic
mercenary
grasping
kikes

Native Americans

“Good” Native Americans

friendly
courteous
hospitable
handsome
stamina
endurance
modest
noble
dignified
brave
tender
proud
independent
innocent
child-like

“Bad” Native Americans

naked
lecherous
vanity
polygamous
promiscuous
warring
vengeful
brutal
lazy
impracticality
thieving
treacherous
conjurers
barbarous
low intellect
cruel
drunken
cowardly outlaws
inhuman fiends
improvident
filthy surroundings
inadequate cooking
repulsive diet
enslave squaws
culturally deprived

Native Americans on reservations

degraded
scorned
degenerate
poverty-stricken
outcasts from own race
drunkards

Pakistani

poor

Polish

stupid
racist
bigoted

Roma (Also Known As Gypsies)

thieves
dishonest
spies
incendiaries
suspicious
school dropouts
mentally handicapped
retarded
worthless
not human
inhuman behavior
should be killed
wanderers
disliked by God
pagans
heathens

Turks

cruel
treacherous

White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASP)

cold
insensitive

White People

corrupt
greedy
competitive
arrogant
prejudiced
mean

White Men

angry
bros
prejudiced
entitled
bitchy
loud
dependent

White Women

self-absorbed
shallow
conceited
ditsy
uneducated
materialistic
sexually easy

 

Points to Ponder

The points to ponder here are the number of stereotypes shared by widely different groups. This sharing reveals commonality between all of those groups.

Examples of opposite stereotypes for the same group follow the shared stereotypes.

 

Shared Stereotypes

Shared Stereotypes #1

African American / Black / Negro People
Hispanic / Latinx
Immigrant

“Bad” Native Americans

lazy

Shared Stereotypes #2

African American / Black / Negro People
Immigrant

dirty

Shared Stereotypes #3

African American / Black / Negro People
White People

mean

Shared Stereotypes #4

Americans
Arabs
British
French
Germans
Immigrants
Italians
Jews

aggressive

Shared Stereotypes #5

Americans
White People

arrogant

Shared Stereotypes #6

Dutch
British
French

egoistical

Shared Stereotypes #7

Dutch
Germans
Italians

dominant

Shared Stereotypes #8

African American / Black / Negro People
Roma (Also known as Gypsies
Immigrants

dishonest

Shared Stereotypes #9

Haitians
White Women

            uneducated

Shared Stereotypes #10

African American / Black / Negro People
Immigrants
Iraqis

criminals

Shared Stereotypes #11

African American / Black / Negro People
Immigrants

violent

Shared Stereotypes #12

African American / Black / Negro People
Irish
Polish

stupid

Shared Stereotypes #13

Americans
Jews
White Women

materialistic

Shared Stereotypes #14

“Bad” Native Americans
Turksˆ

treacherous

Shared Stereotypes #15

“Bad” Native Americans
Turksˆ

cruel

Shared Stereotypes #16

White People
White Men

prejudiced

 

Opposite Stereotypes

Opposite Stereotypes #1

African American / Black / Negro People

hostile
submissive

Opposite Stereotypes #2

“Bad” Native Americans

warring
lazy

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Because medical professionals misdiagnosed my childhood spinal injury for 33 years, I’ve lived with the stereotypes about people with disabilities. No one alive has any guarantee that they will never become disabled. How many elderly people confined to wheelchairs planned to be confined to wheelchairs at the end of their lives? None, of course.

You face the same stereotypes if you become disabled. Break stereotypes about disabled people to protect yourself in the future.

 

Strategies For Shattering Stereotypes

Choose a strategy based on the level of danger in the situation. Talk to the target in front of the harasser only if the situation is safe for conversation. If the situation is dangerous, create some kind of distraction. I now carry a personal alarm with me for creating distractions quickly.

Talking to the target instead of the harasser allows the harasser to just walk away. If harassing situations come up regularly in a workplace or other common location, you could also use these strategies at calm times to increase understanding about the consequences of using stereotypes. Just tell stories to your coworkers/colleagues as opportunities come up.

Adapt the strategies as you need to. Write about other successful strategies in the comments section.

Surprise The Harasser(s)

If you can possibly do so, give the harasser(s) a moment of dignity. People harassing others will not expect positive statements. The positive statements might be enough to stop them in that situation. One example:

“It’s obvious —– is having a bad day. Let’s give him/her/them time to
calm down and ease the strain on his/her/their heart(s). Let’s hope
tomorrow will be better.”

This statement tells the harasser(s) that they are under stress and deserve to feel better. By expressing concern for their health, you are letting them know you consider them valuable. They may not feel much value in their daily lives.

Visit the website below for resources on opening doors that give moments of dignity. Read People Success Example #5 on the People Success page. You’ll learn how I turned a bad relationship around using moments of dignity, and reaped an unexpected reward.

smilessparksuccess.com

Make Yourself An Example

This works best if you are not whatever is the reason for the harassment, not Muslim, not black, not Jewish, not Hispanic, not whatever. If you can identify any commonality between yourself and the target(s), talk about them to the target.

“Excuse me, but I noticed that we share a taste for … How would you
recommend cooking it?”

Your commonality will at least partially shatter the stereotype.

Provide Information About Stereotypes

If you can connect to the Internet, bring up the appropriate stereotype blog post and tell the target what the stereotypes are about you and why they are wrong. You could start with:

“Did you know there are stereotypes about everyone? The stereotypes
about me are …, but they don’t fit me because …”

You would be shattering a stereotype in front of the harasser.

Talk About The Consequences Of Creating Failure

Visit this Success & Failure Choices page to read about various types of success and failure. If you can think of an example from your own life, tell that story. Otherwise, use one from the blog below.

You could use this example from “Standout Success For 19 Year Old Joey Prusak”:

“A Dairy Queen customer saw manager Joey Prusak stand up for a
visually impaired customer. The bystander customer sent an email
to Dairy Queen. The story ended up on Facebook. The owner of Dairy
Queen, Warren Buffet, called Joey to thank him. Queen Latifah invited
Joey to appear on her show and gave him money for his college fund.
NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick invited Joey to a race. Good things can
happen to people who take care of other people.”

blog.smilessparksuccess.com

Talk About The Benefits Of Living The Golden Rule

Remind the harasser of the Golden Rule:

“Since the Golden Rule is important to me, I’m going to treat you
the way I want to be treated. I also know that being kind to others
is good for my health.”

My favorite version of the Golden Rule comes from Buddhism, “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” See these Golden Rule statements in 21 religions, 5 philosophies, and 2 moral/ethical systems to pick your favorite version.

Read up on the health benefits of kindness for details to talk about.

And again, write about other successful strategies in the comments.

~~~~~

Critical Thinking Questions

1.  What’s happening?

2.  Why is it important?

3.  What don’t I see?

4.  How do I know?

5.  Who is saying it?

6.  What else? What if?

Stereotype Thinking Questions

1.  What is threatening my beliefs?

2.  How can I make it unimportant?

3.  What can I reject?

4.  What can I laugh at?

5.  How can I attack people who threaten my beliefs?

6.  How can I deflect?

The stereotype thinking questions are mine, based on my observations of stereotype thinkers.

~~~~~~~~~~

Paula M. Kramer
© 2015 to the present
All rights reserved.

Success & Failure Choices

blog.smilessparksuccess.com

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softskillstrategycourses.com

Resource Websites

speakingfromtriumph.com

smilessparksuccess.com

Business Directory

betterplanetbusiness.com

Positive Identity Directory For People With Mugshots

myrecordnow.com

 

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