Stereotyping and prejudice
One hundred milliseconds after we see someone, we have made a determination about their race; 50 milliseconds later, we have determined their gender.
Stereotyping is ascribing a set of traits to an individual based on his membership in a specific group. Prejudice is disliking someone because of her group identity.
Most whites are quicker to associate positive words with images of whites, and negative words with blacks. However, this bias can be reduced or erased because racial stereotyping and prejudice depend on the context in which someone appears.
When people are shown images of well-liked black public figures, for instance, bias disappears because the context tells people that the person is not someone they need to worry about.
So, you can get people to stop thinking in terms of race by identifying a black person with membership in another group which then becomes the context and focus of attention. But you can't do the same with gender because assertive, commanding, leadership qualities are deemed offensive in a woman no matter what the context.
The only other trait that we notice as strongly as gender is age.
Source: Drake Bennett, Boston Globe
