[ home | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z || help | about ]

STEREOTYPE

This term derives from the printing process and refers to a plate made by taking a cast or mold of a surface. A stereotype then is anything which lacks individual marks or identifiers, and instead appears as though made from a cast. In sociology the stereotype (the plate or cast) is always a social construction which may have some basis in reality but is a gross generalization (eg: women like romance novels). To stereotype is to apply these casts, or gross generalization, to people or situations rather than seeing the individual variation. See: SEXISM / .

Last updated 2002--0-9-

---

[ home | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z || help | about ]

© Robert Drislane, Ph.D. and Gary Parkinson, Ph.D.
The online version of this dictionary is a product of
Athabasca University and
ICAAP

*This social science dictionary has 1000
entries covering the disciplines of sociology, criminology, political
science and women's study with a commitment to Canadian examples and
events and names