[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by Scandia

Everybody is guilty of labeling every once in a while. Some people are harder to label than others. As long as you do not pigeonhole someone simply because of where he/she/ancestors would be from and you do get to know the person instead of seeing just the vital statistics, it is natural.

I agree. I think all of us hold unconscious cliched beliefs about social groups, rather it's black and white, female and male, old and young, gay and straight ect ect. Certain social scenarios can automatically activate implicit sterotypes and attitudes, which then can affect our perceptions, judgements and behavior, inlcuding the choice of who to accept as a friend, or even who to hire for a job.

I also think we do this sometimes in order to make sense of the world around us. We put things into groups and remember relations between objects and actions or adjectives, like people automatically know that cars are related to speed, or candy taste sweet or that bees sting. Such associations often reside outside conscious understanding. I think the problem arises when we form associations that contradict our intentions, beliefs and values. To me, stereotypes undermine values such as fairness and equality.

Ted Bundy handsome??? I always had the hots for Charles Manson.