Magazines for Boys, Magazines for Girls: More of the Same Stereotypes

Abstract: In two studies, we investigated the prevalence of gender stereotypes in print magazines targeted at 2- to 9-year-olds, analyzing three crucial and distinct aspects of children’s magazines: the front cover, the magazine content, and featured activities. Study 1 focused on the front covers of 106 children’s print magazines aimed at audiences of either girls, boys, or both boys and girls. Content analyses revealed that magazines aimed solely at boys or girls displayed gender-stereotypic colors and more same- than other-gender characters. Front covers aimed at girls contained no speaking characters and, compared to front covers aimed at boys, displayed more words related to appearance. 

Study 2 analyzed the content of 42 magazine issues. Magazines aimed at girls were most likely to incorporate the themes of fashion and home, to instruct the reader to ask for an adult’s help with an activity, and less likely to include activities labeled as educational than were magazines aimed at boys or both girls and boys. In contrast, magazines aimed at boys were most likely to incorporate the theme of jobs. Overall, findings suggest that gender stereotypical messages are embedded throughout young children’s magazines, which are tailored in their style and content based on their target audience. (Spinner, Cameron & Tenenbaum, 2023)

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- Spinner, L., Cameron, L., & Tenenbaum, H. R. (2023). Gender stereotypes in young children’s magazines. Mass Communication & Society, 26(1), 147–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2052902 

- photograph (Clive and Lisa, 1971), (c) Museums Victoria Collections, via

Associations with African American Vernacular English

Abstract: The current study examines the effect of dialect for a Black speaker, paying particular attention to the implications for criminal justice processing. Participants in this study heard an audio clip of a Black man describing his weekend and were randomly assigned to hear the account spoken in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Mainstream American English (MAE). For half of each sample, the audio clip was described as an alibi. Participants then evaluated the speaker across dimensions related to character and criminality, as well as his race (sic), education, and socio-economic status. 

Results indicate that the speaker was viewed as having worse character and a greater criminal propensity if he spoke using the AAVE guise rather than the MAE guise. Additionally, participants perceived the AAVE speaker to be more stereotypically Black, less educated, and lower socio-economic status. These findings raise questions about contemporary forms of bias in criminal justice processing. (Dunbar, King & Vaughn, 2024)

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- Dunbar, King & Vaughn (2024). Dialect on Trial: An Experimental Examination of Raciolinguistic Ideologies and Character Judgments. Sage Journals, link

- photograph by John H. White via

Cultural Ageing Stereotypes in Europe

Abstract: A growing body of literature acknowledges the association between negative stereotypes and individual components of active aging, but very few studies have tested this association, at both individual and population levels. The Stereotypes Content Model (SCM) states that the cultural aging stereotyping of higher warmth than competence (called paternalistic or ambivalent prejudice) is universal. Our aims in this study are to test the extent to which the universality of this stereotype is confirmed in European Countries as well as how far "positive", "negative" or "ambivalent" views towards older people, and other negative attitudes such as prejudice and behaviours such as discrimination, predict active aging assessed both at individual and population levels. 

We have analyzed data from the European Social Survey-2008 (ESS-2008), containing SCM stereotypical and other appraisal items (such as direct prejudice and perceived discrimination) about adults aged over-70 from 29 European countries. First, SCM cultural stereotypes about older adults ("friendly", "competent", and "ambivalent") were calculated; secondly, after developing a typology of countries based on their "negative", "ambivalent" and "positive" views about older adults, the universality of cultural stereotypes was tested; thirdly, taking into consideration ESS data of those older persons (over 70s) who self-reported indicators of active aging (health, happiness, satisfaction and social participation), multilevel analyses were performed, taking our inter-individual measure of active aging as dependent variable and our stereotypical classification (positive/negative/ambivalent), direct prejudice and perceived discrimination as predictors; finally, relationships between stereotypical and appraisal items on older adults were examined at population level with country data from Active Aging Indexes. Our results show cultural stereotypes about older people (more friendly than competent) are widespread in most European countries, and negative cultural views of older adults are negatively associated with active aging both at individual and population level, supporting that negative cultural views of older adults could be considered as a threat to active aging. (Fernandez-Bellasteros et al., 2020)

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- Ferndandez-Bellasteros, R., Olmos, R., Perez-Ortiz, L. & Sanchez-Izquierdo, M. (2020). 

Cultural aging stereotypes in European Countries. Are they a risk to Active Aging? PLoS One, 15(5), link

- photograph by Vivian Maier via

The Black Dog Syndrome

There is the notion that dark pets are discriminated against. Shelter workers repeatedly observe the phenomenon that black dogs have to wait longer to get adopted than lighter-furred ones and that they get euthanised more often. Speculations on the reasons why black dogs are discriiminated agaist vary and range from superstition, i.e., mythologies around black dogs being evil and scary to black dogs' faces regarded as less expressive or facial expressions more difficult to read. Photographs play a major role in the adoption process. When black dogs are photographed in a way that makes only a black silhouette and a big tongue visible, and the eyes and eyebrows get lost, there is little response since people might find it harder to huanise them and build a connection (via).

Other hypotheses floating around the trade: Would-be owners worry that a black dog will shed too noticeably on the furniture; black dogs get overheated more easily at adoption events and don’t introduce themselves; black dogs look older; black dogs strike people as boring. And one chow jowl-wrinkle that no one mentions: Studies suggest that people tend to choose pooches that bear some resemblance to them, whether that manifests in a lady with flowing tresses selecting a long-eared retriever or a saggy-faced man opting for a bulldog. Could the link between an owner’s and a dog’s appearance factor into the phenomenon? According to a Pew survey, 45 percent of white people own a dog, compared to 20 percent of black people. (Looking at presidential pets, Bo Obama is black, but then so was George W. Bush’s Miss Beazley.) (via)

In other words, there are a great many anecdotes but it is not yet clear if the Black Dog Syndrome is nothing more than an urban legend. Various studies do not support the syndrome (via). Some studies find some evidence, others find none (via and via). The relationship, if there is any, is not straightforward as the following abstract illustrates:

Most support for Black Dog Syndrome or Big Black Dog Syndrome is anecdotal or theoretical. Yet some animal shelters/organizations have implemented strategies to address what they believe are lower rates of adoption and/or higher rates of euthanasia for “Big Black Dogs.” This study examines the persistent anecdotes and theories on humans’ preferences and aversions to dogs of various shades, using hierarchical multinomial logistic regression to predict outcomes for an analytic sample of 7,440 dogs from 2010–2011 in an urban, public animal shelter serving Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The relationship between coat shade and dog outcomes was not straightforward; while no relationship existed at the bivariate level, after controls were added, entirely black dogs showed somewhat lower odds of adoption—and higher euthanasia risk—than those characterized as secondarily black or sans black. Breed category, breed size, and purebred status were stronger predictors of dog outcomes than coat shade. Big Black Dog Syndrome was not supported by these data; smaller dogs were more likely to be euthanized if they were partly or wholly black. These findings may offer nuances to adoption strategies employed by shelters/organizations, help make better use of resources, and, perhaps, improve the likelihood of homing or rehoming shelter animals. (Sinski et al., 2016)

And, finally some anecdotes: 

We recently had a litter of five very cute, very fluffy puppies, two yellow and three black. And the yellow ones all went immediately, but for the black ones it took weeks.
Mirah Horowitz

Marika Bell, director of behavior and rehoming for the Humane Society of Washington, D.C., says the organization has been tracking animals that have stayed at their shelters the longest since March 2013. They found that three characteristics put a pet at risk of becoming one of these so-called “hidden gems”: medium size, an age of 2-3 years, and an ebony coat. (via)

Employees at our shelter constantly witness visitors scanning the kennels as they walk down the aisles in search of a new friend and merely glance at the black dogs but stop completely when they approach a "colored" dog.” Pam Backer, cited in Castek (2010)

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- Castek, J. (2010). Black Dog Syndrome, link
-  Sinski, J. Carini, R. M. & Weber, J. D. (2016). Putting (Big) Black Dog Syndrome to the Test: Evidence from a Large Metropolitan Shelter. Anthrozoös, 26(4), link
- photograph by Eliot Erwitt (1953) via

Analysing 3,000 AI-Generated Images, Finding (Almost) As Many Ethnic Stereotypes

Last year, Rest of World analysed 3,000 images created by AI and came to the conclusion that the images created were highly stereotypical.

Using Midjourney, we chose five prompts, based on the generic concepts of “a person,” “a woman,” “a house,” “a street,” and “a plate of food.” We then adapted them for different countries: China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Nigeria. We also included the U.S. in the survey for comparison, given Midjourney (like most of the biggest generative AI companies) is based in the country. For each prompt and country combination (e.g., “an Indian person,” “a house in Mexico,” “a plate of Nigerian food”), we generated 100 images, resulting in a data set of 3,000 images.

When prompting Midjourney to create "an Indian person", 99 out of 100 images depicted a man, almost all of them clearly aged over 60 with grey or white hair. 92 of the subjects wore a traditional type of turban, a great many of them resembled a spiritual guru. Similarly, "a Mexican person" was - in 99 out of 100 cases - a person wearing a sombrero. 

When creating "an American person", national identity was portrayed by showing the US-American flag in 100 out of 100 images, while "none of the queries for the other nationalities came up with any flags at all". Across all countries, there was a gender bias with "a person" mostly being a man - with one exception. Interestingly, the results for "an American person" included 94 young women, five men and one masked individual (see image in this posting). The reason for the overrepresentation of women when creating "an American person" could be the overrepresentaion of young women in US media which again build the basis for the AI's training data (via).

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image (AI) via

Severely Impaired, Self-Centred, Elitist, John Wayne Conservative or Golden Ager? Negative and "Positive" Age Stereotypes

Hummert et al. (cited in Miller Leyell & Mazachek, 2002), using e.g. cluster analysis, found eight negative and six (rather) positive stereotypes of older people. Negative stereotypes are associated more with older old people, positive ones more with younger old people. The older the age, the more the associations become: mildly impaired, severely impaired, shrew/curmudgeon, despondent, recluse, vulnerable. The positive older person is not a burden but the supportive grandparent or volunteer. Older persons are more or less seen positively as long as they are productive and wealthy "golden agers". 

The eight negative stereotypes: 

1) despondent (afraid, bored, depressed, fragile, frustrated, hopeless, hypochondriac, lonely, neglected, sad, sick, tired, victimise, wary)
2) vulnerable (afraid, bored, emotionless, hypochondriac, miserly, sedentary, victimised, wary, worried)
3) severely impaired (dependent, feeble, forgetful, fragile, hopeless, inarticulate, incoherent, neglected, poor, rambling, sedentary, senile, sexless, sick, slowly thinking, tired, victimised)
4) shrew/curmudgeon (bitter, bored, complaining, demanding, frugal, greey, humourless, hypochondriac, ill-tempered, inflexible, jealous, nosy, prejudiced, selfish, snobbish, stubborn)
5) recluse (dependent, forgetful, frustrated, naive, poor, quiet, sedentary, timid, worried)
6) mildly impaired (dependent, forgetful, fragile, frustrated, poor, rambling, sedentary, sick, slowly moving, tired, victimised, worried)
7) self-centred (emotionless, greedy, humourless, inflexible, jealous, miserly, nosy, selfish, sexless, snobish, stubborn)
8) elitist (demanding, naive, prejudiced, snobbish, wary)

The six "positive" stereotypes: 

1) perfect grandparent (family-oriented, family-loving, generous, grateful, happy, healthy, intelligent, kind, knowledgeable, loving, self-accepting, supportive, trustworthy, understanding, wise)
2) golden ager (active, adventurous, alert, capable, courageous, curious, determined, fun-loving, future-oriented, happy, health conscious, healthy, independent, intelligent, interesting, knowledgeable, liberal, lively, political, productive, proud, sef-accepting, sexual, skilled, sociable, successful, volunteer, wealthy, well-informed, well-travelled, wise, witty)
3) John Wayne conservative (conservative, curious, determined, emotional, mellow, nostalgic, old-fashioned, patriotic, political, proud, religious, reminiscent, retired, tough, wealthy)
4) liberal matriarch/patriarch (frugal, liberal, mellow, old-fashioned, wealthy)
5) activist (frugal, liberal, mellow, old-fashioned, wealthy)
6) small-town neighbour (conservative, emotional, frugal, old-fashioned, quiet, tough)

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- Miller, D. W., Leyell, T. S. & Mazachek, J. (2002). Stereotypes of the Elderly in US Television Commercials From the 1950s to the 1990s. Journal of Advertising History, link
-  photograph by Leon Levinstein via

Stereotype Threat Lowers Older Adults' Self-Reported Hearing Abilities. An Abstract.

Background: Although stereotype threat is a well-documented phenomenon, previous studies examining it in older adults have almost exclusively focused on objective cognitive outcomes. Considerably less attention has been paid to the impact of stereotype threat on older adults' subjective assessments of their own abilities or to the impact of stereotype threat in noncognitive domains. 

Objective: Older adults are stereotyped as having experienced not only cognitive declines, but physical declines as well. The current study tested the prediction that stereotype threat can negatively influence older adults' subjective hearing abilities. 

Methods: To test this, 115 adults (mean age 50.03 years, range 41-67) read either a positive or negative description about how aging affects hearing. All participants then answered a questionnaire in which they assessed their own hearing abilities. 

Results: The impact of stereotype threat on self-reported hearing was moderated by chronological age. Participants in their 40s and early 50s were unaffected by the stereotype threat manipulation. In contrast, participants in their late 50s and 60s rated their hearing as being subjectively worse when under stereotype threat. 

Conclusion: The current study provides a clear demonstration that stereotype threat negatively impacts older adults' subjective assessments of their own abilities. It is also the first study to demonstrate an effect of stereotype threat within the domain of hearing. These results have important implications for researchers investigating age-related hearing decline. Stereotype threat can lead to overestimation of the prevalence of age-related hearing decline. It can also serve as a confounding variable when examining the psychosocial correlates of hearing loss. Because of this, researchers studying age-related hearing loss should aim to provide a stereotype threat-free testing environment and also include assessments of stereotype threat within their studies. (Barber & Rain Lee, 2015)

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- Barber, S. J. & Rain Lee, S. (2015). Stereotype Threat Lowers Older Adults' Self-Reported Hearing Abilities. Gerontology, 62(1), 81-85.
- photograph by Sepp Werkmeister via

"Chatterboxes" and Other Stereotyped Representations of Mobile Phone Users

Abstract: In the context of an international research project on older people’s relations with and through mobile telephony, Italian participants spontaneously provided narrations on mobile phones that appeared to be structured around strong stereotypes. Respondents show a twofold representation of mobile phones either as a simple communication tool or as a ‘hi-tech’ device, which generates multifaceted stereotypes. 

More specifically, when the mobile phone is considered as a simple communication tool, age-based stereotypes address younger people’s bad manners, while gendered stereotypes depict women as ‘chatterboxes’ or ‘social groomers’. On the other hand, when the mobile phone is considered a ‘hi-tech’ device, age-based stereotypes underline younger people’s advanced user skills, while gendered stereotypes focus on women’s lack of competencies. Based on that, we provide a conceptual framework for analysing such stereotyped – and apparently conflicting – representations. Interestingly, while some issues also emerged in other countries, the masculine assumption that women are less-skilled mobile phone users appears as a peculiarity of Italian respondents. (Comunello et al., 2016)

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- Comunello, F., Fernandez Ardevol, M., Mulargia, S. & Belotti, F. (2016). Women, youth and everything else: age-based and gendered stereotypes in relation to digital technology among elderly Italian mobile phone users. Media, Culture & Society, 39(6), link

- photograph by Bruce Gilden via

Quoting Lena Horne

"(M)y and (Walter) White's concern was that in the period while I was waiting for Cabin in the Sky they would force me to play roles, as I have said, that most N*groes were forced to play in the movies at that time. It was not that I felt I was too good or too proud to play them. But Walter felt and I agreed with him, that since I had no history in the movies and therefore hand not been typcast ... it would be essential for me to try to establish a different kind of image for N*gro women."
Lena Horne (cited in Sim, 2006)

- Sim, Y. D. (2006). Women of Blaxploitation. How the Black Action Film Heroine Changed American Popular Culture. Jefferson & London: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers.
- photograph of Lena Horne via

Disney Movies, Gender Stereotypes, and a Mongolian Sample

In a survey carried out in 2020 at the National University of Mongolia, 500 Mongolian people aged 18 to 33 were asked questions to see how Disney films influenced "the personal view of modern nomads on images of gender". One of the questions was how Elsa (main character of Frozen) can turn her life into a perfect one. About 60% answered that Elsa would have to find true love, 33% thought a new adventure and challenges would be the right choice and 8.3% said that Elsa would need to govern her kingdom and make progress as a queen. 

According to the answers of the people, females’ stereotyped desire is to find true love and happy marriage disregarding individual’s talent and capacity. Disney films may have shown that the solution for young females to overcome difficulties is in finding a man as her protector. Seemingly, most of the Disney films such as the fairy-tales illustrated that the one and only aspiration and dream for females is finding a perfect man to marry. And for this, a feminine personality and attractive physical features (more often than not represented by White women) are conducive.

Another question regarded The Little Mermaid and its character Ursula. Almost 60% said they found her appearance unpleasant, 16.7% thought she was "super ugly". 74.8% agreed that her appearance made her more hateful. 

Different shapes and sizes of female roles in films maybe dedicated to highlight the contrast between evil and good by their looks. While Ariel is small, thin, and white, in contrast, Ursula is overweight, bigger, and purple. Thus, their appearances could express radical differences between the characterisation of Ariel and Ursula to the audience. Accordingly, Disney films may have been giving the message that unpleasant appearance is equal to an unpleasant personality thus reconfirming the existing stereotypes around the constructs of perfect beauty and body image. (Tergel Bold Erdene)

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photograph (Darhad Valley Nomadic Family by Jun Hwan Sung) via

"Sounding Black": Speech Stereotypicality and Ethnic Stereotypes

Language is an important marker of social category and social category information can activate stereotypes which again depend heavily on the listener. In their first experiment, the authors of the study had participants listen to twenty audio recordings of Black North American (14) and Black British (6) speakers and rate how stereotypical they found them, guess the likely ethnicity and nationality, and indicate which adjectives (from a list of thirty adjectives) people would associate them with (e.g. athletic, criminal, lazy, poor, rhythmic, uneducated, unintelligent, loud, dirty, aggressive, inferior). 

In the second experiment, the sample listened to (weakly or strongly) stereotypical Black American speakers and was asked to choose one of two faces (weakly or strongly phenotypical) associated with the voice. Results showed that "speakers whose voices were rated as more highly stereotypical for Black Americans were more likely to be associated with stereotypes about Black Americans (Experiment 1) and with more stereotypically Black faces (Experiment 2)".

Given the interconnectivity between language, social categorization, and stereotypes, it is likely that individuals who “sound Black” are more likely to be identified as Black Americans and therefore more likely to be associated with stereotypes about the group. One way individuals may be thought to “sound Black” is through their use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). AAVE is a non-standard dialect of American English closely associated with and spoken predominantly (but not only) by Black Americans (Cutler, 2003; Rickford, 1999). Often denigrated as slang or improper English, AAVE is in fact a valid language system, with regular phonological and grammatical features such as -ing dropping (e.g., “goin”’ vs. “going”), r-lessness (e.g., “fo”’ vs. “four”), negative concord (e.g., “He ain’t seen nothin”’), and the use of habitual be (e.g., “She be workin”’ indicates “She’s often working”) (Pullum, 1999; Thomas, 2007; see Jones, 2015 for more on regional variations in AAVE). Like speakers of other non-standard dialects, speakers of AAVE are seen less favorably than speakers of the more standard General American English in most contexts (Payne et al., 2000; Koch et al., 2001; Dent, 2004; Rodriguez et al., 2004; Billings, 2005). Speakers of AAVE are seen as less competent, less sociable, less professional, less educated, and of poorer character than speakers of more standard American English (Payne et al., 2000; Koch et al., 2001; Dent, 2004; Billings, 2005). As with the Southern U.S. dialect, many of the traits associated with AAVE are also associated with its dominant speakers: Black Americans (Devine and Elliot, 1995; Maddox and Gray, 2002). For instance, individuals show a greater implicit association between weapons and AAVE speakers than more standard speakers (Rosen, 2017), suggesting that stereotypes about criminality and violence, often associated with Black Americans, are also linked to AAVE speakers. Further, AAVE’s close association with Black Americans has also led to linguistic profiling, or discrimination against those who speak a certain way due to their assumed membership in a social group. Discriminating against someone for their way of speaking can allow for anti-Black bias to circumvent legal protections, leading to worse outcomes and fewer opportunities in areas such as housing for those who use AAVE and are assumed to be Black (Purnell et al., 1999; Massey and Lundy, 2001).

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- Kurinec, C. A. & Weaver III, C. A. (2021). Frontiers in Psychology, 12, link
- photograph by John H. White (Chicago, Illinois, August 1973, copyright Documerica Photography Project), via

"They are not demographics, they are people."

Keith Kahn-Harris, a sociologist teaching Jewish studies, noticed the lack of diversity when it comes to representing British Jews. In fact, a great many articles were illustrated with the same Getty Images photograph, i.e., haredi Orthodox men seen from behind. Kahn-Harris tracked down the photographer - Robert Stothard - to learn about its background. The image, that had become the so-called go-to photograph for all sorts of stories about the Jewish community, or communities, had originally been taken to illustrate an article on police presence in London's Jewish neighbourhoods. In 2019, Kahn-Harris and Stothard started working on a new series of photographs of British Jews, a series that would no longer misrepresent their diversity. The photobook "What does a Jew Look Like" was published in 2022, including narratives written by the persons themselves (via).

Above: "There were few reminders of our heritage in our day-to-day lives bar the Chanukah cards we opened alongside our Christmas ones. Adolescence changed that, though. Keen for us to learn our history, our mother took us, at 12 and 13, to Auschwitz during the school holidays... I lit a menorah at home for the first time this year, despite still being irreligious, and was moved significantly by the experience. After all, a lack of faith made no difference to the Gestapo or the KGB​." Rio, Leeds (via)

Getty Images commissioned me to do a set of images depicting increased police presence on the streets in the wake of the 2015 Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris. There were fears of copycat attacks in Britain,” explains Stothard. “So when I took the photos they were news pics. But since then, one image in particular has been clumsily repurposed, become a decontextualised and ubiquitous stock image. It has even been used to illustrate a story about campus antisemitism. It made me very uncomfortable. Robert Stothard

Above: Anonymous.

There are only about 300,000 Jews in Britain so it’s quite easy to live here and never meet a real, live one. The way we are portrayed in the media, in public, is important, it’s how impressions are formed. So the aim of the book is simple – we want non-Jews, and even some Jews, to understand that there is no such thing as the generic Jew. Keith Kahn-Harris

Above: "When the Prodigy’s sound system broke down mid-set at Glastonbury back in 1997, I was asked to go on stage and keep the frustrated crowd at bay while they tried to fix it. I didn’t have any jokes and was getting bottles thrown at me, so I decided to sing Hava Nagila to 90,000 people and thankfully it worked a treat. That song really saved my arse that night​." Paul, north London (via)

Above: "am a practicing artist – concentrating on drawing and installation, my work explores themes of identity, memory, sexual violence, and the body. Largely autobiographical, I use biological materials such as broken eggshells and living matter – plants, insects, fungus – as media, either drawing directly onto them or using them to transform objects and spaces. I was brought up with a very strong religious and cultural identity, but in a non-traditional household. Our family was part of the radical feminist movement; I was conceived through donor insemination and the household was very much part of that ‘80s leftist Stoke Newington scene. There was always a degree of balancing political and personal ideology with religious practice. To make keeping kosher dietary laws easier, we were vegetarian. I went to a Jewish primary school. We’d go on Friday to Ridley Road market to buy challah, and we lit candles and had traditional Friday night dinner to welcome in Shabbat, when I wasn’t allowed to turn on the TV or touch anything electric. As I got older and my mum left the more radical circles, we became more traditionally observant and moved to a more Jewish area of London. I studied in seminary for two years pre-university and got married whilst a student to my long-term boyfriend. As an adult, I have moved back to East London and now live with my husband in Bow. I have a studio in Woolwich where I work and can plan projects. I lived in Edgware for many years but felt stifled and constrained by the atmosphere there – the main thing I miss about it is the excellent foraging in the local woodlands! Living away from the North West London Jewish bubble allows me more freedom to be religious and observant but also to lead a more unconventional life without the scrutiny or pressure of a curious and conservative community. I do not currently want children so many of the tropes of religious married life do not fit my own. I can cover my hair, keep kosher, go to shul, go to the mikvah and fulfil mitzvot without having to live in a row of houses all of which have mezuzot." Tilla, east London (via)

Above: "The photo was taken in Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield. That’s the place I usually walk on Shabbat. I’ve had a relationship with trees since I was a child. I’ve lived in Sheffield for over four years now, after moving from London, where I was born and raised. I came to Sheffield to get away from the London anxiety! I’m a member of the Seven Hills Synagogue. It’s small, maybe 100 people, so it’s a very tight-knit and friendly community. We don’t have our own building, so we meet in a community centre every other week. I’m part of a sub-group here where we build up diversity and inclusivity within the Jewish community, trying to engage with our members to talk about the presence of Disabled Jews, Black Jews, Jews of Colour and Queer Jews. It’s a way to help them adapt within those spaces through social activities and promote an accepting diversity of Jews everywhere. My parents are Nigerian Igbos. They moved to the UK in the 80s but divorced in the early 2000s. Though my Mum is Christian, some reputable anthropologists believe in the theory that Igbos have Hebrew Israelite origins. Ironically, I first heard about Judaism through my childhood learning difficulties when I was seven years old. I went to a secular school in the Jewish Haredi neighbourhood of Stamford Hill. I had a teaching assistant who was a secular Jew, and I asked her questions whenever we went to the library nearby. For example, once I asked, ‘Why are these people dressed like that?’ She told me there are strictly practising Jews and explained the different movements of Judaism. I embraced Judaism in the early 2010s as I love the idea of tikkun olam, being spiritually conscious, doing tzedakah, and celebrating my ancestors contribution to the Torah. I want to build consciousness of overseas Afro-Caribbean Jewish communities in the UK to advocate for their recognition within Jewish Education. There are other Black Jews with Afro-Caribbean heritage in cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester. The problematic issue in Jewish spaces is explaining the connections between African ethnic groups and the biblical tribe of Israel; people get confused, and I constantly have to explain. Not only ethnic groups such as the Igbo, the Akan, the Lemba, and the Abayudaya — but other African Jewish communities make the same claim." Kenneth, Sheffield (via)

Above: "‘Are there any Jews?’ This was the first question my wife asked me nearly 15 years ago when I was offered a teaching post in Scotland. I conducted online research and it appeared that Edinburgh was the new Jerusalem!" Joe, Edinburgh (via)

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photographs via and via and via and via and via and via

A Narrative Review of Alzheimer's Disease

Misconceptions associated with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are widespread and do have a profound impact on both people with AD and their caregivers. The stigma around AD causes negative effects  leading to isolation, decreased quality of life, low self-esteem, and poor mental health. It also makes people avoid help-seeking behaviours which again results in delayed diagnosis and little utilisation of health and social services (Rosin et al., 2020).

AD is identified as so-called non-normal ageing, the patient becomes a "non-person", their being destroyed, their body left to be managed in a life without quality, a "living dead" without independence and dignity. The social construction of turning AD patients into zombies dehumanises them and leads to significant stigma and associations as incompetent, burdensome to the family and the system, inable to contribute to society. Compared with other illnesses, such as cancer, Alzheimer's Disease elicits lower intent to help and make donations.

Negative portrayal in the media and the medical field lead to fears and stigma in public perceptions. Advertisments show them in the final stages of the disease, looking lost and infantilised, which furthers stigma and marginalisation. While people with AD desire to partake in "the societal norm of productivity", media portrayals show the opposite. Aspects of dementia patients' interest - such as finding meaning in the disease and learning from it - are not discussed in popular culture.

Furthermore, AD and mental illness are often confused, causes and symptomatology misattributed, which, again, can generate stigma. According to research findings, there is greater stigma around mental illness when it is attributed to one's own behaviour and is hence seen within their control to prevent. A survey carried out in the US demonstrated that 35% of the respondents believed AD was a mental illness. Those who did believe AD was a mental illness also rated symtpoms more severely, i.e., were more stigmatising.

While symptoms of dementia are surely not "normal" effects of ageing, particularly in the early phases of AD distinctions are not always clear. In addition, the general public seems to believe that AD (and dementia in general) is a "normal" part of ageing not knowing how to differentiate between so-called normal symptoms being part of ageing and symptoms of dementia. This misunderstanding may prevent diagnosis but also increase stigma since ...

believing that dementia is a normal age-related process may further a belief that the symptoms of AD are character faults and are not caused by neurodegenerative reasons, increasing perceived causal responsibility

Caregivers experiencing stigma may start avoiding social relationships, hence isolation and depression. They may lose jobs, lose social relationships including those to family members. Extended family members might interact less frequently with caregivers which again puts more pressure on the latter and prevent them from searching for services that can reduce their burden. According to Alzheimer's Association, in 2019 alone, 49% of primary caregivers suffered from depression. In fact ...

A study demonstrated that adult children’s perceptions of being stigmatized by the association with their parents with AD increased their negative caregiving experiences beyond the effects of the behavioral problems associated with AD [70]. (Rosin et al., 2020)

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- Rosin, E. R., Blasco, D., Pilozzi, A. R., Yang, L. H. & Huang, X. (2020). A Narrative Review of Alhzeimer's Disease Stigma. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 78(2), 515-528. 
- image of the great Monica Vitti via

Excursus #9. (De-)sexualisation as an instrument for stereotyping the ethnically "other"

This is the text published in the exhibition catalogue. More texts of mine on the Dragon Lady, Butterfly, Mandingo, Uncle, Mammy, Jezebel stereotypes etc. are exhibited in the Caricature Museum Krems until 19th of February 2023.

Black … tall, athletic, strong, hypersexual, lusts after white women. Thus runs the narrative that turns Black men into feral savages and white women into the endangered objects of their desire. This narrative concurrently elevates white women to a generally valid female ideal and, tacitly but unmistakably, downgrades Black women to, at best, a second-rate alternative to this ethnocentric notion of beauty, an arbitrary and often contradictory mix of non-desirable, because desexualised , and unworthy of protection, because hypersexualised .

The Mandingo character was born at a moment that suited the white man. It pandered to rape myths in order to evoke fear and fury, the very emotions that can mobilise the masses and be instrumentalised to assert the white man's own interests—cloaked in the friendly guise of protecting women and serving the common weal. Protection is required when danger is looming—was actually the key message here. The muscle power of the enslaved Mandingo was useful on the plantation of the white man, but when Mandingo became a free individual, he had outlived his usefulness and the white man lived in fear that he might take his revenge by sexually assaulting white women.

Rape myths emerged when slaves became free and their freedom put social hierarchies and power asymmetries at risk. Basically, they were a paranoid reaction on the part of white men to an anticipated new order; instilling fear of a Black rapist was designed to serve as a prophylactic. After all, a world without slavery also meant political and economic participation for African Americans and thus endangered white supremacy. Moreover, it also meant the potential shattering of a sexual taboo involving the constellation of Black/male and white/female. Every effort was made to prevent this constellation, and crafting the image of the uninhibited, voracious Black rapist turned out to be a clever stratagem that also successfully instrumentalised sexual envy. Marketed under a catchy label, “new Negro crime”, the myth was disseminated by the Ku Klux Klan; while the—purported—aim was to protect white women and their purity, the actual motivation was to uphold the white power system. After all, rape of a white woman, even attempted rape, was only punishable by execution if the perpetrator was Black.

In this tradition white women assumed a complex role, being inferior as a gender to white men, but ethnically superior to Black men. They were able to harness this superiority by accusing a Black man of rape, even if their relationship was consensual. This course of action was taken, for instance, if relationships threatened to become public knowledge and the family’s reputation had to be protected. The practice of lynching helped to preserve order and regulated and controlled the behaviour and status of white women. The Mandingo stereotype legitimised executions and lynching. Today, it lives on in derivative forms as athlete, criminal or porn fantasy.

The female Black equivalent likewise suited the purposes of white men: Jezebel, the hypersexual, seductive, manipulative Black woman, the antithesis of the pure and innocent white woman. First and foremost she served as living proof of Black promiscuity and bolstered the insinuation that white men would not ever sexually assault their female slaves, but rather that the sex was consensual or indeed initiated by the woman.

Not particularly graceful, but likeable because devoid of hard edges, soft and motherly. This is the persona of the grateful slave woman, a loyal servant who knows her place and perceives her life’s purpose to be that of serving her white family. She neither has nor wants any Black friends, their aspirations of freedom being beyond her comprehension. In literature, movies and animated film alike, the “mammy” figure is portrayed as a corpulent, coarse, clownish, sometimes unclean, unattractive and, above all, asexual character. These attributes serve to convey a significant message and another riposte to the accusation levelled by abolitionists from the North that slave owners sexually exploited their female slaves, particularly the younger, lighter-skinned and slimmer ones among them. It is hardly a coincidence that the character of the mammy was forged in the time before and during the American Civil War. She served as evidence that white men could never covet a Black woman. The male equivalent of the mammy is the “uncle”, a completely asexual Black man who is unfailingly friendly and loyal to whites. Both were used as corporate characters in the design and marketing of food products.

The exhibition addresses the background and impact of ethnic stereotypes which are reduced to just a few signal components: Black, Asian, male, female, de-sexualised and hypersexualised . Apart from the examples sketched out here, the show also explores the combination of Asian and female, specifically in the characters of Butterfly and Dragon Lady. Both types of women are highly sexualised , the former being obedient, submissive, fragile and perfectly ready to commit suicide in order not to stand in the way of the white man’s long-term happiness, the latter being ice-cold, selfish, seductive and merciless. Asian men, on the other hand, are more often shown as desexualised characters, even today. The makers of movies and television films liked to use the practice of blackface and yellowface, which also served as templates for character design. Another aspect explored by the exhibition is the mutual influence on one another of comics, novels, film and theater, as well as the question of what role humour —genuine or pretend—plays in the acceptance of stereotypical portrayals. (Moazedi, 2022)

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photograph by Chen Man via, translation by Susanne Watzek

Excursus #9. The Impact of Stereotypes.

Since July, some texts of mine have been exhibited at the Caricature Museum Krems. Excursus #9 is on stereotypes, othering, and the role of (de)sexualisation of Black and Asian men and women. Here is the general part - printed in the museum's catalogue - on the impact of stereotypes, translated into English by Susanne Watzek.

Stereotypes do not emerge in a vacuum, in complete detachment from society and its structures, developments, the zeitgeist and the asymmetries of power. Time and place have an effect. Stereotypes define the representations that can, should or must be created in order to legitimise or uphold a certain state of affairs. One thing is certain: they are anything but disinterested; often designed to put the blame on the “other”, stereotypes thus reflexively lift any blame from one’s own shoulders and the collective one feels affiliated to. The “others” are a threat, aren’t they, which means that an attack is really nothing but defensive action. If the “other” is a seductress, having sex with her is a mere reaction. It turns out that these projections often tell us more about the creators of a stereotype than about those it is directed at. 

In most cases, stereotypes are negatively connoted, undifferentiated and simplistic attributions that define the level of popularity and status, stigmatise , create distance, construe identities and reinforce or redefine one’s own identity in strict delineation from that of the other. They are reductionist systems of orientation and structure, indispensable for othering and narratives in support thereof; they create categories in which to pigeonhole others and justify or exacerbate marginalisation and dominance, prescribing an assigned place for each and every human being. Stereotypes construe otherness and norms, defining affiliation and non-affiliation. While simplification does not do justice to human three-dimensionality, it makes the world more manageable and easier to grasp; over there the marginal groups in one big homogeneous mass, over here one’s own groups with all their many-hued facets. The defining element in all this: that which we do not have in common. 

Empirical findings are unambiguous and there is consensus among researchers that stereotypes distort perception, memory and patterns of explanation. A tendency towards selective perception has been observed: people see what fits their patterns and adhere to these patterns very rigidly, at the same time exhibiting all the more flexibility when it comes to defending them. Whatever does not fit the pattern is turned into a subcategory with deviating features and labelled an “exception to the rule”. People are resourceful in this exercise and stereotypes become pliable. In this way, the former do not have to rethink anything and the latter can be upheld. All is well.

Stereotyped knowledge becomes common knowledge that is acquired, handed down and perpetuated everywhere, in school, in the family, in the media and at the workplace. The images thus become common biases, mindsets and cultural resources. As a seminal part of socialisation these images have the power to shape not only how one sees others, but also how these others see themselves. Again, numerous studies have provided ample evidence that even a subtle activation of stereotypes has an impact on self-esteem, self-assessment and an individual’s level of performance. There comes a point when the messages suggesting that you are too much a woman, too Black, too old, are internalised and the stereotype takes effect, restraining, constricting and threatening. It curbs your radius of action and you act in line with the low expectations. When gender stereotypes are activated, the performance in mathematics or football deteriorates. Handwriting turns into a scrawl and gait becomes slow when age is made an issue, and the performance of African Americans in cognitive tests deteriorates—even in children - when skin colour is brought into play. These are only a few examples, but stereotypes are rarely harmless. (Moazedi, 2022)

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photograph by Chen Man via

Male fashionistas, female football fans, gender stereotypes and neurophysiological correlates

Abstract: Recent studies have shown that pre-existing contextual information, such as gender stereotypes, is incorporated online during comprehension (e.g., Van Berkum, van den Brink, Tesink, Kos, & Hagoort, 2008). Stereotypes, however, are not static entities, and social role theory suggests that they may be influenced by the behavior of members of the group (Eagly, 1987). Consequently, our study examines how gender stereotypes affect the semantic processing of statements from both a male and a female speaker, as well as investigating how the influence of stereotypes may change as listeners gain experience with individual speakers. 

Participants listened to male and female speakers produce sentences about stereotypically feminine (fashion) and stereotypically masculine (sports) topics. Half of the participants heard a stereotype congruent pattern of sentences (e.g., for the male speaker, semantic errors about fashion but no semantic errors on sports sentences) and the other half heard a stereotype incongruent pattern. We found that the N400 effect of semantic correctness is larger in stereotype incongruent conditions. Furthermore, in stereotype congruent conditions, only stimuli presented in the male voice show an N400 effect in the expected direction (larger N400s to semantic violations). Additionally, when we examined ERP changes over the course of the experiment, we found that the degree of change in amplitude was predicted by individual differences in ambivalent sexism. These results suggest that not only are speaker characteristics incorporated during online language processing, but also that social knowledge influences language processing in a manner congruent with social role theory. (Grant, Grey & van Hell, 2020)

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- Male fashionistas and female football fans: Gender stereotypes affect neurophysiological correlates of semantic processing during speech comprehension. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 53, link

- photograph (stock photo from 1970s, H. Armstrong Roberts studio) via

Awkward Puppets: Becoming Friends with a Robber

Diego: How would you feel if I assumed you only eat chicken and watermelon?
Robber: How would you feel if I assumed you only eat tacos and fajitas?
Diego: Damn, I could really go for a taco right now.
Robber: Hey, actually, I could do the same.

::: Awkward Puppets, Becoming Friends with a Robber: WATCH or WATCH

image via

How locals vs. non-locals see Glasgow

According to a survey carried out in 2016, Glasgow is the most stereotyped and misjudged city in the United Kingdom. The top two words used by non-locals to describe the city were deprived (21%) and unsafe (16) while locals described Glasgow as happy (59%) and relaxed (38%) (via).

"This misunderstanding of Glasgow is further highlighted when people were asked to rank the cities in order of how safe they are. Glasgow ranked in the top three most unsafe cities for nearly half (45%) of all respondents, which is unreflective of the official statistics released by the Police and Scottish Government, where the number of crimes committed in Glasgow ranks second only to Edinburgh in the whole of the UK." (via).

photographs taken in Glasgow by Magnum photographer Raymond Depardon (1980) via

Awkward Puppets: Offensive Jokes

Sam: "We have better technology."
Diego: "We have better food."
Sam: "Psh, please. There is more to life than just tacos."
Diego: "Yeah, well, there is more to life than just kale chips."
Sam: "We have better TV."
Diego: "We have better girls."
Sam: "We have better music."
Diego: "Are you ... are you kidding me? Every time I turn on the radio it's Taylor Swift complaining about high school boys. Isn't she like 45?"

::: Awkward Puppets, Offensive Jokes WATCH or WATCH

image via

The Good Mother Sacrificing Her Professional Life. A Survey.

According to a survey carried out in Italy in 2021, about 42% of the respondents believe that "it is not possible for women to be good mothers without partly sacrificing their professional life." Two out of three respondents said that "it is more difficult for a woman to have a successful career because she would have to partly sacrifice her family life." 51% of respondents believe that people would exaggerate gender inequalities (via).

photograph of Sophia Loren and her son via