Reply #8: Some of it isn't based on conscious thought [View All]

[noamnety]

We're conditioned from a very young age to view white men as authority figures, and everyone else as not as competent - and as denying their basic identity if they act like white men are allowed to act. They get criticized for not being feminine enough or not acting black enough. "Normal" behavior (said with "air quotes") is only acceptable in a "normal" (i.e. white male) person.

A lot of that comes from watching tv and movies. Some comes from the curriculum in our schools. That is VERY pervasive. So we might view assertive women as bossy or shrill, and have a vague negative reaction to that in our gut, without realizing that it's the result of that conditioning. It's like interviewing job candidates ... people who think they aren't sexist at all will perceive a woman's resume as being weaker and showing less experience than a male candidate with identical qualifications. So it would be normal for people to say they aren't sexist, and believe that - but still have a bias.

That's not a republican thing. It's cultural - and from reading DU it's clear it's rampant.