Editorial October 3, 1994 Issue

Why stereotypes hurt—and how we can challenge them

William E. Moody

Last year, a feature in one of our sister publications, The Christian Science Monitor, shared two distinct perspectives. Both a woman and a man wrote of returning to their homes in urban areas late at night.^{"A Place for Innocence on The Night Streets," The Christian Science Monitor, March 23, 1993.} They told of their feelings of walking alone on city streets after dark—of how it feels to be a woman relating to men, to strangers, in such a situation and vice versa.

The woman writes of her anxieties and fears about being a potential victim. The man writes of his own mental response and how uncomfortable it feels when it becomes obvious that a woman is wary of him, although he would never be a threat to anyone. Both writers see the harm caused by stereotypes, even while they acknowledge the difficulties of urban life and the wisdom of taking normal precautions in one's daily rounds. The woman offers this points of view: "In my search for a place on these streets tonight, I know my first step is to reject oppressive stereotypes. Without question, when I view my world as unfriendly—specifically, as a place that breeds male monsters—I am also cutting off the potential of a larger me and a larger concept of men."

The man writes of the misunderstanding and the growing distance between people that contemporary life often breeds. "Putting up walls—both literal and mental—is easy," he observes. Yet he affirms: "We have a moral obligation to our fellow beings that is not fulfilled by stereotyping or ignoring them."

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