Ch. 8 Classism and Homosexism

negative stereotypes, feelings, and behavior toward poor people or people who are perceived to be economically impoverished

excluding, dehumanizing, and punishing people who are perceived to be indifferent or threatening to the empowered group's beliefs and values

stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination directed at people because of their homosexual orientation

stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination based on one's sexual identity or behavior

people identify and categorize gays based on physical or perceptual cues, or at least they believe they can

fear and disgust with erotic activity (looking at pornography, engaging in oral or anal sex)

internalizing and living out the precepts of one's faith, as typically occurs in people whose faith is important to them

pragmatic approach to religion; extrinsically religious people use religion for social or personal goals

religious beliefs that are based on a literal reading of scriptures and are held with certainty and rigidity

chronic experience of being stereotyped (disliked, feared, judged) and socially alienated (excluded from social institutions)

therapeutic efforts to turning gay people into heterosexuals

the hopes of being able to start from nothing and, through hard work and determination, make something of themselves

• personal attributions of not working hard enough (greater belief among white people, conservative political value holders, and protestant work ethic affirmers)
• poor people lack motivation and responsibility to work (depressed and embarrassed)

not being able to afford the basic necessities of life and being below the poverty line

• negative:
• irresponsibility: insincere, lazy, and stupid
• crude: harsh, incompetent, unfeminine, untidy

positive (women more than men): friendly, nice, loving

women who receive government assistance and stereotyped as young, black, never married lazy women who cheat the system by having children to increase government benefits

ability to buffer the effects of stress on one's physical and mental well-being (resources available to deal with life stressors: money, time, social support), leaves poor people more vulnerable to illness

• Greater chances of mental health issues (depression)
• Greater risk of heart disease, colds, and cancer

• heterosexuals' attitudes are more negative toward gays than lesbians
• based on the perception that both gays and lesbians engage in unnatural and immoral sexual behavior
• Belief that being gay or lesbian was a choice and can be altered/changed
• Belief that gays are more inclined to be pedophiles (child rape) than lesbians
• HINKs (high income, no children) gay and lesbian

• cross-dresser/leather/biker (makeup wearing and flamboyant)
• effeminate (dramatic and soft-spoken)
• artistic/straight-acting/masculine (competent but cold)

• gays are perceived to be less masculine than heterosexual men and lesbians, lesbians perceived as being nearly as masculine as heterosexual men
• homosexism perceived to be controllable and changeable

Those who hold gay stereotypes look at gay and lesbian couples more negatively than those who do not hold those stereotypes

• gay and lesbian applicants for jobs were spoken to less by a potential employer than a straight applicant (social distancing, tension, and hostility result)
• homosexuals barred from legal marriage

abuse and harassment (physically threatened, threatened with weapons, having belongings stolen, target of gay slurs and homophobic speech)