Are you the housekeepers? A stereotype at work...

written on September 08, 2011 by Tameka Taylor

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Recently, my business partner, Ruth E. Ramos Clifford, and I were recently traveling for work and stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast. We had gotten dressed and were wearing our organization uniform: polos and black pants. We had come downstairs and were sitting at a table for breakfast.


Another guest came into the room. We spoke as did she. Then she asked us, “Are you the housekeepers?” Ruth laughed at her as we answered “no.” We proceeded to tell her that we were doing training at the college, oddly enough in diversity and inclusion.

We couldn’t help but wonder why she asked us if we were the housekeepers. Was it because of our polos? Was it because she saw a Black and Latina woman in this predominantly white rural community? Was it because we were women? Was it our age? Was it because she was consumed with the fact that she stained her white linens and she was trying to apologize? We don’t know for sure, however that comment was probably rooted in a stereotype.

A stereotype is making a generalization about a group of people and saying that all people that belong to that group behave the same way. A couple of examples of a stereotype are that “all women like to cook” and “all men like sports.” Can you think about any women who don’t like to cook and any men who like to cook? Yes, so this stereotype is dispelled. Also, can you think about any men who don’t like sports or women who like sports? Once again, the answer is yes, and it dispels this stereotype as well. The point is that while there may be patterns within groups of people, there are always exceptions to disprove stereotypes.

Is there such thing as positive stereotypes? An example of what many people see as a positive stereotype is “all Asians are good at math.” While this is meant to be positive, if an Asian person is not good at math, then this stereotype puts undue pressure on this person. This pressure can have such negative outcomes on the person who doesn’t fit the stereotype such as self esteem issues.

I shared this recent experience to get you to think about your use of stereotypes? How do they impact you and others?