Benign Bigotry
The Psychology of Subtle Prejudice

Focuses on commonly held cultural myths as the basis for examining subtle forms of racial, sexual, gender and religious bias.

Kristin J. Anderson (Author)

9780521702591, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 December 2009

364 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.58 kg

'Benign Bigotry is a very well-written, clear and readable book. It relates to important contemporary issues, such as discrimination based on race, gender and sexuality, which persist[s] in spite of extensive legislation … would be of interest to someone considering, or engaged in, postgraduate study in social psychology; but in addition, it could appeal to the intelligent lay person as well as to professionals such as teachers, human resource executives, lawyers, police, social workers and public administrators.' Social Psychological Review

While overt prejudice is now much less prevalent than in decades past, subtle prejudice - prejudice that is inconspicuous, indirect, and often unconscious - continues to pervade our society. Laws do not protect against subtle prejudice and, because of its covert nature, it is difficult to observe and frequently goes undetected by both perpetrator and victim. Benign Bigotry uses a fresh format to examine subtle prejudice by addressing six commonly held cultural myths based on assumptions that appear harmless but actually foster discrimination: 'those people all look alike'; 'they must be guilty of something'; 'feminists are man-haters'; 'gays flaunt their sexuality'; 'I'm not a racist, I'm color-blind' and 'affirmative action is reverse racism'. Kristin J. Anderson skillfully relates each of these myths to real world events, emphasizes how errors in individual thinking can affect society at large, and suggests strategies for reducing prejudice in daily life.

Introduction: the changing place of prejudice: a migration underground
1. 'Those people all look alike': the myth of the other
2. 'They must be guilty of something': myths of criminalization
3. 'Feminists are man-haters': backlash myth-making
4. 'Gays flaunt their sexuality': the myth of hypersexuality
5. 'I'm not a racist, I'm colorblind': the myth of neutrality
6. 'Affirmative action is reverse racism': the myth of merit
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Psychology [JM]