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taelor comments on November 2014 Media Thread - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: ArisKatsaris 01 November 2014 03:42PM

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Comment author: taelor 02 November 2014 09:39:00PM 7 points [-]

But then why do these stereotypes remain stable across generations?

Rational expectations equalibria are a thing. To take a somewhat exagerated example, if everyone thinks that girls suck at math, so no one teaches girls to do math, then no one will ever find out whether or not girls actually suck at math.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 04 November 2014 08:19:18PM 8 points [-]

"Throwing like a girl" is a prime example of that sort of thing. Throwing like a girl turns out to be throwing like someone who's inexperienced with throwing.

If a boy throws like a girl, he's taught and/or shamed out of it as quickly as possible. If a girl throws like a girl, well, what did you expect?

I've phrased this in the present tense, but the culture's improved on the subject.

Comment author: Lumifer 19 November 2014 03:34:10AM 4 points [-]

Now consider a similar-sounding stereotype: "Men are physically stronger than women". Think that's fixable by different expectations?

While some stereotypes reflect cultural expectations, some reflect biological reality.

Comment author: SecondWind 09 June 2015 09:14:48PM 0 points [-]

Strength is determined by biology and behavior; the stereotype reflects both biological reality and cultural expectations. Note that boys are/were expected to be stronger than girls even before puberty actually creates a meaningful biological gap...