I was discussing stereotypes on another forum:
So in your mind, because one potentially false stereotype fails, most stereotypes can't be false? Outside the US there are plenty of stereotypes about Americans - are all those true?
If they hold any water, yes.
Too many people today are brainwashed by "political correctness".
Think about it RATIONALLY -- why do stereotypes refuse to die? The one about women liking to shop? The one about software engineers being male? The one about "boy bands" having vapid lyrics? The one about sports fans not being deep-thinking philosophers? The one about Americans being smug, not learning other languages, and being materialistic and taking on too much debt? I could list dozens of them.
If they had no basis in reality, they would die quickly. But they have
quite a basis in reality.
They're a shortcut to complete analysis, yes. But a shortcut that works MOST of the time, with few exceptions.
We make all kinds of assumptions all day, every day. You don't always have the time for a fair, objective, in-depth analysis of everything.
I'm sorry, but if were a hiring manager, and there were three people applying for a software engineering job, named Amanda Jones, Deshawn White, and Wolfgang Wattenburg, and I didn't have access to any information than their names, I'd probably do the "un-PC" thing and choose the German-sounding guy. True, he might be the one exception to the stereotype, and the female might be particularly good at programming -- but it's usually smart to go with the odds.
And remember -- the exception proves the rule. Just because you can show me a single female computer programmer will not cause me to throw my hands in the air and say, "You're right, there's no pattern. Programmers are male and female." No, you merely showed me an exception, which is remarkable because it's an exception to the rule.