Sexual stereotypes have been used to justify dehumanizing, suppressing, or harming outgroups since ancient times. These include assumptions about women's weakness, men's aggression, gays' perversion, lesbians' promiscuity, transgenders' mental illness, bisexuals' confusion, people of color's hypersexuality, Muslims' misogyny, etc. Such rhetoric has led to violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, ethnic minorities, religious groups, etc.
Some examples are the witch hunts during medieval Europe, which targeted women for being "evil" because they did not conform to gender norms; the Nazi Holocaust, which claimed Jews were dirty animals; the American lynching era, which demonized African Americans as sexual predators; the Rwandan genocide, which portrayed Tutsis as subhumans. These narratives often cast minorities as threats to white supremacy, heterosexuality, Christian values, national identity, traditional family structures, etc. They are also associated with fear-based rhetoric that paints outgroups as deviant, dangerous, predatory, alien, uncivilized, or in need of eradication.
Such stereotypes can lead to dehumanization by suggesting outgroups do not feel pain, love, or empathy like "normal" people; they are inherently evil, criminal, violent, diseased, inferior, incapable of self-control, and must be eliminated. This dehumanizes them, making it easier to justify cruelty and even killing. It allows perpetrators to rationalize their actions as necessary to protect themselves or society from these perceived threats.
The media reinforces sexual stereotypes through entertainment such as pornography, horror movies, comics, and video games.
Black men are often depicted as hypersexual predators who threaten white women's purity; transgender women are shown as deceitful perverts trying to trick unsuspecting men into having sex. Such stereotyping justifies violence against those groups.
Politicians have used sexual stereotypes to scapegoat outgroups for economic issues and social instability.
Right-wing politicians blame immigrants for stealing jobs and spreading crime while left-leaning politicians accuse corporations of exploiting workers and destroying the environment. These narratives demonize outgroups as parasites on society, which justifies repression and even violence against them.
Sexual stereotypes can also legitimize discrimination against outgroups by portraying them as "aberrant" and needing correction.
Homophobic laws criminalizing same-sex relationships claim they undermine family values and morality. Sexist policies like affirmative action argue women cannot handle competitive environments because they lack masculine traits. Racist rhetoric claims that minorities must be controlled because they are biologically inferior. This dehumanizes outgroups by treating them as defective, in need of fixing or punishment.
How do sexual stereotypes in political rhetoric justify dehumanization, repression, or violence against out-groups?
Social scientists suggest that sexual stereotyping can be used as an instrument of social control, particularly when it involves dehumanizing, repressive, or violent treatment of out-group members. The construction of such stereotypes is often rooted in fear and prejudice regarding sexual identity, which then leads to discrimination against individuals who are perceived as different from the norm (Maslow et al. , 2016).