Mazur later removed the women's facial features from the pictures. Most participants were still able to accurately guess the social class, based on hair and hat styles. Stereotypes are a kind of gossip about the world, a gossip that makes individuals prejudge people before they ever lay eyes on them. Prejudice comes in all forms, from jokes to insults. People are bombarded with what to think about whom and what attitudes should be held on issues through advertisements and media.
Stereotypes are one way in which people define the world in a more simplified manner.
Social class is one of those types. Cyrus goes on to explain that as impoverishing as stereotypes are, they are not easy to ignore or overcome. People do not suddenly drop their standardized pictures for a blinding vision of the truth. Thus, stereotypes about race and gender may be transferred to class. The people of the United States are reluctant to recognize class differences.