Implicit Bias: We Need to Talk About It

Recently our society has seen many unfortunate instances of intimate assault. These instances have become a regular part of the news as they have been happening more and more often. As sad as this is, it has brought up the meaning of implicit bias. Implicit bias is the way that people assess one another based on how they look, dress, act, etc. These assessments are made based on stereotypes that our society has created about certain ways people dress and behave. Like it or not, you too judge others with your own implicit bias in some way. It may be a judgment that a male wearing a soccer jersey plays soccer, or at least likes soccer; or it may be a judgment that a woman wearing a short skirt is inviting other people to disrespect her.

This topic of implicit bias in regards to it leading to rash decisions has been a heavily debated topic in our current world. In intimate assault cases, people may say the victim was asking for what she got because of the way she was dressed, but is this true? No it is not. Women of America are free. Free to do, say, and wear what they want without having to explain themselves. Why has it become a trend to see a woman wearing revealing clothing and automatically think that woman is deserving of being used against her will?

These are serious questions and concerns that USU’s Dress and Humanity class will be exploring this semester. We will be working with campus programs designed to help victims of intimate assault to find better ways to handle these issues. As you think about these issues, we hope that you will be encouraged to examine your own implicit biases and rethink your judgments of those around

you.