Paternalistic stereotypes can be internalized by the oppressed group itself.

Evidence

Because the ideas of the dominant tend to become the ideas of the dominated (e.g. Kluegel & Smith, 1986; MacKinnon, 1989; Marcuse, 1964; Marx & Engels, 1846; Mason, 1971), system-justifying stereotypes may be advanced by even those who stand to lose from them. The system-justification approach addresses issues of false consciousness more directly than approaches emphasizing egoor group-justification, since the former stipulates that under certain conditions people will justify the status quo at all costs, above and beyond the desire to justify their own interests or the interests of other group members. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2910 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In particular, Jackman (1994) argues that benevolence toward subordinates in general (not only women) serves to reinforce the dominant group’s position of superiority and control. Whites in the American Old South once stereotyped Blacks as cheerful and loyal, but also as ignorant, submissive, and in need of protection. Most perniciously, these beliefs were internalized by Blacks, and resulted in their helping to maintain a system of own-group oppression. Similarly, stereotyping women as nice (but weak) and treating them in a benevolent (but patronizing) manner serves to maintain gender hegemony, in at least two ways. First, it undermines perceptions of female competence and authority, relegating women to low-status, nurturing roles. Second, it may lead women themselves to uphold the status quo. Certainly oppression is more palatable for subordinates when it is “sugar-coated,” compared with when it is overtly hostile (Jackman, ch. 6 this volume). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 768 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Disadvantaged groups accept stereotypes that sustain their own oppression. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 2911; Oppressed groups internalize dominant categories and police their own members to gain acceptance — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 717; Paternalistic prejudice combines assumed superiority with caretaking toward warm but incompetent groups. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 257 (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• Oppressed people can internalize the oppressor’s hatred and turn it against themselves. #corroborates (0.95)
• Even disadvantaged group members internalize stereotypes that harm their own interests #corroborates (0.93) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2910
• Benevolent, sugar-coated treatment of subordinates enlists them in their own oppression #complicates (0.75) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 768
• Benevolent paternalism can coopt minority-group members into their own subordination #complicates (0.75) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 140