Suppose you are standing with a group of your friends outside a busy restaurant waiting for your table. A group of old people leaves and walks up the road. Suddenly one of them falls to the ground. There is a pause. No one moves. Then someone says: He fell over, maybe we should go help?, to which another replies: No, they’ll take care of it. The conversation resumes briefly. The waiter comes out and lets you know that your table is ready. As you walk in, you notice that the person is still on the ground while the other old people are attempting to help him to his feet. Are you and your friends blameworthy for your inactivity? After all, it is evident that every person in that group is very old and in a poor position to help the fallen man. It is lucky that the old people do not harm themselves while attempting to do so. All of you, on the other hand, are relatively young and spry.

Now pretend that you are the chair of an academic department in the US perusing Lakisha Johnson’s cv. If you are like most, you judge her to be less qualified than a male candidate with an English sounding name, but with the same cv. The candidate is in the unfortunate position of sounding African American, and applying while being a woman. However, you certainly don’t take yourself to be discriminating against her. You are a self-avowed feminist after all. You think she is a less good candidate. You are, we may say, the victim of stereotyping as much as the candidate is; only the consequences are more dire for her. Can we blame you for undervaluing her qualifications?