I read a post today where a lady said she had to check her "unconscious bias" because, when a female friend told her they had a crush on someone, she assumed it was a boy. This happened when they were 12 years old.
Only about 5% of the american population identifies as gay. Let's say many of them are still not out so, even if that percentage is closer to 20%, that's still the minority. Why are we making people feel bad for assuming something that would apply to the majority of the population?
What many people now call bias is simply a matter of folks not having all the pertinent details related to the situation. In the case above, the lady's friend kept telling her to guess what her secret was. When she gave her a clue that it was a crush, she started going through the names of the boys that were in their class or neighborhood.
Any rational human being's mind would probably go in this same direction. Especially if that friend had NEVER given any indication that they were attracted to women or that they felt they were gay.
Stop assuming that everyone knows what you are thinking and feeling and stop labeling people as biased just because they don't understand what you're trying to tell them.
