‘Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, a person based on apprehensible social characteristics the purpose of which is to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture , gender , race , intelligence, sexual preference and health. ’ As Plato wrote in The Laws , a dialogue on the ethics of government, ‘if anyone is caught committing sacrilege, if he be a slave or a stranger, let his offence be written on his face and his hands’. The word ‘Stigma’ finds its origins in a Greek word stig -, meaning to prick or to puncture, that means, a type of marking or a tattoo . Something that was cut or burned into the skin of criminals, slaves, or traitors in order to visibly identify them as morally polluted persons, in medieval times and even before. These individuals were to be avoided particularly in public places. Stigma may also be described as a label to ...
I'm average-ish at articulating words.