One of the best ways to avoid being a basher is to avoid thinking of people as sterotypes. Don't say "boys are silly" if you mean that only some boys are silly. Think about it. Do you have little sterotypes filed away in you brain to help you pre-judge people? Nobody fits a sterotype completely. Get rid of that sterotype file and you can do a better job of seeing people for who they really are. I know a few black people, a few gay people, a few short people, a few tall people, quite a few male and female people. None of these labels has much to do with who they are.
I avoid judging people until I really know them. It makes life easier.
How"two cents"ard