essentialism (es¦sen¦tial|ism)

noun

• a belief that things have a set of characteristics which make them what they are, and that the task of science and philosophy is their discovery and expression; the doctrine that essence is prior to existence. Compare with existentialism.
• the view that all children should be taught on traditional lines the ideas and methods regarded as essential to the prevalent culture.
• the view that categories of people, such as women and men, or heterosexuals and homosexuals, or members of ethnic groups, have intrinsically different and characteristic natures or dispositions.