Stigma

#####Stigma

Welcome to the Voice of America’s News Words.

A project called Bicicletear supports the use of bicycles for fun.

STIGMA

In the early 1990s, thousands of bicycles were given to Cubans after the fall of the Soviet Union.

It was a time of economic hardship.

Now, dozens of cyclists ride 20 kilometers through Havana once a month.

The idea is to lose the stigma that bicycles still have with many Cubans.

A stigma is a bad and often unfair belief that a society or a group of people have about something.

It causes a loss of honor or respect for someone or something.