10 National Stereotypes ...

By Alison

10 National Stereotypes ...

Recently I was reading about a brand new guide to the UK, published in the US, and ended up wondering where they did their research. I just couldn’t recognise my country from what they said. It seems that if there’s one stereotype that refuses to die, it’s that of nationality … (PS no offence intended to anyone)

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1

The British

The British Photo Credit: Irene.B.

At 4pm sharp, right across the land, the entire country stops for this age-old ritual of tea, sandwiches and cakes. According to the above-mentioned guide, that is. Now, I admit that most British people I know can’t get through the day without several cups of tea, but I have never known anyone make afternoon tea. Not once.

2

The French

The French Photo Credit: Hughes Léglise-Bataille

They do love their strikes, the French, don’t they? On the slightest pretext, they down tools and go for a nice march, waving their banners. The civil servants strike. The transport workers strike. Now everyone’s objecting to the prospect of having to retire at 62. They should think themselves lucky they’re not British – we’ll have to soldier on until we’re 67, with no time for afternoon tea …

3

The Americans

The Americans Photo Credit: astrycula

Everybody knows that all Americans are obnoxious, overweight, ignorant gun-toting flag-waving patriots who want to invade every other country on earth, right? No, this is the problem with stereotypes – how can 200 million people all be the same? The US is such a vast country, and in my limited experience every American I’ve ever met has been friendly and pleasant.

4

Mexicans

Mexicans Photo Credit: harrycobra

My mother thinks that all Mexicans are bandits (I think she’s seen too many cowboy films). Everybody else thinks that they are lazy and spend all day sleeping in the sun. On the contrary, every Mexican I have met has been very hard-working. American stereotype them as illegals. Or is that a stereotype itself?

5

Brazilians

Brazilians Photo Credit: Λl℮Roda®

All Brazilians are unbelievably good-looking, have perfect tanned bodies, and spend all their time lounging around on beaches. I have only met one Brazilian – and trust me, he should never be seen on a beach. If this stereotype were true, what would all the Brazilians who live nowhere near a beach do (it is a very big country …).

Famous Quotes

If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence.

Laozi
6

Canadians

Canadians Photo Credit: LunaModule

The poor Canadians must get so tired of their country being portrayed as about nothing more than moose, ice hockey and Mounties. Then there’s being mistaken for Americans, and labelled as boring …

7

Any Muslim Nation

Any Muslim Nation Photo Credit: Mansour Ali

Most assumptions about nationality are quite funny, if not entirely true, but Muslims are now the subject of the most dangerous stereotype. They are all considered to be at best religious extremists who want to impose their way of life on everyone else, and at worst terrorists. Very sad. It ignores the major contribution of Islam to architecture, medicine and literature, and that the majority are peaceful people.

8

Italy

Italy Photo Credit: BravoPapa

All Italians are terrible drivers. The young people spend their time riding around on scooters. The men are Mamma’s boys, live at home until they are 35, and no-one will ever cook pasta sauce as good as Mamma.

9

Scandinavians

Scandinavians Photo Credit: Heiðr

All Scandinavians are tall, good-looking blondes who love winter sports. They are totally relaxed about their bodies and have no problems being naked in company. Other than this they are totally boring and have never done anything of cultural or historical note.

10

Africans

Africans Photo Credit: Eric Lafforgue

Whichever country they come from, Africans are either primitive tribesmen, gun-toting warmongerers or gigolos looking for rich western women. They are also all musical, spend much of their time dancing, and all live in poverty unless they are part of a corrupt elite.

Well, I’m happy to laugh at how the British are portrayed, but what do you think of the stereotypes of your own country? Do you find them funny, ignorant or offensive?

Top Photo Credit: crustydolphin

Feedback Junction

Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge

I think the Canadian stereotypes are usually pretty funny. But for the record, I don't ride a polar bear/live in an igloo.

hahah this made me laugh so much! im english and hate tea! <3 :)

Im american, For the past 5 years I have lived abroad. 2 years in S.Korea and 3 years in Belgium. One thing I noticed when I returned back to U.S. is that A LOT of Americans are over weight. I have been in many airports around the world, and American air ports have a lot of overweight people in them compared to other places. Its easy for people to give Americans this stereotype, especially if they have never been outside of the airport.

I'm from India and I HATE it when westerners ask me if all Indians ride an elephant! Also, hate people saying "Wow. You're English is really good" usually with a look of utter disbelief. Ugh. I bet I can spell better than most of them!

This post is funny and interesting and comments on this are also very enjoyable. I am an Indian, apart from elephant and good english I was asked about snake charming several times. Even more than 10 times during a flight......I was so irritated at last that I said-"Yes I am a Naagin (A woman who can change into a snake!) like most of us (Indians). So be careful."Lol

I'm from Austria and I think it's funny when people think we run around in Dirndl and Lederhosen all the time (we do put those on for festivities though) xD I also have never met anyone who does yodeling. Ever. The funny thing about the stereotypes is that I can see were they come from - I mean, in Austrian cities you can usually get cake or baked goods at every other corner, and culture is very important, a lot of people enjoy classical music or going to the theatre. The society in general has a "back then, in our glory days"-culture and is a very history-focused one (Austria is a very old nation after all)

They're terribly wrong about Brazil. But you forgot to tell about the giant butts. And about the monkeys and all those animals from Floresta Amazônica, they're more common here than humans. Lol.

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