kate_leila18
5th October 2009, 01:44
most common national stereotypes
The word stereotype is of Greek origin literally meaning "solid-kind". these are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups, based on some prior assumptions.
To some, national stereotypes may provoke racism. To others, national stereotypes are harmless jokes based on the identity that a certain nation or people has established or projected towards other countries through the years.
But is there a sliver of truth in these national stereotypes? Or are they just inaccurate preconceived notions, which can be pretty offensive to many people?
Whatever your views are, here are of the most common national stereotypes ....
anyway, here are some countries that ive thought of asking some of my friends and collegues
what comes to their mind if they hear of these countries.. i needed to search some in yahoo and google..
these are their common answers...
ITALY - known for three P’s: pizza, pasta and passionate sex.
INDIANS - poor and narrow-minded conservative people, and have body odor (because indian like spices)
SWEDES - violently mad soccer freaks(because of more soccer-related assaults each year)
CHINESE - math genius(in my own experience yes,most of them),
eat anything that moves,( it pertains to exotic foods and mostly medicinal for them..)
believe that fate has something to do with signs,astrology, feng shui, and kung fu experts
BELGIUM - known for chocolates, mussels and chips(fries)
GREECE - "greek mythology" by edith hamilton, architectural buildings etc..
HUNGARY - hungarian sausage thats all they can give me!:)
AMERICANS - open-minded and liberal(i think if it will be based on their tv series like desperate housewives, sex and the city etc..and movies like american pie and a lot more...)
AUSTRALIA - kangaroo, koala, mel gibson, same accent like brits
KOREANS - diligent,aggressive and fashionable..(k-pop,hairstyles,tv series here in the philippines)
JAPANESE - futuristic(in their inventions,technology,etc) yakusa,sumo, sushi..and they dont say "no".(because they always bow to every body
IRISH - are drunkards, stupid and the butt of many jokes.Ireland ranks only third in a 2004 survey by World Drink Trends, behind Luxembourg and Hungary..still high
SPANISH - great lovers but lazy people...(Siesta or chismis is a well-known part of the Spanish culture but its not enough to conclude that the entire Spanish people’s deadly sin is sloth.
COLUMBIANS - comical and arrogant
HOLLAND - tulips, cheese lovers, marijuana users
GERMANS - cheapskates and rude
TURKISH - skirmishers and violent people
LEBANONS - talibans and suicide bombers
PAKISTAN - al-Qaedas and terrorists
RUSSIANS - are hard drinkers,very pious or extremely superstitious and seldom smile (people from other countries seem to think that they have been drinking vodka since birth),
CANADIANS - are boring and oversexed..
ROMANIANS - blood suckers and vampires..
ENGLISH MEN- love football more than they love their wives, business-crazy people and mostly uncircumsized
FILIPNOS - uneducated island people, imitators, faithful lovers
In early 2007, someone asked this question on Yahoo!
Where is the best Architecture school in the Philippines? and an american answered it in this way...
“I don’t think they have any schools in philippines, its a 3rd world country they live in poverty with no running water. its sort of like africa but like a jungle.”
Good thing it was already deleted...
i worked as a inbound call center agent in quezon city where i used to receive calls from these americans..
They don’t realize that the people who answer their calls and tell them what to do because they can’t figure out how remote control works are actually Filipinos.
Also I just remembered one of the news i've watched on CNN a long time ago,
A Czech artist made an installation that is on exhibit at the EU office, as tribute to Czech Republic’s EU presidency.
It made a lot of negative reactions because the artwork showed “stereotypes” of the European Union member nations:
Italy - shown as a football nation.
Romania - represented by Dracula.
Bulgaria - represented by squat toilets.
France - represented by a banner with the word “Greve!” written on it, symbolizing the labor unions.
Poland - a priest was raising the Rainbow Flag.
Denmark - was made of Lego(im tempted to stereotype to this..i thought it was cookies(",)because im thinking of "danish cookies":doh
And surprisingly, an empty space for UK, just my assumption,depicting the country’s aloofness from the mainland Europe.
The word stereotype is of Greek origin literally meaning "solid-kind". these are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups, based on some prior assumptions.
To some, national stereotypes may provoke racism. To others, national stereotypes are harmless jokes based on the identity that a certain nation or people has established or projected towards other countries through the years.
But is there a sliver of truth in these national stereotypes? Or are they just inaccurate preconceived notions, which can be pretty offensive to many people?
Whatever your views are, here are of the most common national stereotypes ....
anyway, here are some countries that ive thought of asking some of my friends and collegues
what comes to their mind if they hear of these countries.. i needed to search some in yahoo and google..
these are their common answers...
ITALY - known for three P’s: pizza, pasta and passionate sex.
INDIANS - poor and narrow-minded conservative people, and have body odor (because indian like spices)
SWEDES - violently mad soccer freaks(because of more soccer-related assaults each year)
CHINESE - math genius(in my own experience yes,most of them),
eat anything that moves,( it pertains to exotic foods and mostly medicinal for them..)
believe that fate has something to do with signs,astrology, feng shui, and kung fu experts
BELGIUM - known for chocolates, mussels and chips(fries)
GREECE - "greek mythology" by edith hamilton, architectural buildings etc..
HUNGARY - hungarian sausage thats all they can give me!:)
AMERICANS - open-minded and liberal(i think if it will be based on their tv series like desperate housewives, sex and the city etc..and movies like american pie and a lot more...)
AUSTRALIA - kangaroo, koala, mel gibson, same accent like brits
KOREANS - diligent,aggressive and fashionable..(k-pop,hairstyles,tv series here in the philippines)
JAPANESE - futuristic(in their inventions,technology,etc) yakusa,sumo, sushi..and they dont say "no".(because they always bow to every body
IRISH - are drunkards, stupid and the butt of many jokes.Ireland ranks only third in a 2004 survey by World Drink Trends, behind Luxembourg and Hungary..still high
SPANISH - great lovers but lazy people...(Siesta or chismis is a well-known part of the Spanish culture but its not enough to conclude that the entire Spanish people’s deadly sin is sloth.
COLUMBIANS - comical and arrogant
HOLLAND - tulips, cheese lovers, marijuana users
GERMANS - cheapskates and rude
TURKISH - skirmishers and violent people
LEBANONS - talibans and suicide bombers
PAKISTAN - al-Qaedas and terrorists
RUSSIANS - are hard drinkers,very pious or extremely superstitious and seldom smile (people from other countries seem to think that they have been drinking vodka since birth),
CANADIANS - are boring and oversexed..
ROMANIANS - blood suckers and vampires..
ENGLISH MEN- love football more than they love their wives, business-crazy people and mostly uncircumsized
FILIPNOS - uneducated island people, imitators, faithful lovers
In early 2007, someone asked this question on Yahoo!
Where is the best Architecture school in the Philippines? and an american answered it in this way...
“I don’t think they have any schools in philippines, its a 3rd world country they live in poverty with no running water. its sort of like africa but like a jungle.”
Good thing it was already deleted...
i worked as a inbound call center agent in quezon city where i used to receive calls from these americans..
They don’t realize that the people who answer their calls and tell them what to do because they can’t figure out how remote control works are actually Filipinos.
Also I just remembered one of the news i've watched on CNN a long time ago,
A Czech artist made an installation that is on exhibit at the EU office, as tribute to Czech Republic’s EU presidency.
It made a lot of negative reactions because the artwork showed “stereotypes” of the European Union member nations:
Italy - shown as a football nation.
Romania - represented by Dracula.
Bulgaria - represented by squat toilets.
France - represented by a banner with the word “Greve!” written on it, symbolizing the labor unions.
Poland - a priest was raising the Rainbow Flag.
Denmark - was made of Lego(im tempted to stereotype to this..i thought it was cookies(",)because im thinking of "danish cookies":doh
And surprisingly, an empty space for UK, just my assumption,depicting the country’s aloofness from the mainland Europe.