americans have weird stereotypes. we have so many for so many countries and so many subjects. they come up somewhat often when americans talk about countries that theyve never been to but have heard rumors about.
first id like to know if youre even aware of any of them.
second id like to know what kind you have for the U.S.
thirdly id like to get some answers. do europeans find it gross that our women shave a lot? do europeans shower less than americans? do yous think we are stupid/fat/greedy/spoiled?
id have more if i wasnt tired but thats all i got. and yes all of europe is one place. dont try to divide it up into seperate cultures.
hehe…ok, Im from sweden and this is a few of the common stereotypes
We’re all a bunch of commies, right? And all swedish girls are blond and obsessed with sex? And we got arctic climate?
Oh my fuckin’ god, if you only knew. we have lots of stereotypes 'bout americans (often refered to as “jänkare”, yanks) and here comes the most common ones (note that they arn’t my own personal opinions):
You’re stupid and uneducated
you’re fat!
You’re bloodthirsty
You’re laws ar fucked up. You can sue anyone for anything.
You’re arrogant, self-rightious and think youre the peek of civilization
you’re a nation of inbreed cowboy rednecks
you’re all christian fanatics
you’re racists and despise the rest of the world
you’re moralists . You consider sex and porn as a sin and you can’t say “fuck” on TV, but at the samt time you can buy a shotgun at your local 7eleven
you watch too much TV
After 9/11 and schoolshootings you’re paranoid and obsessed with security. You have to pass a metal detector at schools.
You have a fascist government.
extreme police brutality
youre hypocrits
And so on…
I only mentioned the negative aspects here, but don’t get me wrong. There are positive parts too, and we’re very influated by american culture. We don’t hate you (ok, a lot of us acctually do), but we laugh at you and tell stories about you.
And please note that sweds are hypocritical, self-rightious fucks. but we would never admit that. Nooo… we’re so fuckin’ democratic and solidaric and moraly superior. Bullshit, i tell you!
No.
No.
Yes.
i think we have pretty much the same hygenic habits.
a lot of americans thinking that theyre cleaner and more advanced with more industry is true enough i think because theyre so sheltered yet they still think europe is more advanced socially and healthy and find accents classy and sophisticated.
i dont think any americans knows anything about swedish government or any european government for that matter. i cant even remember the prime minister of canada. but the rest is sorta true.
christian fanatics i wouldve never thought of.
there are metal detectors at certain schools but you actually need them in there because the crime has become so bad. which is also another thing. we think crime doesnt exist in europe but were proud of how tough and violent we are.
Yes, but do you have any stereotypes that AREn’t true? Can any stereotype be true, universalising that which has no nature?
(…And to add what Marlene Dietrich said: “In America sex is an obsession, in other parts of the world it is a fact.” I think it was said a while ago, though.)
That about sums up my opinion of the typical American. Clueless about any cultures outside their own. Europe is the most culturally diverse place imaginable and I can’t thing of a single common stereotype for any two European countries. There is no ‘European’ identity.
Some people argue that the US only stepped in when they were attacked by Japan and should have intervened earlier, but I personally believe that it doesn’t really matter. What is important is that the right side won.
Churchill was half American (you probably know that) and always knew US intervention would be the only way to secure victory. Let assume he was right.
However, I am not grateful to America as a nation or a country today, only to those individuals (mostly dead now) who went and fought in the war, and the same goes for any other ally nation.
I have generally avoided the classical prejudices, since Brits, and French, and Germans, and Belgians, and Dutch and Poles and and and… are all so very diverse, and have a clear diversity within the countries, who can say what an American is like?
Having said that, the present American administration has been working all out to get people to stick to their prejudices and have even supplied a couple new ones. Added to that, the American public is portrayed as so uncritically loyal to their Flag, that you only have to wave it and everybody has their hand on hearts, asking where the enemy is going to come from.
There seems to be an expectation too, from many Americans, that Europeans should be eternally grateful for the fact that the Americans help put Hitler away. Younger generations say something similar to what tkingdoll has said: Thanks to the men who lost their lives, and to the old men who risked their lives - but otherwise: forget it.
You only came to Europe because Churchill practically had to beg, Russia was kicking Hitler’s arse and advancing across Europe killing 9 in every 10 German so you wanted to show the world who was boss.
US intervened in WWII because it found it to be of intrest
you really think they helped us out only because the liked us so much?
of course, that’s a part of it, and plenty of the people that helped were indeed idealistic and helpful
some of the main reasons, however, is that US would lose its european allies, get another large competitioner for power, lose the european market for US products, etc…
it’s all about intrests, for large organisations, the larger the more focussed on intrests and power.
as a general rule
But surely that’s irrelevant? If I save your life because someone tells me that if I don’t risk my life helping you then my family will die, what does it matter to you? Your life is saved, end of story. Can a country only intervene in a war if its motive is pure and noble? Name me a country that doesn’t put its own interests (economic or otherwise) first. The government that didn’t wouldn’t be in power for very long.
Just a comment on Vietnam - what idiot thought it would be a good idea to pick a fight with people who had been dedicated to the martial defense of their homeland for eighty years against the Chinese, The French, the Japanese, the French and then the US !!
I thought the missle gap was started by pentagon generals? Also how is Jimmy Carter a bad guy for starting a war In Afghanistan? That’s just crap, I mean that’s just unstudied ideological crap. First off, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. how do we get blamed for it? Secondly, the US barely backed the mujahideen until 1984. It wasn’t until 1986 that the muj were armed with Stingers. Thirdly, all the US aid was routed through the Pakistani ISI and was given to the fucking fundamentalists like Gulbuddin Hekmatyr instead of badass fighters like Abdul haq because the damned ISI was chock full of islamists who thought that fellow islamists would make the best anti soviet warriors. If the US had directly intervened in Afghanistan there would have been nuclear fucking war. Jesus, you can’t win for trying. Finally How is Harry Truman responsible for causing the North Koreans to invade 7/8 of South Korea, the inciting factor of the Korean War?
Whitelotus,
Hitler was unfortunately doomed to lose the war from the get-go. Everybody knows vegetarians can’t fight for shit.
Darkmagus hit the proverbial nail on the head. That list pretty much sums up most Americans. We think we saved Europe’s ass in WW II while millions of Russians died. It’s a joke. I don’t watch TV. I read, primarily European authors.
Yea that’s why I was making fun of myself for even suggesting it.
I haven’t been out of the U.S. I’ve only been out of NY for probably 2 weeks total. It’s kinda ridiculous because even in the U.S there are enough differences that you can tell when someones from out of town and I don’t even get to experience them. Then there’s other countries which I know pretty much nothing about except some music. Sweden has the best music by the way.
Really? Get your passport! England is an easy place to start because there is no language barrier, but you can practically walk to Paris from here and it’s like being in another world.
Sweden is amazing, you should go to Stockholm.
We’re off to Norway for our wedding anniversary next month, I’ll post an e-postcard!
That was what the subject was - and the reason why I posted as I did.
Jimmy Carter isn’t a bad guy for starting a war, but he’s one of the ‘liberal Democratic presidents’ who launched America’s wars - that was the point being made. i.e. It isn’t true that the Republicans start the wars and the Democrats stop them.
Bullshit, i tell you!