Stereotypes are common views of a nation which usually have little connection to the reality. Stereotypes about Spain were a topic of my final presentation when I tried to get the diploma of Spanish high education. Now I'd like to talk about some stereotypes about Russia and about the USA.
-Russia
1) Bears. Some of these animals really live in the territory of our conuntry, but they surely do not visit our cities. In moscow, you can see a bear only in a zoo. For example, even taking in consider that I passed some years in the countryside, I haven't ever seen a bear.
2) Vodka. I do not think that we have a special attitude towards vodka - most Russian people that drink alcohol do not have such preferences, although vodka is quite popular because of its low price - you can't buy a bottle of Jack Daniels for 4 dollars.
3) Balalaika. We do not play this instrument! I haven't ever seen it, only on TV. Balalaika is a part of our history, but not of our actual culture.
4) Russians are mostly coarse and uneducated. This stereotype formed because of Russian turists in Egypt, Turkey, etc. Unfortunatly, this stereotype has reasons.
5) Economic stereotype - Russia depends on oil. True, just true.
6) Stereotype, related with image - Russians have usually aquiline nose, black hair and black eyes. In this case, Russians and Gipsies are mixed up. Indeed, Russians have usually blond-brown hair and, all in all, are very different as a lot of nationalities live on the territory of Russia.
7) Russians are agressive. In comparison to Europeans and Americans they are. In Fight Club it was said that actually, everyone triws to evoid conflict. First, i was quite surprised as I had seen a lot of people who were searching for conflict with the others. Then, I understood that for many countries such behaviour will be inexplicable. However, it also menas that Russians are usually more generous and compassionate. For example, a couple of years ago I was really surprised when I heard that in Norway people do not visit their old parents if they are ill - they are just not used to it. For me, it seems to be an absurd and heartlessness.
8) Russian girls are the most beautiful. True.
-USA
1) Americans are fatter because of fast-food. According to the statistics, USA is a country which has most problems with obesity, but it does not mean that all people weight 140 kg, of course. Simply the fact that USA is more developed in economics means that people can go to fast-food every day and it leads to putting on weight.
2) Americans are very hard-working. Mostly true.
3) People in the USA consider themselves to be better then the others. I didn't communicate with a lot of Americans, and the ones I've talked to didn't seem to be pompous blockheads at all.
4) In the USA, feminism led to some strange consecuences. True - for example, you can't hold a door if u go before a woman as it will be rated as solicitation. For me, it sounds very strange.
5) All Americans are polite and always are (or at least seem to be) friendly. True, especially in comparison with Russia.
6) USA does not have discrimination. I'm not sure if I am right or not, but i consider that is in not true that there is no racism at all.
I do not know more things about the USA (or I do not remember them). If you think that I missed something, you can write in comments.
I do not know more things about the USA (or I do not remember them). If you think that I missed something, you can write in comments.
Interesting analysis! You're right about stereotypes often being inaccurate. I have seen the truth in your comments about Russian stereotypes in the time I have been here.
ReplyDeleteAs for the ones about America, I think you're mostly correct:
1.) There are a lot of overweight Americans, but there are also a lot of Americans who exercise regularly and are in excellent shape. There are also a lot less smokers in the U.S.! I've been amazed by how many people smoke here.
2.) Most Americans do work very hard, though there are certainly exceptions. I think Americans get less vacation time than people in most other countries, and many Americans' identities are very closely tied to what they do for a living.
3.) Yes, many Americans think they are better than others. American schools tend to teach that capitalism and democracy are ideal, and that the U.S. does the best job with these concepts. I'm sure every country exhibits this type of indoctrination to some degree.
4.) Feminism is much more prominent in the U.S. than in Russia, but it's still okay to hold a door open for a woman.
5.) Yes, Americans do generally seem more friendly than Russians.
6.) The U.S. still has a lot of problems with racism and discrimination. I think that racism and discrimination are less tolerated in the U.S. than in Russia, meaning that Americans are quicker to speak out against these things, but they still definitely exist. There are fights, insults, and unfair treatment based on race or ethnicity all the time in the U.S.
Ruslan, the stereotypes you pointed out are really interesting and a little bid sad (in the case of Russia). The stereotypes are prevailing opinions in the foreigners' views. And we shouldn't ignore them, because stereotypes don't appear on they own. They are usually arise from real facts and problems. So we shouldn't just laugh on them or ignore them. As for me we should try to improve the opinion, that foreigners have about Russia.
ReplyDeleteRuslan , I remebered about your blog only because of fish app (good advertisment).
ReplyDeleteI share nearly all stereotypes you ve mentioned about Russia, except maybe balalaika and bears, globalization and development of the internet help to distinguish them)
All my german friends(there are a lot of them) asked me about special Russian hats, I mean "Shapka-Ushanka" (for David: "Hat-for-Ears") - this one is still a big stereotype))
And in Russia, except St.Pe and Moscow there are some stereotype cities, which everybody knows: Siberia (this tol me one german), Murmansk and Omsk.
Maybe it would be interesting for you, but I recommend you to read my post about Russian stereotypes (http://emozharov.blogspot.ru/2012/11/9-differences-in-our-minds.html)
Your post is better developed. I wrote only aout basic things, while the stereotypes that you've mentioned are not so obvious and are more close to the reality, (unfortunatly).
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