Stereotypes about Your Country/State

[Sockers]

Let's face it, GI. There are a lot of stupid people in the world. The kind of people who believe what they see in TV, movies, etc without a second thought. And out of this, stereotypes form. Stereotypes are often exaggerations of the truth or just plain fabrications that become widespread in pop culture and deeply ingrained in our minds. It's hard for many of us to think of certain countries without thinking of the stereotypes we've heard of them.

What stereotypes have you encountered?
What stereotypes are there about your country/state/whatever?
What do you think of said stereotypes?
Are there any stereotypes you've heard that are true?

Here are some that I can think of, right off the top of my head.

Alaskans are all hicks who live out in the woods, or eskimos. This isn't true. While Alaska is mostly wilderness, you will encounter quite a few intelligent people there. And, of course, Anchorage is quite a large city.

Alaska is cold all the time and/or has penguins. Some parts of Alaska are actually quite moderate in temperature, and while it varies greatly, you do encounter Summers there. And, there are no penguins.

Americans are all idiots. A lot of Americans ARE naive, but most are willing to learn about a culture. And, let's face it, most people who say this can't name off most of the American states, so you have to give us a little slack.

Americans are all fat & lazy. This varies greatly. While there are a lot of fat people in America and a lot of lazy people, there are also incredibly fit people. I'd say it's about 50/50.

Americans are very loud. It's true. Americans have loud accents most of the time. But, this is also true of some other cultures.

Americans are all very patriotic. This is sort of true, and depends on where you go. Patriotism is very heavily ingrained in Americans, so you will see most of us defending our country. However, like anywhere, you get plenty of people who hate America or are indifferent. This also doesn't mean all of us think this is the greatest country in the world.

What are some stereotypes you can think of? biggrin

[An Unknown Kunoichi]

I ride a kangaroo to school and own a pet croc.

Can you guess which country? ;D

Oh, and we love you lamb. We are also all either a white bloke out in the outback tending sheep and cattle or blonde guys and girls surfin' it up on the beaches.

xP

[Light Soprano]

An Unknown Kunoichi

I ride a kangaroo to school and own a pet croc.

Can you guess which country? ;D

Oh, and we love you lamb. We are also all either a white bloke out in the outback tending sheep and cattle or blonde guys and girls surfin' it up on the beaches.

xP

*Cough*Australia*Cough* XD

*shiftyeyes*

[Uzendayo]

That we are overly intelligent [as in always success with school, and such. ], and full of Otakus. >:
I'm not sure about more, because. I just don't pay attention to stereotypes. xD

[m o r i k k o]

信じて愛する人、私の中で君は生きる

English:
All sound posh and talk like they do on TV. (Sadly, we don't. You'd only get that at Oxford or something like it.)
We drink tea with our pinkys raised. (I sure as hell don't.)
All we do is sit and drink tea. (That... may be right in certain ways. )
England is a nice place, full of countrysides and big castles. (No... no. XD)
London is a nice place. (I'm sure it is but then you have the other places... East End.. from Eastenders (TV Show), I'd hate to live there.)

All I can think of atm. XD

だからこれから先もずっと、さようならなんて言わない

[Sockers]

momoeri -

All sound posh and talk like they do on TV. (Sadly, we don't. You'd only get that at Oxford or something like it.)

I know this is definitely not true, but one of my friends is from London and talks like English people do on TV. It's pretty awesome.

[Born Backwards]

TheFluffyElf

What stereotypes have you encountered?
What stereotypes are there about your country/state/whatever?
What do you think of said stereotypes?
Are there any stereotypes you've heard that are true?

I'm from Australia.
Stereotypes I've encounted...people think I'm a bogan & a Steve Irwin type of person. People usually think that kangaroos are everywhere.
Stereotypes about Australia...well what I've been asked is that if the whole country is an outback desert & if we go around talking like Steve Irwin...oh & let's not forget the bogans. I live in QLD & there's a "redneck QLD" stereotype & I think that's true (well for some people). The place I live, Cairns...people who've never left Cairns thinks it's the best place in the world & that it has everything.

[Custom Kiwi]

A stereotypical New Zealand man wears a woolen black singlet, short black stubby shorts and gumboots. He's usually surrounded by about a zillion sheep that walk around everywhere. We even have sheep walking down High Street. =/ Ooh and there are Kiwis (the bird!) EVERYWHERE. In fact, New Zealanders tend to dress just like everyone else around the world. We do have a lot of sheep, but only in rural areas and they are in paddocks. =/ Kiwis are actually an endangered species of bird and I've only ever seen them in a nature and bird park.
People also tend to think that New Zealanders are all rugby mad when infact, even though it is our national sport, a lot of people don't even like it.
I'll add more when I think of them....

[fayebelly]

I have tea and scones all the time, have full English breakfast every morning, I support my favourite football team, I live near London, I know the Queen, I probably know a guy you met three years ago 'cause he lives in England and 'cause it's so small everyone knows everyone else, it rains ALL the time, I have a posh accent, I have a lot of land, I have butlers and maids...

Some of those are true though... I do love tea... And my accent is on the posher side... =/

Also, my town is known for its chavs and has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the whole of Europe. So all teenagers are seen as scumbags and treated as such, fortunately I've stopped looking like a 14 year old recently so I get treated with more respect.

[Funky Panda]

I live in an igloo.
It is always snowing. Always.
I am very, very polite.
I am a nice and intelligent version of an American.
I love hockey.
Eh.

Canadians are a lot like Americans, really, and our national sport is actually Lacrosse, not hockey. I have never seen a real beaver before in my life, but I have seen moose. We use Celsius, so Americans and other peoples who use Fahrenheit tend to get confused when we say that it's a hot thirty degrees outside in the summer. I don't have an accent like Bob and Doug McKenzie, either, haha.

Oh and I live in a house.

[The_Brightest_Moon]

All Americans are fat, lazy, and ignorant. We eat MacDonalds and fast food constantly, we love country music, we're all right wing Christian extremists, we all have guns, and those of us who aren't country hicks are hollywood stars.

All New Yorkers are from NYC. WRONG. NYC suuuucks >.< (And thus all New Yorkers have that brooklyn-Long Island accent). WHAT ABOUT THE NORTH! DON'T FORGET US! crying crying crying WE'RE YOUR CAPITOL, EMPIRE STATE!

[Ongakua21]

What stereotypes have you encountered?
What stereotypes are there about your country/state/whatever?
What do you think of said stereotypes?
Are there any stereotypes you've heard that are true?

As was already stated:

Fat/lazy
Over Consumerist
Bush-lovers
Incompetant

Now onto my state:
Dunkards - Drink lots of beer
Farm Hicks
Not Cultured
Eat only Cheese and Milk
Talk through our nose

[1s H o s h i]

Canadians are all peaceful.

Canadians are all tolerant...

blah blah blah, while I understand that it is good to be peaceful and tolerant, I also know that it's not good to be TOO tolerant towards people who don't deserve it.

And really, not EVERYONE in Canada is peaceful and tolerant.

gonk

[EternalSoul_175]

Tasty, tasty cheeseburgers...

McDonalds...

Obesity...

No, wait, back to the cheeseburgers..mmm....

We're all lazy and sleep all day...

We're all really loud...

Culturally ignorant (surprisingly widespread)...

[girls in sports]

Funky Panda

I live in an igloo.
It is always snowing. Always.
I am very, very polite.
I am a nice and intelligent version of an American.
I love hockey.
Eh.

Canadians are a lot like Americans, really, and our national sport is actually Lacrosse, not hockey. I have never seen a real beaver before in my life, but I have seen moose. We use Celsius, so Americans and other peoples who use Fahrenheit tend to get confused when we say that it's a hot thirty degrees outside in the summer. I don't have an accent like Bob and Doug McKenzie, either, haha.

Oh and I live in a house.

You forgot that we all ride to work/school on dog sleds, and that French Canadians are all arrogant assholes. Oh and don't forget that we're all hosers.

I live 3 blocks from a river and have only seen a beaver once.