What is the American Stereotype?

So these kids came over from france and visited our french class. They said the typical american stereotype is that Americans are all very very fat.

If you aren't in the U.S, what do you think of when you here 'American?'

Original Post by cabaret_ :

I was walking in the park last week and had a German tourist come up to me and ask me why I was so thin, because "American women are supposed to be fat." It was one of the most random/blunt moments of my life...

 If that were me I would have responded with 'get away from me you Nazi!'

I am mexican, and I visit the US often, probably 4 times a year.

One popular steriotype mexican people have of Americans is that they're ignorant. Most Americans I've met only speak English and don't know almost anything about  countries other than their own.

This is only a steriotype and Im sure many of you aren't this way, so I hope nobody is offended.

Hahah, I can see that love. I totally can.

I was on a plane last week, and there was only one person on the flight that was bilingual -- a woman needed to ask a question in Spanish but none of the flight attendants knew how to speak Spanish, (Then again, none of the Spanish speakers were fluent in English, either) and some poor guy had to act as a translator.

Original Post by love_lipstick:

I am mexican, and I visit the US often, probably 4 times a year.

One popular steriotype mexican people have of Americans is that they're ignorant. Most Americans I've met only speak English and don't know almost anything about  countries other than their own.

This is only a steriotype and Im sure many of you aren't this way, so I hope nobody is offended.

 Not offended...but I think that's kind of strange.  I wouldn't have expected most Mexicans to feel that way.  I always thought it was the other way around...that most Americans stereotyped Mexicans as ignorant...

Maybe I'm wrong?  Don't get mad at me here.  Just asking.

there is ignorant as in lacking in education and there is ignorant as in consciously and willfully unknowledgeable. 

I'm from the UK & visited the states for the first time this year (in April) when I went to Las Vegas.

My boyfriend & I expected to see a lot of overweight people, but there wasn't loads or anything. From what we saw, yes there were some "big un's" but not really any more than what you'd see here.

The thing is the portions over there were HUGE. When we went out for a meal back in the UK after we got back, it was strange to eat a resturant meal & not be stuffed after almost half the plate. But then that is Vegas, I dunno what the rest of the states is like.

As for the Americans being stupid thing, I don't think it is fair to coat you all with same brush but this made me laugh so much....

.... When we were in Vegas we wanted to take a trip to Hoover Dam. We got picked up from the hotel & then had to drive to another hotel to pick up 4 others who were booked for the same trip & all of them were American. When our driver/tour guide Fred was driving us out of Vegas we went past the Luxor hotel (for anyone that doesn't know the Luxor is the only pyramid shaped hotel in the world & is 40 stories high with a massive light on top that can be seen from space). The American woman sat in the front pointed at it & said to Fred "Is that the pyramid one?"

I so wanted to reply with "Yeh it is! What gave it away!?"

Anyway, that aside most Americans were so friendly & always seem to just strike up conversation with you wherever. We both loved it over there & want to go back. In fact we most likely will be going to LA in October.

As for the sterotype of Americans not knowing about other countries, one guy we spoke to asked where were from which is Gloucestershire. He didn't know where that was in the UK but then said he was visiting the UK later in the year & going to the Cotswolds which is in Gloucestershire. Then again we spoke to a woman from Iowa & we don't quite know where abouts that is in the US. So it works both ways.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

there is ignorant as in lacking in education and there is ignorant as in consciously and willfully unknowledgeable. 

 Exactly!  I meant ignorant as in consciously and willfully unknowledgeable....as in moving to the United States and refusing to learn English (speaking about the stereotype, of course)

Original Post by love_lipstick:

Most Americans I've met only speak English

 why should they learn any other languages?

it really gets me going when we are practically being forced to learn spanish &won't be able to get by without knowing it.

what i hate is mexicans (or any other minority) not learning english in US.

Original Post by clairesty:

As for the sterotype of Americans not knowing about other countries, one guy we spoke to asked where were from which is Gloucestershire. He didn't know where that was in the UK but then said he was visiting the UK later in the year & going to the Cotswolds which is in Gloucestershire. Then again we spoke to a woman from Iowa & we don't quite know where abouts that is in the US. So it works both ways.

LOL, as someone from Iowa I can tell you it's in the middle, it's the place w/lot's of corn.

This statement made me laugh and also think that perhaps what makes people from other places on both sides of the issue seem 'ignorant' is simply that the things we're familiar w/are simply not the things they're familiar w/. After all isn't that what makes cultures? Familiarities and norms are different in different regions. We can hardly expect someone from a completely different region to know all about ours.

 

peaches, that's not at all what i meant; i meant exactly the opposite.  but i'm not american, so i guess i'm not familiar with widely-held american stereotypes of mexicans.

peacelove, the thing is, in most of the world, most people are at least conversational in multiple languages.  it's just a point of comparison, but as english speakers, we're accommodated by others when we travel rather than vice-versa. 

if you've ever lived outside the US, narfblast, you should know that international news in the UK, europe, canada, central and south america is miles more sophisticated and comprehensive than that in the US.  i've never been to asia or africa, but i suspect it's the same.

i'm conversational in spanish &more than conversational in aarabic.

but it's still annoying when so many mexicans EXPECT ME to know spanish. i expect them to know english. if i were gonna move to mexico i would most definitely learn spanish not expect them to learn english for me.

 

so annoying.

well the rest of the planet expects you to know metric, but that doesn't seem likely ;-)

no I never have lived outside the US pgeorgian. But I do regularly listen to a british radio station if that counts. And I can tell you that I do hear on american news shows or read about most of the same international news. Some things are lacking like local crimes and so forth but then I doubt, unless it was particularly heinous that local crimes from where I live are reported on anywhere else either. And the perspectives are usually a little different, but I would expect that anywhere.

i know the metric sysytem.

i'm a bio major, remember? ;)

narfblast, the fact that you listen to british radio tells me that you're not the norm.  don't you find that the coverage is far more comprehensive and less biased?

mainstream american media tend to ignore international stories that don't have a direct impact on the US economically or otherwise.  and then there's that sense of moral outrage that often goes along with the coverage. 

peacelove, i didn't mean you specifically, i meant the collective "you" as in your country. 

do you know the whole metric system, or just the parts that are relevant to your school work?  if i tell you it's seventeen degrees here, does that mean anything to you?  or if i say that it's a 750km drive to my home town?

17 degrees celcius, is that what you meant?

but still, metric systenm is different. if i ever travel anywhere, i will learn the language before i go. no rely on someone to accomodate me.

they shouldnt come here expecting us to accomodate them.

750km x 1m/1000km

celcius, yes.

so, if you go to europe, how many languages are you going to learn?  which ones?

well, my mistake, not travel. live there. i will learn the ones that i need to to get by in my area.

there are so many mexicans over here who only speak spanish &have lived here more than 10 years.