
Someone recently sent me this meme and it makes complete sense to me. It highlights one of the main stereotypes of Russians - that they're cold and emotionless. In my first Russian post, I essentially said the same thing after observing average Russians on the street. I've watched many speeches by Putin and it's true that his expression rarely changes. I spent New Year's Eve last year with Russian speakers, watching Russian holiday programs and Putin's New Year's speech to the nation. It was completely bizarre that on a festive occasion he displayed no smile or enthusiasm, standing there like a robot reading off a teleprompter. In contrast, Obama is perhaps one of our most emotional Presidents. He's stern when necessary but also shows signs of emotion, crying or laughing in speeches as the subject dictates. He's often photographed playing with his kids, going on dates with his wife, or drinking a beer. I like it. It makes him human and people easily relate to him. It has nothing to do with the politics of our respective nations and leaders, but rather to personalities and the way we interact with one another.
One of the main purposes of my blog is to help bridge the gap between Russians and Americans, to help us better understand one another and our cultures. So this weekend let's have an honest and open discussion about stereotypes.
Each year at my apartment pool we have foreign lifeguards who come to America on work/travel programs sponsored by the U.S. government. I was speaking with a Serbian guard yesterday who told me about his "crazy" Russian roommate. "She's crazy." These are the only words he used to describe her. Obviously I don't think you're all crazy, or I wouldn't take the time to write here and communicate with you. But it's a common perception of Russians - that "they're crazy." :) Here are some others, broken down by gender:
Russian Men
- Raging alcoholics, drinking vodka at all hours of the day
- Chauvinistic
- More aggressive than American men
- Many are part of the Russian mob, driving around in black SUV's
Russian Women
- All are beautiful
- They are always dressed up, wearing heels and make-up
- They are very easy and slutty
- Desperate to marry a Westerner
- Happy to stay at home, pop out babies and make dinner for husbands
- Mail order brides
I don't really know many Russian stereotypes about American men, but I suspect the following are at the top of the list for American women:
- We're ugly
- We take no pride in appearance
- We're "manly", having lost all sense of femininity
- We emasculate men
- We're all raging feminists :))
On the gender front, there's absolutely no doubt that gender roles are more clearly defined in Russia. In the States, male/female roles are often blurred in relationships. I don't necessarily think this is a good thing, but it's a result of the feminist movement. Despite the accusations of many, I'm not a feminist. Men and women each bring unique attributes to relationships, and it becomes complicated when there are power struggles at every level. However, I don't believe a woman's sole place should be in the kitchen or changing diapers. We're much more than that, and can compete with men on an intellectual and professional level. I make more money than almost every man I've dated, really have no desire to have children, and am happy to pump my own gas. Would it be a problem for a Russian man? Maybe? And I'm very independent. I don't expect a man to pay for everything, constantly buy me things, or show other signs of superficial affection. It's not a way to express love in my opinion. This doesn't mean that I don't like a bouquet of flowers or other surprises on occasion, but it's not something I demand out of a partner. I'm not sure how to find a happy medium with gender roles. I suppose when the right person comes along, it will not even be an issue.
With respect to America as a whole, I think the stereotypes are as follows:
America
- Americans are stupid, and know nothing about other countries or cultures
- We're fake, with smiles constantly plastered on our faces
- We're all fat, eating fast food everyday
- We live in a police state under a zionist government
- All black people in America are sitting around eating fried chicken and watermelon, living off of welfare and/or are thugs
- Americans are all carrying guns, ready to shoot each other at a moment's notice
- There are tons of gay people engaged in public displays of affection at every corner
And for Russia, I will say only that the country is perceived by many outsiders as being totally corrupt, with a government controlled by money/bribes.
What do you think? What are the most common stereotypes about Americans? And for those who have actually traveled to the States, did you have a different perception of us after the visit? Which stereotypes were confirmed and which broken?
I constantly write about my impressions of Russia/Russians, so it's time for your input on Americans and my nation. :) Next week, I'll return to travel posts. I didn't have time this week to organize and process photos.
Comments
Angry:
Some Russian stereotypes about American men:
- so fat
- love mans (because of the law on sexual harassment)
- stupid war-lovers (all are rednecks)
- hate russians
- drink coca-cola all time
- have fake emotions a lot
Some stereotypes about black men г can read here in comments: http://fritzmorgen.livejournal.com/606913.html
"We live in a police state under a zionist government" - this is not about USA, this is about any government!
see russian punk-songs: "all states - concentration camps", "I love my country And I hate the government"
Sorry for my English, from Russia with love )
Here the author of this photo: http://petrosphotos.livejournal.com/401244.html
- Chauvinistic. More or less.
- More aggressive than American men. Yes.
- Many are part of the Russian mob, driving around in black SUV's. Maybe 10-15 years ago, not now.
- All are beautiful. Yes.
- They are always dressed up, wearing heels and make-up. Yes
- They are very easy and slutty. Maybe if they haven't yet received an American citizenship. After that - I think not ))))
- Desperate to marry a Westerner. Maybe 10 years ago, not now.
- Happy to stay at home, pop out babies and make dinner for husbands. Yes.
- Mail order brides. In Moscow - maybe yes.
- We're ugly. Not ugly, fat. It's a common stereotype, all due to
- We take no pride in appearance. More or less.
- We're "manly", having lost all sense of femininity. No.
- We emasculate men. More or less.
- We're all raging feminists :)). The first American girl I met in the Inet and began chatting with called herself a feminist.
- Americans are stupid, and know nothing about other countries or cultures. I think, yes. Americans also don't like learning foreign languages.
- We're fake, with smiles constantly plastered on our faces. Yes, also you bring your own bottles to parties, I know that )
- We're all fat, eating fast food everyday. More or less.
- We live in a police state under a zionist government. Let's better ask Snowden about it, he's now a world famous expert.
- All black people in America are sitting around eating fried chicken and watermelon, living off of welfare and/or are thugs. Yes, Negroes live on welfare.
- Americans are all carrying guns, ready to shoot each other at a moment's notice. No. In films - yes )))
- There are tons of gay people engaged in public displays of affection at every corner. That's, sorry, fucking right, New York's mayor supports me here.
About Negroes.
I once read about a funny incident.
There stood a tenement house whose landlord rented rooms in it to both Negroes and Whites, like, 50/50. And one day an incident happened - the house exploded. It was a gas explosion. In several days some jerk from local authorities came to the landlord and indignantly asked him why only Negroes suffered in the explosion. To what the landlord confusedly answered that all Whites were at work. He-he.
The women in Russia looked very normal to me, not wearing a lot of make-up or overly fancy clothes. Maybe because it was winter and they were completely covered up. I didn't go to fancy restaurants, clubs or discos where women usually get dolled up. If you visit these places in the States, you'll see plenty of women in short skirts, make-up and heels. But it's not the way most women dress for everyday work life or chores. And gay people are not running around the streets of America fucking each other. Are there gay exhibitionists? Absolutely, in the same way some straight couples find it necessary to grope each other in public. I don't wish to watch either.
And what's up with your avatar? Stop pointing at me. :))
As was mentioned before due to Mikhail Zadornov, who is a Russian artist, the main stereotypes about Americans are fat and stupid:) And actually I had never been interested in America until our colleagues from the US came to Russia. Imagine how I was surprised when I saw that they weren't fat at all!:) Even more, they were smart!:)))
Then I started to chat with one my colleague from the US office and was really amazed how interesting it was to speak with hem!
All this had influenced me to go to the US for vacation. As a result what I saw:
- the problem of overweight really exists but outside big cities where citizens really care about their health and go for sports
-Junk food also exists but it is not food for everyday for most of the people
- People are growing with patriotism from the childhood, thinking that America is the greatest country in the world
-Still America like another planet because the majority of people don't go abroad and don't know that many things in Europe are another: measurements, culture, languages, etc.
And I think the myth of stupidity was born from the point above. You know we have a joke about Americans: there is always written at instruction for a microoven "Don't put cat into a microoven" :)
For us it's unbelievable: who CAN put cat inside??
As I sent a link to you for an article: Americans have a low-context culture, Russians - a high-context culture. That is a difference between us. It is not good or bad, it just exists.
And then she sued the microwave manufacturer :))
These instructions everywhere really look shocking for a foreigner but in fact it's just for legal protection.
I afraid I’ll disappoint you. I don't have stereotypes that you wrote about. And I don’t have the stereotypes about Americans. Moreover, I think we are the same. We want the same, we hate the same and and we love the same. And these stereotypes were needed our governments in the time of the Cold War.