Written months ago... but finally getting posted!
Residing in a non-native country as an adult (neither traveling through nor as a student), I've had to (re)define myself with and against my fellow countrypersons. Obviously, I knew in advance that there were plenty of stereotypes out there about Americans, America, and American-ness. I grew up traveling and got the Don't be an Ugly American lecture at a young age. Josh and I had considered pretending to be Canadians if it ever spared us a potentially dangerous situation in certain countries (we were anticipating Vietnam and Bangladesh, in particular- ironically two of the most positive towards our nationality) simply because of these notions about our native country. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that, while not always correct, the opinions we encountered in Asia were mostly positive (or at least not negative). We were pleased that most people were able to distinguish between Americans and the American president (who hit an all-time popularity low in the USA during our trip) or the war in Iraq, and most seemed to realize that the United States is a huge country consisting of 300 million unique opinions.
We were surprised, then, to find our most negative encounters here in England. It appears the same might be true in most of Europe, and it's possible it has something to do with actually spending time here rather than moving through in a matter of weeks. Perhaps if we lived in one of the other countries we had visited, we would have encountered the negative stereotypes there, too. Of course, the majority of people we have met here are polite and friendly. I am simply talking about stereotypes, getting asked if we own a gun (yes, a popular question), the look of surprise when I reach for the tea rather than the coffee, a skeptical response when I say my mom's Christmas gift included a bike basket... and I can't help but list the most prevalent:
Read the rest...
I think this portion of our time living outside the United States is an excellent opportunity for me, as an American, to figure out how I feel about all these things. I never knew much about crime statistics and gun laws, about the number of American passport-holders and health care costs, so such conversations have led to many an internet search, resulting in shame and pride and interesting conversation for Josh and I. Perhaps I should list the quick version of responses we've garnered so far. Sure, why not? (we're trying to make them general personal reflections, but for comparisons, the UK comes up.)
We've found that there tends to be some truth but quite a bit more generality and misunderstanding to each of the stereotypes. Of course, when these topics first came up, I knew little about them. Now, after I find myself unable to respond, I go on a quest for information and begin to form an opinion about it, about my people, my country, our ways. Of course, I always wish I knew at the time of the conversation what I know now!
PS This topic may turn up again in a post about American-ness and how our thoughts on the matter have changed over the last year. That post would include the encounter with a proud work visa lottery-winner at the US embassy in Kathmandu and the conversation about English with a tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia or the comments on the presidential candidates and election (then 1.5 years out!) by our Malaysian hotel-owner. Again, another post. But overall, I am pleasantly surprised to find that initial embarrassment or discomfort over my native land has slowly been changing to a mild pride…
PPS I'm skipping the positive stereotypes for now. For example, I've been surprised by the respect for American beer!?!
Residing in a non-native country as an adult (neither traveling through nor as a student), I've had to (re)define myself with and against my fellow countrypersons. Obviously, I knew in advance that there were plenty of stereotypes out there about Americans, America, and American-ness. I grew up traveling and got the Don't be an Ugly American lecture at a young age. Josh and I had considered pretending to be Canadians if it ever spared us a potentially dangerous situation in certain countries (we were anticipating Vietnam and Bangladesh, in particular- ironically two of the most positive towards our nationality) simply because of these notions about our native country. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that, while not always correct, the opinions we encountered in Asia were mostly positive (or at least not negative). We were pleased that most people were able to distinguish between Americans and the American president (who hit an all-time popularity low in the USA during our trip) or the war in Iraq, and most seemed to realize that the United States is a huge country consisting of 300 million unique opinions.
We were surprised, then, to find our most negative encounters here in England. It appears the same might be true in most of Europe, and it's possible it has something to do with actually spending time here rather than moving through in a matter of weeks. Perhaps if we lived in one of the other countries we had visited, we would have encountered the negative stereotypes there, too. Of course, the majority of people we have met here are polite and friendly. I am simply talking about stereotypes, getting asked if we own a gun (yes, a popular question), the look of surprise when I reach for the tea rather than the coffee, a skeptical response when I say my mom's Christmas gift included a bike basket... and I can't help but list the most prevalent:
Read the rest...
- The USA is very violent.
- The USA is full of guns, and this contributes to/causes the violence.
- Most Americans don't hold passports and rarely travel.
- Americans like everything big, from cars to houses to waste sizes.
- Americans are overweight.
- Americans are overly, and superficially, friendly.
- The American health care system works only for the rich.
I think this portion of our time living outside the United States is an excellent opportunity for me, as an American, to figure out how I feel about all these things. I never knew much about crime statistics and gun laws, about the number of American passport-holders and health care costs, so such conversations have led to many an internet search, resulting in shame and pride and interesting conversation for Josh and I. Perhaps I should list the quick version of responses we've garnered so far. Sure, why not? (we're trying to make them general personal reflections, but for comparisons, the UK comes up.)
- Apparently, the most common American TV shows exported are our crime shows. Too bad. The statistics we've found show that the USA does have a much higher murder rate than the UK, but half the violent crime (one report said a third) and half the hot burglaries (occurring while the home-owner is present, sometimes leading to, well, more violent crime). I've been surprised at the number of beatings (sometimes to death) that show up in the paper here, and I'd personally rather walk around Manhattan at 3am than Newcastle or London. Also, US crime rates vary drastically from place to place. Drastically. I think it depends on where you live, here and in the USA.
- This is a new thing for me, the fascination with the American gun obsession (if one exists). Again, opinions vary widely from urban to rural areas, as does gun ownership. Some states have 50% of the population owning a gun while others have less than 10%. I’ve never seen a gun outside of hunting parameters or a museum. Strangely, the number of gun-related murders per state does not necessarily correlate with a high rate of gun ownership, and many people attribute the low incidents of hot burglaries to gun ownership. When Florida made it easier to own a gun in 1987, its crime rates dropped significantly. Actually, the Swiss have high gun-ownership rates but much lower crime rates than the UK, indicating that guns may or may not correlate with violence in a culture. Again, I think it depends on where you live and what statistics you look at. Rather than stating my opinion on American gun laws, I've learned that it's safe to say that it's not as clear-cut as we seem to hear around here. I find this refreshing when I hear the condescending “do you own a gun” question pop up.
- Statistics seem to indicate that from 10% to 20% of Americans own passports. Of course, we have ridiculous vacation allowances, so there's no time to go far. The country is twice the size of Europe. Just because you don't see Americans doesn't mean they aren't traveling days away to explore a part of their own country. By the way, to our relief, we discovered many loud, obnoxious Europeans and Australians on our Asia trip. The few Americans we met tended to be the quieter, let me explore the culture type!
- True. Remember, though, there are 300 million different opinions…
- Yup, I think it might be 1/3 of Americans are obese. But 1/4 of the British are obese, too. I think people look about the same size around here as in the Midwest. I always noticed a difference between NYC and the Midwest myself...
- This is a more UK-related complaint, so I guess all I can say is that it’s cultural! What may seem superficial to some is not to others… it’s just a way of understanding each other’s spatial and verbal cues. And I think Americans who find the English cold and stand-off-ish are making the same mistake. There are some overly friendly Midwesterners out there, though…
- Health care is expensive. But the amount I pay in taxes for National Insurance (I think this includes pension and disability taxes, though!) is roughly what my employer paid for my insurance in NYC. This one is way too tricky to tackle other than to say that Josh and I haven’t had too much trouble in the USA yet, as I have been employed with benefits and/or we have been happily quite healthy. As students, we had access to what seemed like expensive insurance (but I think was not!), but was still less than what I pay in NI taxes now. Again, without stating an opinion, it almost seems like faster access for some/most to better healthcare versus access for all to healthcare in general. Frankly, we’ve noticed major problems with both nationalized and privatized health care.
We've found that there tends to be some truth but quite a bit more generality and misunderstanding to each of the stereotypes. Of course, when these topics first came up, I knew little about them. Now, after I find myself unable to respond, I go on a quest for information and begin to form an opinion about it, about my people, my country, our ways. Of course, I always wish I knew at the time of the conversation what I know now!
PS This topic may turn up again in a post about American-ness and how our thoughts on the matter have changed over the last year. That post would include the encounter with a proud work visa lottery-winner at the US embassy in Kathmandu and the conversation about English with a tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia or the comments on the presidential candidates and election (then 1.5 years out!) by our Malaysian hotel-owner. Again, another post. But overall, I am pleasantly surprised to find that initial embarrassment or discomfort over my native land has slowly been changing to a mild pride…
PPS I'm skipping the positive stereotypes for now. For example, I've been surprised by the respect for American beer!?!
2 comments:
I wrote this on our blog back in February...
According to the Center for Disease Control, American children are more at risk from firearms than the children of any other industrialized nation. In one year, firearms killed 0 children in Japan, 0 in Switzerland, 19 in England, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada, and 5,285 in the United States. More children in the US die from gunfire than from cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma, and HIV/AIDS combined. My personal opinion is that guns are a big problem in the United States. Not so much in Western Michigan, but everywhere else I've been, like the DC area sniper in 2002 and here in Charleston and especially North Charleston you can't really walk outside at night because of guns.
One stereotype I tend to find true about Americans is that we Americans are not as well informed about the politics of other countries as they are of ours. Probably because US politics has more of an effect on other countries than their politics has on the lives of Americans. Sitting in a jewelry shop durring a rain storm on Sunday here in Vellore India I was told by the owner to vote for Obama. I've been trying but I've yet to really figure out all the ins and outs of today's confidence vote in the India parliment. It seems it has gone to Congress rather than the BJP, something that many of the people I've talked with here seem glad to know.
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