Does the media help or hinder or understanding of stereotypes?
By ajk111
@ajk111 (2495)
March 10, 2012 6:58am CST
Too many people seem to have a preconcieved idea of what you are like based on your nationality.
i am Scottish, therefore i like to wear kilts, fight and eat deep fried mars bars. None of the fore mentioned are true!
Neither do i believe Germans only shout and leave their beach towels over sunbeds when on holiday or that the English all wear bowler hats and pinstrip suits while finshing every sentence with "what" as in "it's a jolly spiffing day today, what?"
Do you think the media has made this impression? What is your funniest stereotype of a nation or what enrages you the most about stereotyping?
My pet hate is the Scots seem to have a name for being mean. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Neither do i believe Germans only shout and leave their beach towels over sunbeds when on holiday or that the English all wear bowler hats and pinstrip suits while finshing every sentence with "what" as in "it's a jolly spiffing day today, what?"
Do you think the media has made this impression? What is your funniest stereotype of a nation or what enrages you the most about stereotyping?
My pet hate is the Scots seem to have a name for being mean. Nothing could be further from the truth.4 people like this
10 responses
@trinkabelle (432)
•
10 Mar 12
i know exactly what you mean, being from Liverpool, people conceive us as thugs, dole scroungers wearing shell suits and donning that stupid perm with a moustach, saying "calm down, calm down" and that's just the men, the girls are conceived as baby machines only out to get a council house who walk round in the PJ'S all day pushing a triple buggy with babies oozing out, no no no, it's not like that at all, the media make us look like were thugs and lazy dole scrounging baby machines but in reality were not, Liverpool is a welcoming city and we stick by one another, we are hard workers, we don't scrounge and we would give our last penny to who needs it, i hate the way the media have made us look, if someone from outside Liverpool came here they would be welcomed with open arms
@ajk111 (2495)
•
10 Mar 12
i spent a week in Liverpool many years ago. Prenton road, a stones throw from Tranmere rovers ground. Loved it.
Three things responsible for that stereotype, Harry Einfield, Alan Bleasdale for Yosser Hughes and the Sun newspaper.
A massive misconception of Liverpool and it's people.
3 people like this
@ajk111 (2495)
•
10 Mar 12
before Einfield the scots got the same thing with Russ Abbott and the "see you jimmy" thing. i ignored it until i worked in England and some people with lower humour intelligence used to think it was funny to repeat it non stop. extremely irritating. i could not believe it when the tartan army started wearing the wigs to football matches. i used to tell folk they were not wigs but that is what happens to your hair because of the dye in irn bru.
3 people like this
@trinkabelle (432)
•
10 Mar 12
no matter what city we live in there will always be something out there to do with that place, like Newcastle "way aye man", scousers, "calm down or gizza job", "see you jimmy", Scotland, anywhere you go now there's a slogan or a catch phrase, i do not find it funny when people say calm down and try to talk in our accent, because the only people who can talk in our accent is us, i find it patronizing and stupid, i don't even react to it, it makes them look stupid then...LOL..
2 people like this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
11 Mar 12
Oh yes...I do think the media reinforces stereotypes and I can't stand it. It is ridiculous to think that people are all the same and that just because they live in certain places everyone falls into the same category. Sometimes there aren't any people that fall in those categories of judgment.
I live in the south eastern part of the US and stereo typed as a "hillbilly." We never wear shoes and often eat possums.
We are also stupid because of our accent. The bad thing is that our region actually plays on that book of junk to draw tourists. I saw a place called Hillbilly Golf the last time I went to Gatlinburg.
We are also stupid because of our accent. The bad thing is that our region actually plays on that book of junk to draw tourists. I saw a place called Hillbilly Golf the last time I went to Gatlinburg.
1 person likes this
@pergammano (7682)
• Canada
10 Mar 12
Based on fact...HUH???? Guess I had better take my blinders OFF!
I have been a Canadian..ALL MY LIFE! Never lived in an IGLOO! Never travelled by DOG SLED! Don't wear a parka, everyday...and do NOT say..eh? LESS than 1% of Canucks meet the above criteria! NORTH of the 49th parallel...the frozen NORTH...my weather right NOW, is much better than mid and EAst coast U.S. I nearly made a flaming remark there...OOPS! I hate stereotyping! But I MUST admit the Scots...do have ahandle on making the best SCOTCH!
1 person likes this
@pergammano (7682)
• Canada
15 Mar 12
Bragged too much...'Ol Man Winter is going out with a blast..160khm...So power off and on, like a light switch!
Forgot...the Scots are also famous (very)for one of the world's most played games....and got to name if G.O.L.F. (Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden) so they must have invented "gendercide"...too!
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
10 Mar 12
You should watch an anime called Hetalia Axis powers. All of the characters represent countries and they do play on stereotypes, but they pick on everyone including their own country. Its hilarious. Here are some clips from the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMVJSr1OCLg
The stereotypes I hate are because I'm Caucasian I'm automatically racist and because I'm from Georgia I must pass the time by hanging people from trees.
1 person likes this
@ajk111 (2495)
•
12 Mar 12
@cupkitties....i had a look, very funny.
@Mindless0357.....great quote from Dr hill! I will have a look into your link later....looking forward to it!
@Mindless0357.....great quote from Dr hill! I will have a look into your link later....looking forward to it!1 person likes this
@Mindless0357 (26)
• United States
10 Mar 12
My mother is German and my father is Irish. I have a very dark tan from working outside, also being outside in general as I like to go camping as well as do other out door activities. Since World War II Georgia, here in the United States has become a large settlement for the German people. My friend and I were talking about this very subject yesterday. Much like me she has a dark completion when she tans as well. People often mistake her for a Hispanic ,Spanish or a Middle Eastern young woman. She said that people have come up to her and started speaking in their native language. As for me I have been in line at the local store waiting to check out and have had people behind me in the line say "Why don't their kind just go back home." She was referring to me to her friend as if I were of Hispanic descent.
You have to laugh at people like that because they are ignorant. Yes the media does play a large roll in pushing stereo types. I guess that I am suppose to be a drunk that loves to fight. lol As for the power of the media if you do not believe that it is affective think about this. After World War II was over and both the Jewish people as well as the Germans started to migrate to America there were some Germans holding on to Hitlers' ideals and trying to bring about the next Reich. The Jewish people had learned a valuable lesson from what had happened to them in the past as the media was controlled by the Nazis. It is better know as propaganda. So when the Nazis started to try and pick up where they left off here in America the Jews were quick to form their own media outlet better known as CNN today. He who controls the media controls the masses.
A motto that should be adopted by all is: Think for yourself, think before you speak, think before you act but most of all be thankful for what you have. If more people would live by that the world would be a better place. The media has both the power to kill and the power to save lives. Should they be held responsible for their actions, yes. People that do not think for themselves will always follow the masses. A man that I believe every one should come to know is Dr. Napoleon Hill. His works can be found at this link http://www.naphill.org/ .
If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it . . . write it in the sand near the water's edge. Dr. Napoleon Hill
1 person likes this
@venkataraman_vc (5293)
• Chennai, India
10 Mar 12
Yes.
I'm Indian, but I don't speak or write Hindi. (Not only me, but there large population that doesn't speak or write Hindi.) But, many websites just detect my location (IP address) and display contents in Hindi, without even having an option to select.
I don't know whether it's media or anything else, but people seem to have preconceived ideas.
1 person likes this
@TheIrishClog (985)
• Ireland
10 Mar 12
If you take the fact that I am Dutch, then I must always wear clogs, smoke wacky-backy and live in a windmill - some common misconceptions I come across when I am introduced to someone. Sometimes it's funny but often it becomes irritating.
As I live in Ireland, I must have red hair, freckles and drink too much Guinness... Because of the county I live in - I must be tight/mean...
Finally, because I'm a girl, I couldn't possibly skin a mouse, put it in the blender and syringe feed it to a sick snake.... Or could I?
1 person likes this
@pergammano (7682)
• Canada
15 Mar 12
I heed the warning....I will "tiptoe, precariously thru your tulips, too!"
Nah, to me...the Dutch are the greatest artists in the world...and the most enjoyable persons I have ever spent time with! such a bright outlook on the world!
.....or am i pre judging and stereotyping you based on a picture?
@TheIrishClog (985)
• Ireland
12 Mar 12
I'm beyond 'could' ajk, well past that stage lol. Been there, done that and bought the t-shirt. It wasn't a pretty sight but it certainly was a steep learning curve coupled with some fast track desensitising...
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
10 Mar 12
hi ajk the media sure does not help in the stereotyping of people. my pet peeve is all elderly people are senile, wrong wrong wrong
a few maybe but that is not all of us.all Irish are drunks which is also preposterous. It is not funny when I try to report something here only to be blown off as just an old fool's imagination. Gold Crest is a retirement center but its not an old folks home at all.ages range from 40 to 100. Most of us are of sound mind but as for body that depends on the individual. cc
cc1 person likes this
@ecaron (678)
• Canada
11 Mar 12
You want to know what ticks me off is the notion that just because I come from a German background that I come from a family with Nazi's in it. It's not true because nobody in my family and they are all German are Nazi and never were. My parents were little children when the war was on and were victims like a lot of other people in the war. Stereotyping by the media or other people should be ignored because they are ignorant of the truth about different cultures and ethnic backgrounds.
1 person likes this
@Newyorker06 (79)
• United States
11 Mar 12
I think that the media feeds off of the stereotypes by making millions at the cost of different ethnic groups.For one the common idea that all black people run really fast which is by no means true, I being of the African American race know that for a fact because I couldn't run fast to save my life. However sometimes you do get a good laugh about these stereotypes because of how vague and general they are that they can apply to multiple races. I don't think that stereotypes are funny when the are offensive because no one has the right to make any one feel bad about there race or ethnicity.
1 person likes this
@mgzg11 (139)
• Croatia (Hrvatska)
10 Mar 12
It's strange, but even when I was a kid, there was bunch of jokes about Scottish people being mean. At that times, we didn't have many contacts with people from Scotland (or UK in general), and I don't have a clue where this was coming from. This days, more tourists are coming here during the summer, and occasional football matches bring us together. Since I live in capital of Croatia,where most of the national team matches are played, I meet Scottish fans here, a few times. And must say, they seem to be quite friendly bunch. Just come for some good time and drinks, not causing any trouble out of usual and expected things from football fans.
Speaking of football, it was a bit strange to us here, when we saw celebration of Croatian victory over England, few years ago, but I knew that you guys were celebrating the fact that England had lost, not our victory.
About stereotypes, I think they are based in ignorance, and cultural differences that surely exist, but shouldn't be taken as only thing to make opinions about other people. For example, people from northern Europe are saying that Mediterranean people are lazy, because they don't work during afternoon. It's a simple fact that is almost impossible to work outside in the sun, during the hottest time of the day there, so people make a living according to that fact, and it becomes part of culture and social life.
As for some stereotypes, I found them partially right. One is that people from some countries are drinking a lot. And that includes Croatia as well, so I get along well with people from Russia, Ireland, Australia, South Africa and a few others.
1 person likes this
