British Stereotypes - Essay Example

British Stereotypes Introduction One day an Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman walked into a pub together. They each bought a pint of Guinness. Just as they were about to enjoy their creamy beverage, three flies landed in each of their pints, and were stuck in the thick head. The Englishman pushed his beer away in disgust. The Scotsman fished the fly out of his beer, and continued drinking it, as if nothing had happened. The Irishman, too, picked the fly out of his drink, held it out over the beer, and started yelling, "SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT!!! There goes the old ethnic joke which clearly depicts stereotyping among different cultures. Stereotype denotes simplified and fixed image of all members of a culture or group. Stereotypes are often based on race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, and national origins (Stereotypes 2006). It is irrefutable that the world is filled with stereotypes as each one of us often tries to associate a certain trait or characteristics in an individual based on the common stereotype placed on the culture and race a person belongs to. For example, people always tend to characterize Americans as people who are superficial and with no fashion sense. This paper will look at the common stereotypes linked with British and how these stereotypes are justified. The next section of the paper will show the negative and the positive stereotypes given by foreigners. The report will conclude with its findings. Negative Stereotypes One of the most common stereotypes about British is their having bad teeth. The concept of "bad British teeth" can be traced as American's perception on Britons. This concept is even worsened when Lisa Simpson was shown by her orthodontist as "The Big Book of British Teeth (Guardian Unlimited 2006)." British recognize that their teeth are relatively worse than their counterparts for a lot of reasons. Firstly, the structure of American teeth is really whiter and straighter than Britons. Aside from that, it was also recognized that Americans invests money on their dental health while British think that cosmetic surgery and self manipulation is vanity. It should also be noted that only a few number of British over the age of 35, regardless of income and social status have had orthodontia. In America, there is an overwhelming social pressure to have aligned and white teeth. Orthodontia has been a social necessity in the United States since 1970 (Why do Americans 2005). British are also regarded as unemotional. This is supported by the idiom "British stiff upper lip" which means displaying courage in times of difficulties. In British stereotype however, the stiff upper lip connotes their exercise of self-restraint in expressing their emotion. By some means, the formal demeanor of the ruling class of Britain gives rise to this stereotype. Another significant connotation of the stiff upper lip is feeling of superiority and proud. One of the reasons why people see this is the fact that British have never been colonized by any other nation. Other British stereotypes branded them as snob and reserved (Stiff Upper Lip 2006). British are also classified as shy individuals especially when it comes to financial aspects. British are not likely to divulge how much money they have and find it socially offensive to chat about how much they got according to the recruitment organization Jonathan Wren. It was also found out that eight out of ten feel embarrassed when discussing the size of their "pay pocket (Dunn 2005)." British art is very reserved and grey, avant-garde, eccentric and mad. Saudi Arabians also commented on the lack of British artist (How the World Sees 1999). British media is seen to be unreliable (How the World Sees 1999). Positive Stereotypes In a survey was conducted by MORI, the most prominent British public opinion research agencies to determine how the world sees Britain, the following positive stereotypes are derived. The survey was answered by 200 successor generation in thirteen countries which include Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey. The interviewees are described as "people aged 24-35, well educated and either studying for a post graduate qualification or employed in government/industry on a fast track to the top." British are good in terms of business management. It was noted that French rely so much in the quality of British products while Mexicans also like the longevity of the British manufactures (How the World Sees 1999). It is important to note that 81% of the people interviewed rated British goods and services as "good" in general and 74% perceived British managers as excellent enough to come behind United States, Japan, and Germany. British are also regarded as well-educated. Most countries commend the high standard of education in the region (How the World Sees 1999). Seventy-six percent of all the people interviewed in the survey expressed their positive perception of British as well educated, while 88% expressed their respect to British higher education. The UK government is a good model of democratic government (How the World Sees 1999). Fifty-eight percent believes that the region's legal system ensures a fair trial while 65% commends the country's health care system. The British stiff upper lip is much of a thing in the past. This is due to the new culture in the new generation of young British. Nowadays, British are open about this emotion. It is worth mentioning that emotional display has become more acceptable after the death of Princess Diana when the world saw the outpouring of emotion. Some regarded to this as a point "where the British upper lip has become permanently tremulous (Stiff Upper Lip 2006)." Many people welcome this change as a beginning of a more honest ethos while others saw it as a "move towards self indulgence and a weakening of personal responsibility (Stiff Upper Lip 2006)." Conclusion As shown in this paper, stereotyping paints an inaccurate picture of British. It is true that some of the generalizations generated might have been true but these do not sum up the true characteristics of British as a whole. The main problem of stereotyping is that they are often crafted utilizing limited and oftentimes inaccurate information. Stereotyping also does not consider the changes and trends in the environment which has a great impact in forming the traits, characteristics and culture of different race. This paper should also add that stereotypes are commonly unfair and misleading as they "reduce individuals to a rigid, inflexible image; they do not account for the fact that human beings are complex and multidimensional, with unique attributes (Stereotyping 2006)." Stereotyping is also a means of dehumanizing. Though it might be true that certain characteristics do exist in every British, it is important to consider that stereotypes often conflicts with reality. References Dunn, S. 2005. Stop being a British: speak about your cash. Retrieved 22 February 2006 from http://money.independent.co.uk/personal_finance/invest_save/article319908.ece Guardian Unlimited. 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2006 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-22429,00.html How the World Sees Britain. 1999. Retrieved 22 February 2006 from http://www.mori.com/polls/1999/britcoun.shtml Stereotypes. 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2006 from http://the_english_dept.tripod.com/stereo2.htm Stiff Upper Lip. 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiff_upper_lip Why do Americans have such odd ideas about the British. 2005. Retrieved 22 February 2006 from http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/27389 Read More