As many of you will have noticed, the majority of my blog posts over the past months have been little more than photos and brief narratives, lacking in analysis and personal involvement. So, in the four weeks I have left in Spain, I plan on dishing out some meaningful blogging!
Nearly seven months ago I alluded to American stereotypes in my writing. A close reader will notice that I never did flesh out this topic. Today I'd like to pick up the sensitive issue of stereotypes and preconceptions and share how I've come to understand it over these past months.
Every group of people that is somewhat well known and judged as constituting a whole in some way will be assigned certain stereotypes by other such groups. These preconceived notions are almost never created out of nothing; they have some kernel of truth to them. And while the more politically correct individual will be quick to discount all stereotypes as evil, I think they can serve a useful purpose. It's silly to assume your Italian and German roommates might have the same approach to cleaning and organization, for example. The trick is knowing to what extent you can apply a stereotype. You needn't be surprised that a particular Frenchman bathes daily, for example. There are always exceptions and some stereotypes are better founded than others.
Since I've lived here I have become very familiar with what Europeans assume about each other, as well as what they assume about us Americans. I will never forget, it must have been the first week I lived in Oviedo; I was at a party (read: botellón) and was speaking with a Spaniard who proceeded to ask me the most pointed and startling questions. "So, if you're American, why aren't you fat?"; "How many guns do you own, anyway?"; "Does everyone in your family have their own iPod, cell phone, computer, and car??".
There's nothing novel about these stereotypes, though it sure is shocking to be confronted point blank like that. Sadly, one-third of American adults are considered overweight. This is an issue our nation must deal with, but remember there are plenty of slim Americans as well! I am not an anomaly in that regard. In fact, after checking some quick statistics from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), Utah is one of the slimmest states with 22% of the population having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, (Spain is 17%, Mississippi 33%). Additional info from this website places us as second in best overall health too!
Secondly, yeah, owning guns is one of our basic rights, but this also varies greatly state to state and person to person. I'm not into guns myself and have never owned even a BB gun, but I did reflect on this issue recently when someone exclaimed to me, "Man, your country would sure be hard to conquer if every man, woman, and child were armed! If we were invaded here we'd have a hard time protecting ourselves." It was interesting hearing this conclusion come from a European. But then again, the US has infinitely more gun crimes than unarmed countries like Canada, and it is reassuring that if I stumble into the wrong neighborhood here, I don't have to worry about being shot to death (just knifed...). It's a topic of much debate and few Americans interpret "the right to bear arms" the same way. I personally don't think possession of an AK-47 is covered under our basic rights, but then I'm quite the radical.
The third question, however, caught me most unprepared. Because, to be frank, the stereotype of American materialism could not be more true. I bought an iPhone the summer before coming here, and though it is a luxury in the US, I knew dozens of people who had one. I have not seen one solitary iPhone since I left. Every time I get it out to send a text or check the time I feel their eyes on me, whispering "you consumer whore!" I wouldn't want any other phone, but I hate to stand out so. And it gets worse.
In my family there pretty much is a 1:1 ratio of cars to drivers. Over the past 5 years my family have probably bought more than ten iPods between us. My sister has never known a world without a computer and internet at her disposal. The fact is we are a very rich nation; I never realized how spoiled we are until coming to Europe. Here people use things until they break, whereas my friends back home are all excited to ditch their perfectly functional phones for the latest model as soon as possible. In the future when I start to think "I need...", I will take a step back and consider, do I really need that? Do I need it now? Do I need it new?
Then again, it just occurred to me that, as the current financial crisis has shown us, the world economy pretty much depends on Americans' unfailing consumerism . . .
These three seem to be some of the most common American stereotypes I encounter. Another great one is that we Americans are all reactionary, fundamentalist cowboys. This does seem to have more than just a "kernel" of truth to it. Consider: the conservative party of Spain, the Partido Popular, has beliefs very similar to the Democratic Party of the United States (the left-wing party being called the Socialist Workers' Party); and according to the World Values Survey, only 67% of Spaniards (45% of Britons and 40% of French) EVER attend church, compared to 84% of Americans. And as for being cowboys, well that's right up there with the beret-wearing French and the lederhosen-wearing Germans. What is true, however, is that we are much more individualistic than most nations. A certain distrust in government comes naturally.
And finally, the most offensive stereotype for me: that Americans are "uncultured". I particularly hate this one because, what does "uncultured" even mean? It's one of those words which can be applied to an enormous range of negative qualities.
1) Unfashionable
Ok, fair enough. I'd say, yes, Europeans do dress better in general. But I have seen plenty of Spaniards, Italians, British, dressed exactly the same as we do in the US, e.g. jeans, t-shirt, sneakers. My theory is that the difference is more Urban-Rural than European-American. On both continents city-dwellers care more about their appearance than country-folk. Fewer Americans live in cities than Europeans do so the differences naturally follow, but no one doubts the fashion supremacy of places like New York City.
2) "Unrefined" cuisine
There is a great misunderstanding about what constitutes American food. I've heard many Americans asked about our cuisine and the only food they can think of is hamburgers. The problem is that, first of all, America is far too large and diverse to pin down a single shared cuisine. It's like asking what does American music sound like. And like music, the rest of the world has copied so much from us and vice versa, that it's impossible to draw the line.
Secondly, we are a nation of immigrants, so we tend to refer to foods as though they were all ethnic, when really they are much more American than we realize. For example, fajitas are a uniquely American food, invented in the Southwest and now available all over Europe. Egg Foo Young, fortune cookies, and General Tso's chicken are all unknown in China. They, like California rolls, were created in American restaurants for American tastes. I thought it is very interesting, when I went to a Mexican restaurant in London and a Chinese restaurant in Oviedo, both of these were extremely Americanized to me. Or, I suppose they were Europeanized, in which case it is apparent that America and Europe resemble each other much more than either resembles Mexico or China.
As a final word, I insist you not judge American food until you've been to America. And please don't judge us by our fast food. Comparing McDonald's to a summer barbecue or Taco Bell to a real taco is like comparing that nasty premade supermarket tortilla to the real thing. You have to compare the best with the best, or the worst with the worst. And I assure you, my family's cooking (and hopefully someday mine) is some of the best around. Come visit and see!
3) Ignorant to other cultures and languages.
This has some truth to it, unfortunately. In many ways we are the center of the world; you couldn't escape American music, media, merchandise, politics or current events if you tried. Plus, most Europeans cannot imagine the unique geographic situation of the US. Nowhere else on earth can you travel thousands of miles and still be in contact with the same largely monolingual culture. It's like an island. Most people speak only English because English is all that matters for their lives. If you're Hungarian, for example, you have a few million people to speak your language with. Within a few hours travel you're in a country with a completely different language and culture: German, Italian, Romanian, Slovakian, Croatian. Unless you never leave Hungary (the size of Maryland) you will learn about these cultures, and learn (at least) English, the language they all have in common. Nothing similar to this occurs within the entire 9 million square kilometers of the U.S.
As immigration and globalization increase, I'm certain we will see more interaction with different cultures in the US. Americans might even be willing to listen to songs that aren't in English! And watch movies with subtitles! Heck, I'm here learning Spanish with this very thing in mind; I can't experience everything I want knowing only English.
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Having confronted these and many other stereotypes over the past months has really caused me to re-examine what the United States of America is and what it is to be an American. I have never been a particularly patriotic person, and I remember during my tumultuous teen years I held many outlandish ideas, such as "America has no culture!" or "I am from nowhere and belong to nothing!". These are all quite common things for a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant in the US to think. When you grow up in a world in which everything is contrasted against this, you have a hard time seeing those things which make up your own culture. Culture itself is presented as all those things different from the majority. White is the non-ethnicity; Male is the non-gender; English is the non-language (And how the White English speaking males in power speak is "no accent"). This kind of worldview was, naturally, a mere product of my own ignorance. Towards the end of high school and in college I began to understand what things make up my culture. Only living outside of it, though, have I finally gotten a clear picture of the U.S. and American-ness.
American exceptionalism is a belief that has quite a lot of currency in the U.S. It has its opponents, but I think for the most part this is something we are all raised to believe. This is exactly the kind of self-serving belief I rebelled so strongly against in my earlier adolescence. However, writing from the nation of Spain, I must say I cannot deny the unique history and status of my homeland.
I hate the inherent arrogance of this analogy, but it has proven itself to be true time and again: America is like a celebrity. Some love it, some hate it, but everyone has heard of it, and everyone has an opinion. American news is global news. A lot of times I've been caught off guard by how much people here know about my country. They all study the states and capitals, they know all about our current economic and healthcare reforms, they know about the Republicans and Democrats. I mean, is there anyone on earth who doesn't know who Barack Obama is? There are two channels on regular cable devoted solely to Hollywood movies, and most people get MTV. It's quite challenging for an American to step into this society, where everyone already knows so much about you. I've studied plenty about Spain and tried to learn as much as possible, but the average person still knows much more about my nation. As celebrities exhibit, it is a bit hard to keep your head on straight. I really value humility, and make an extra effort not to be an arrogant, boorish yankee, but I find it impossible not to feel proud.
One of the most noticeable symbols of this is seen in the Eurovision song contest, which I watched last night. After narrowing the competitors down to 25, each nation sings one song, usually as flamboyantly as humanly possible (these people would put glitter on sequins . . .). The vast majority sing in English. After the performance, each country reports the number of points it awards to the competitors. They can report in either English or French. After close inspection, it appeared that the only nation to report in French was . . . France. More shocking still though, only two of the nations reporting in English did so in an English accent. The remaining twenty-two nations reported in what was very obviously their attempt at American English. They naturally had their native language accent, but it was abundantly apparent they weren't trying to sound British. The official language of the Eurovision song contest by popular support is . . . American! I personally think this is beyond bizarre. They really should speak British English, it's downright unneighbourly. It is also quite flattering, though. I feel a sort of patriotic blushing coming on . . .
We are pretty exceptional. And as such I think we have a certain burden not felt by other nations. Let's not forget who has the tiresome job of policing the entire world now . . . . But we also have certain responsibilities we mustn't take lightly. I hope with this and successive administrations we will see a greater emphasis placed on international cooperation and intervention in human rights issues. We've spent so much time and money bombing third-world countries over the past 9 years--I'm no expert in foreign policy, but I should think there are less heavy-handed ways of ensuring peace and stability around the world. And you know, maybe in the future all these developed and soon-to-be-developed nations will take a bigger share of the responsibility.
Anyway, I hope all these rantings congeal in some way to give you an idea of how the experiences of living far from home have altered how I see that home and my place in it. Keep tuned for more meaningful blogging!
