Journeys and Adventures

A recent post on A Malaysian Abroad (a blog by Lynne—a Malaysian/Swiss living in the US) called “Heaven and Hell: European Stereotypes” discusses stereotypes of European cultures.  It’s received a lot of attention and there have been some interesting responses.

     I, too, believe that most stereotypes are built on truth and, in some cases, can be a positive and helpful thing; but also know that stereotypes can be damaging, are not true for everyone, and can hurt…badly.  One has to be careful in knowing how another person will react.

     My boyfriend is Hispanic and his friends often use stereotypes to tease each other—one of his nicknames is “Taco Bell”—but that’s their style and no one thinks less of him in anyway and he laughs along with them (and he is not the only that receives that treatment).

     It’s a tight line and anyone that treads on it must be careful.

     The post reminded me of a discussion in the tripwolf forum I saw last year: Tell Us Your Travel Stereotypes.  In this post, commenters were asked to complete the following sentences:

1) The most beautiful women are from …
2) The ugliest guys can be found in …
3) Watch out for the worst drivers in …
4) The world’s cleanest bathrooms are in …
5) The rudest waiters work in …
6) The funniest food can be enjoyed in …

     Of course, many participated and many had similar answers (bad drivers in Italy, clean bathrooms in Germany seemed to be the most common), but some readers were opposed to the discussion. 

     Others reminded us that “most stereotypes are highly exaggerated generalizations but usually based on a grain of truth” and that the best way to break down stereotypes is to travel.

       “Be open-minded and learn to laugh at yourself,” one poster said.  I think that’s good advice.

Other thoughts on stereotypes?  Anyone care to fill in the blanks on the above?

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