Stereotypes: a two-way street
Kendra Richards
Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Student Life
French people are snobs. Asians are smart. The Irish are drunks …. Stereotypes like these exist within every culture. So what do people think about Americans?
A number of students from all areas of the world come to the United States with minds full of stereotypes and preconceived-notions about Americans. Here at UMD, international students are learning whether or not there is truth behind these perceptions.
"I thought that most of the people here would be very big," said Rikard Forza, an international student from Sweden.
Forza's comment probably doesn't come as much of a shock to most Americans. It's no secret that the United States often gets stereotyped as the land of the obese. And, it seemed a common belief among international students.
"I thought that everyone here was fat and overweight," said Caroline Berglund, an international student who is also from Sweden.
Berglund said that the food here contributed to her belief that Americans were all overweight.
"Everything is greasy," she said. "Most things have a lot of fat and sugar, and it's really hard to find healthy food. If you do find it, it's very expensive."
Berglund said she was also surprised by how many products came in bulk.
"You have these huge shelves with all different kinds of cereals or chips and a lot of things sell in huge packages," she said.
Aside from the not-so-flattering image of obesity amongst Americans, positive images were portrayed as well. In slight contradiction to the obesity stereotype, international students found that Americans-at least those at UMD-are quite physically active.
"I have never seen more people in a sports and health center than I do here at UMD," Berglund said.
This put some truth behind another common perception held about Americans: They care a lot about sports in comparison to other cultures.
"I knew that many people were interested in sports, but not as much as I saw," Forza said. "You can just walk down the halls in school and see that the students are breathing sports- everyone wears clothing with their favorite team on it."
A number of students from all areas of the world come to the United States with minds full of stereotypes and preconceived-notions about Americans. Here at UMD, international students are learning whether or not there is truth behind these perceptions.
"I thought that most of the people here would be very big," said Rikard Forza, an international student from Sweden.
Forza's comment probably doesn't come as much of a shock to most Americans. It's no secret that the United States often gets stereotyped as the land of the obese. And, it seemed a common belief among international students.
"I thought that everyone here was fat and overweight," said Caroline Berglund, an international student who is also from Sweden.
Berglund said that the food here contributed to her belief that Americans were all overweight.
"Everything is greasy," she said. "Most things have a lot of fat and sugar, and it's really hard to find healthy food. If you do find it, it's very expensive."
Berglund said she was also surprised by how many products came in bulk.
"You have these huge shelves with all different kinds of cereals or chips and a lot of things sell in huge packages," she said.
Aside from the not-so-flattering image of obesity amongst Americans, positive images were portrayed as well. In slight contradiction to the obesity stereotype, international students found that Americans-at least those at UMD-are quite physically active.
"I have never seen more people in a sports and health center than I do here at UMD," Berglund said.
This put some truth behind another common perception held about Americans: They care a lot about sports in comparison to other cultures.
"I knew that many people were interested in sports, but not as much as I saw," Forza said. "You can just walk down the halls in school and see that the students are breathing sports- everyone wears clothing with their favorite team on it."
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