Note: This article pertaining to Stereotypes of Travelers: Fair or Ignorant? was originally published on Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 3:52 in the afternoon and has been updated.
Are French people rude to Americans? Not by my experiences. In fact, I remember on one Bastille Day along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, French people actually encouraged me to get a prized front-row position to see the annual parade. I will never forget that; and I appreciate that to this day.
Stereotypes of Travelers: Fair or Ignorant?
One time I was in Paris, I had a rare runny nose and I needed tissues. I walked into a pharmacy — gotta love those illuminated green plus signs — and looked through my translation dictionary for the word tissue in French. “Avez-vous les mouchoirs?” I asked. The helpful person behind the counter points to the aisle where the tissues are and said “Kleenex.” I laughed — but I believe that the person behind the counter appreciated my attempts to communicate with him in his native language; and to me, that made all of the difference. I was not that stereotypical “ugly American.”
I had a friend who went on his honeymoon to France. He did not know any French; so to communicate with French people, he would simply speak his English loudly and slowly, mimicking a French accent.
He actually said to me when he returned from his trip that he did not understand why French people were not more helpful; and even wondered why they looked at him funny.
Is it any wonder? Really?!?
Anyway, are Italians really lewd and rude? Are British people really that boisterous? Are Germans really ill-behaved?
I remember being told by one person years ago about how she disliked Japanese people. This was based on a trip to Hawaii on which she took her parents. They stuck together in crowds and were rude and abrupt to others, according to her.
Not until she traveled to Japan years later did her mind changed considerably — and she initially did not want to travel to Japan based on her limited experience with Japanese people. The Japanese people — especially complete strangers — were as close to the perfect hosts as possible. She then realized the possible reasons why the behaved the way they did in Hawaii years earlier, saying that at least when she was in Japan, everything was clearly marked in English. Hawaii was not as accommodating pertaining to Japanese people and their language. Also — being in a strange land and on official tours of Hawaii — the Japanese people apparently were aggressively attempting to stay together out of the fear of being left behind, lost and fending for themselves.
I am not sure how true all of that was — but it was certainly possible; and other reasons could have been involved as well.
To be fair, modicums of truths do exist which lend to stereotypes based on the paradigms of which people were raised in their respective countries: traditions passed down through the generations; economic status; topography; climate; availability of resources as a few of many factors. Norwegians were not raised growing and eating fresh pineapples as a main staple. People raised in Singapore did not have to prepare for the harsh cold and snowy winter every year…
…and yet these two factors are possible for Americans — depending on where they live, of course, as the United States is quite diverse in terms of many of the factors mentioned above. This is why a New Yorker will seem quite different from a person from Arkansas. Is it fair to lump them as the same “ugly” Americans?
Even within the United States, there are stereotypes about people from different regions. I have taken people I know who have never been to New York on a personal tour of my hometown when they visited for the first time. Almost every single time, each one of them would say with an astonished look on their faces and in a pleasantly surprised manner: “New Yorkers are not rude.”
No, New Yorkers in general are not rude. It may just seem that way because many are usually rushing from one appointment to another and usually do not have the time to stop and engage with people; but I can understand how people from other parts of the world could consider that behavior rude. I have not lived in New York in years; and yet I still walk faster than most people. Old habits are hard to break, I suppose — but I try not to be rude.
Whenever I travel to another country, I try to acclimate myself as much as I possibly can. Learning a few words of the local language goes a long way towards a great experience. When local citizens see that I am attempting to show an interest and make an effort to learn their language and customs, they are almost always friendly and more accommodating to me.
In other words, I show respect and consideration towards the people and their language and culture of each country I visit — even if they seem unusual to me. Is that not one of the purposes of traveling in the first place — to experience how different people around the world eat, talk, go about their business and live their lives?
“Stereotyping is a lazy pursuit, of course”, wrote B.R. in this article posted at The Economist. “If there is a kernel of truth to a cliché, it is swiftly magnified by confirmation bias.”
That; and people have a tendency to want to “label” things — including other people. Adding to that magnification is the proliferation of social media, which tends to further exaggerate stereotypes — sometimes to an extreme that is beyond ridiculous. Have you seen some of the comments that are posted at X in recent years? Even LinkedIn — which is supposed to be a platform for professionals — sometimes sinks to the depths of feeding stereotypes.
To me, stereotypes are the lack of desire to truly understand individual people. Let’s just lump them into a category or two, as they are all like that. Is that fair?
Final Boarding Call
Tolerance and understanding of different people and different cultures is an important part of what makes the world go around. It is a major reason as to why travel is so interesting — at least, to me. Imagine what travel would be like if everywhere you traveled was similar to where you are based. Why bother traveling at that point?
Ignorance should give way to embracing those differences and learning more about them, rather than just conveniently lumping people into stereotypes — which, in my opinion, causes far more harm than good.
All photographs ©2008, ©2017, ©2022, and ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
