British Stereotypes in America Let’s face it, in The United States, we do not understand cricket, we do not understand tea, and we certainly do not understand hidden emotions. Of course there is more to Britain than these cultural icons, just like America is not just made of cowboys from “Dallas” and loud egotistic tourists. However in the year 2000, there are still several myths surrounding the British culture that are very much alive today. Many people in the U.S. and I am sure many other countries tend to think of Britain as a land full of rose gardens, cricket, Oxford, and people drinking tea with their little pinky in the air with the Queen. Myths and legends stem from reality distorted, this in turn continues to affect the real image portrayed by a country. One famous characteristic that the British I am sure would like to rid themselves of is horrible bland food. It is a common misconception in American that everything that moves or doesn’t is boiled, and stuffed into some sort of animal organ. I believe this originates from the fact that these people have experienced so much grief in the forms of World Wars, which they learned to swallow it and not complain. There could be another explanation though; they might actually like it. Americans definitely have different tastes and this creates one of our cultural differences that we like to torment the British for. Serves them right for trying to not give us our independence, how dare them “let’s make fun of their food”. With the addition of “Two Fat Ladies” and the “Ainsley Harriott Show” (British cooking shows) in America, hopefully some of these misconceptions will change. The British are also perceived as being a docile, non-violent country. This comes from years of conditioning of learned techniques that have developed this casual attitude. “…historically the English have in fact been a fairly violent lot. However, for at least two centuries, the ability to control aggressions has been a source of pride to the British”(p.90, Snowden). Americans would say, “no dogs allowed” whereas the British would say, “we regret that in the interests of hygiene dogs are not allowed on the premises”. For years it has been the parents’ job to punish children into submission to rid them of their “badness”.
Similarly, it is easy to see why these ideologies and institutions were met with such resistance. The British notions that the world would do best to follow in their footsteps, as well as the need to constantly expand their territories, is perhaps what lead to the decline of the British
... The loyalty that we had to the British crown has in some senses faded, and become more of a celebrity fad that people follow for entertainment.
...ularity in the other, but this is not often the case, as seen with the punk rock movement. Separated by over two centuries, British Americans have generations between their cultural brethren across the ponds. However, beneath all these cultural differences, the levels of social hierarchy are consistent throughout nations.
considered to be its own nation, people still believed it to be ruled under Britain and expected
The UK’s nations, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have their own child protection system and laws to help protect children from abuse and neglect. They have a framework of legislation, guidance, and practice to identify children who are at risk from harm and to protect them and act in preventing further abuse.
Absence of social justice, as many Iraqi people were extremely poor, whereas British lived in extravagance
Britain brought many new ideas to the world which some of which we use today
The attitudes of the common people mirrored their counterparts in England. They had a combination of indifference and obeisance.
Imagine that you are of Arab decent you being screened more thoroughly than others at the airport. The only way the airport staff can identify that you are of Arab decent is based on your family name, Najjar. The airport staff constantly takes extra measures to confirm that you are not a terrorist. Stereotypes have existed in American culture for centuries. Early in American history stereotypes of Negroes and Mexicans predominately associate them with lower-class attributes (Campbell, 1967).
Although today’s America in many ways has changed into a new society. Immigrants desire to move to America because they have freedom of religion, a chance to rise from poverty, and a new beginning. According to Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur in from Letters from an American Farmer, ‘’ A country that had no bread for him, whose fields produced him no harvest, who met with nothing but the frowns of the rich, the severity of the laws, with jails and punishments; who owned not a single foot of the extensive surface of this planet? No! Urged by a variety of motives, here they came (148). Immigrants have a need to move to America to have a better future. As immigrants look on America they see that it’s a way out of getting a new life.
However these people often over look the fact that Australia, which is often referred to as the ‘Land of Migrants,’ is made up of a population of which almost 40% of the people are not born here. Much of our population has migrated form other parts of Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Therefore our ties with Britain are less important and meaningful. If we remove the Union Jack from our flag, this does not mean that Great Britain will not assist us if we find ourselves in need of their aid.
Since the nineteenth century, the Islamic presence in Britain has expanded. Muslims were considered to be a cheap labour and this was profitable for Britain especially after World War II, when Britain needed to rebuild the economy. The majority of Muslims who came
Are there not enough grounds for causing bad feeling without inventing atrocities purely for entertainment value? And having said that, I personally, don't even find the aforementioned scenes entertaining. The Brits are inevitably the first and sometimes the only Country to support America, whatever the circumstances or adversity. It is therefore even more disturbing that the close friendship between two peoples should be potentially damaged purely for commercial purposes.
Mainly my argument is, compared with other countries, UK is more suspicious of all people entering the country and they discriminate against people from ‘underdeveloped’ countries.
So I think of Britain as a place a lot of different types of people