Stereotypes

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There are 196 countries in the world. That’s a lot, and it’s impossible to fully know them all for what they are – that’s when the stereotypes come in, because ‘they help people systematize their thinking about other groups or individuals by providing them with ready-made images or list of attributes that purportedly reflect "the true essence" of other groups’ (Kubik, n.d). Skoda (2007) suggests that ‘generalizations about cultures or nationalities can be a source of pride, anger or simply bad jokes’, which applies to America, Lithuania and Britain as well: all have stereotypes that fall under the three aforementioned categories, and the aim of this essay is to discuss and compare the existing stereotypes among America, Lithuania and Britain.
To begin with, America – being one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world – has a myriad of stereotypes that are manifested by the media, literature, general public opinions and the like. Normally, people see the typical American as a materialistic, ignorant, gun-loving and Hollywood-obsessed fatty, protectively hugging the bald eagle – a.k.a the national bird of the United States - whilst consuming copious amounts of fast food and Coca-Cola. This is an exaggeration of sorts, of course, but as the saying goes -- in every lie there is a kernel of truth. For example, America had the highest rate of obesity for large countries for a long while, and though now Mexico is the country with the highest obesity rate, it doesn’t change the fact that the “fat American” stereotype is not pulled out of thin air and is, in fact, true for a lot of United States citizens. Then there is the culture of violence: according to Pessoa (2013) ‘Americans have a long historical fondness of guns and this is often portrayed by American media. A considerable percentage of Americans own firearms. The United States has one of the

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