According to a Finnish girl this weekend, I am a “typical American.”
What did I do to deserve this title? She walked into my room and noticed a bottle of shampoo: an oversized plastic bottle of Pantene, 25.4 fl oz, purchased from a Richmond area Wal-Mart last month before I left to come to Amsterdam.
I have discovered that certain “typical American” stereotypes are routinely believed to be true, especially the ones about excess and overconsumption. Americans are known for their warehouse-sized stores, products bought in bulk, and one-stop shopping. We can make our choice between thousands of products lined up neatly, side by side, on sturdy supermarket shelves. There are so many choices we almost don’t know what to do with them.
In this situation, at that moment, with my hair-care products on display, I did fit the “typical American” stereotype. I laughed along with her, since she’d made the comment with a smile and no offense intended, but at the same time I found myself wanting to defend my actions. I rationalized my shampoo purchase to her by saying, well, at least this way I don’t have to go to the store as often.
I showed her a new shampoo bottle I’d bought the day before to replenish my now-dwindling supply. Admittedly, at the time of purchase I had looked for the biggest bottle I could find — but when I was only able to locate one about half the size of the original, I wasn’t bothered. Just because I’m accustomed to the convenience of one size doesn’t mean I can’t get used to another; I’ll just have to buy it more often.
Later, I wondered if Americans are really so shallow that non-Americans find it easy to differentiate us simply by the size of the products we buy. Does my choice of shampoo brand me as being a member of my country? Would the Finnish girl not take advantage of the same option, if she had such a choice sitting on her store sheves?
To be truthful, this is not just about shampoo. The incident simply brought together various observations that I’ve made, as well as things said by others in the past few weeks. If anyone is curious, it’s true that George W. Bush isn’t a well-loved international figure (surprise, surprise). The people that I encounter may be roughly the same age, give or take five years, but they come from countries as close to the Netherlands as France, and as far away as Brazil.
Both of my college professors regularly make comments about America’s current global domination. It’s one thing to hear a history professor in America refer to the U.S. in terms of hegemony, and hear the same thing, in a different tone of voice, from a professor in a different country.
The topic of guns came up recently during a discussion with a few other students, and I was the only one who was asked if I had a gun at home. (”Don’t most Americans own guns?”) When I replied in the negative, that I do not own a gun, the next question was if my parents did.
I agree that it’s relatively easy to obtain a firearm in America. And I didn’t mind explaining my rationale for buying the extra-large shampoo. I don’t mind answering the questions. I would rather the questions find a voice, so that they can be answered, even if the answer is strictly my personal viewpoint. I hope that I am answering them sufficiently.
9 Comments
Umm, I buy in larger quantities because:
1. It’s cheaper
2. Less in the landfill.
How is that bad?
I don’t own a gun. My parents don’t. My grandparents don’t. The Boy doesn’t.
And yes, the ban on gay marriage is bad, but what about Latin America? I bet they’re not jumping to help the gay causes.
Sheesh. I realize we have a target on our back, but people need to keep a global perspective. Ironically, everyone else loves to point at us because they think we’re the only country with problems.
Ok, when I started reading, I was thinking what happened to Zan? McDonalds? Hummer? Then I got to the next part and realized it was false. lol
I love reading about people’s perceptions there and about how they do things.
“Did you know that America has a higher murder rate than any other country?” I’m not sure that still true. In fact I believe crime rates decline every year in the US, while in other countries (like The Netherlands) crime rates still rise.
I stopped telling people about our dream to move to the US. We always get “all Americans have guns”, “all Americans are fat”, or “all Americans are shallow”. How shallow is that? Calling every single inhabitant of a giant nation like the US shallow.
Zan, do you consider yourself a “typical” American? If every little bit of explaining helps pass on that notion, then the worst stereotyps will eventually be tempered to some degree.
I’m writing a speech that I’ll present in class tomorrow, about why people should stop hating America..
I found your text very interesting..
People here (I live in sweden) often say that they hate/dislike America, and when you ask why they say; Georges W Bush, crappy culture & stupied people.
And perhaps the big companies (ex. McDonalds, Coka Cola). But their “hatred” is so.. misdirected! it’s not like we hate other NATIONS because of their political system, Sweden wants to be America, everything that is good in our culture (film, tv-culture) is non-swedish, and 70 % of it is yours.
And stupied people, come on. You have Harvard, and I’m really sure, even though I’ve never been to America, more really smart people than the entire swedish population!
(long reply, but well. God bless America!
)
i don’t think its about hating america…
its more about pointing out the differences between america and other countries.
there are stereotypes about every country, some are true some are not.
about the guns for example:
in most other countries its not allowed to have a gun, so it’s something you connect with america, not something that you hate america for
well, I am just writing a paper on American society today…
The thing is, concerning the topic of shallowness from my point of you, that if you can write a paragraph about buying a smaller bottle of shampoo, explaining that you were not bothered and everything… yes, I have to smile or even laugh a bit.
Anyway, I am in Sweden now myself, meeting all the other nationalities and I am actually starting to believe in stereotypes; not in a strict sense, but yes, there are personality traits common to one nation. Environment you have lived in does make the difference.
And yes, sometimes you stick to it, for reasons not to be considered different: French want to be seen as charming and having fun all the time, even if they don’t. And we, Czech, are supposed to drink awful lot…
Sometimes I think if there is really just cause and effect, or if there is more complicated connection between things… and humans.
I love stereotypes. I am born in the US and I’m half Swedish, half Czech, so I feel that I can quite freely categorize people. At least “my own kind”. Therefore I will confirm this: Americans are stupid, Swedes are cowards and Czechs are drunks. Hey, I just said that I’m a stupid drunk coward. And according to myself, I am.
And by the way Dani Maslo. Do you realize your last name means “butter” in your own language?
I host international students in my home, and some live here for a few weeks before locating student housing. It really grates my nerves to have something described as Typically American, such as stretch limos (those are the cars typical rich americans drive) to a booth in a restaurant as typically american. But i had one student actually ask me to wear a cowboy hat and hold a toy gun so he could sent the photo back to his friends in Germany so he could show them how his hosts were “typical americans” I declined, and told him that when he wore a swastica and leather pants I would pose for the photo. I think he got the message! Ironically the europeans who often act so worldly, intellectual and superior and often the least informed about our country and enjoy the little put down of calling something “typically american” Not all students are like this! But the few who are are annoying.