Wednesday, 18 July 2012

A History Of...// Drawings

The French



I think out of all my drawings this man makes the most sense. The striped top will always be a massive french stereotype, that and the hat and mustache. The wine and the baguette I think make good sence. Anyway when I go out to france those two things always seem to be quite popular. In conclusion to my French man I think he is very much suitable for my publication. Throughout all my drawings the men don't seem to have trousers. I think that this is something I am just going to run with. As some of them wont have any sort of trouser of bottom half in their stereotype. 

'Let's not throw out the cliches with the bathwater. Apart from the fact that they conceal a fair bit of truth, these stereotypical preconceptions that seem to stick so strongly to our French identity might also help us close ranks.
So, we're supposedly arrogant and chauvinistic – compliments that generally go hand in hand with a suspicion of cowardice. The rude health of this particular stereotype is not unrelated to the current financial and monetary crisis, in which France has been unable to disguise the difficulty it is having in maintaining its role – or what it believes to be its role – on the European stage.
Confronted with the fact of German leadership, we supposedly hit back with thunderous rants and rash behaviour. In fact, of course, this kind of reproach is good for morale in a country worried it may be sinking into a state of morose stagnation...'  www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/26/french-stereotypes-arrogant-good-in-bed


The German 


Now, for the German guy I couldn't really think of a lot but after typing in to google 'The German Stereotype' it came up with loads of people in Lederhosens so I just did a guy in one of them! There still I quite a bit of detail I can give him but for now I think I will just leave him like this. Once I got my work on the computer thats when I will start to add the main detail. But for now I don't think it necessary! 

'...Yes it is true, all the cliches are correct, even the one about the towels and the sunloungers. At least as much was confirmed to me by a reliable friend, who is widely travelled. He also confirmed that only the Germans do it. Mind you, he also confounds the cliche: he once threw all the towels into the pool one early morning, along with two Brits he met in the bar the night before (another cliche).
The third cliche is harder to understand: that Germans are stiff and humourless. It's all relative. Of course, Angela Merkel is a bit more stiff and formal than Silvio Berlusconi but it could be the other way around with Mario Monti. Hardly anyone would claim Christian Wulff [the German president] is more formal than the English queen. This may be the problem: he seems too relaxed with his friends and their generosity for many a German's liking. (Wulff is accused of accepting a large private loan from the wife of a wealthy businessman.)
Seemingly, Germans don't think it is a laughing matter when it comes to their politicians – at least not outside of satirical programmes or Carnival. If Germans do have a sense of humour perhaps it has to be clearly noted in the calendar.
German anger at Wulff's relatively minor misjudgments would make other countries laugh and blush (Berlusconi, anyone?). When it comes to cliches, the Germans are extremely diligent, efficient and disciplined about living up to them...' 

The Irish 

The biggest stereotype of the Irish is they drink a lot. I decided to attempt at giving this guy a leprechaun outfit and simply a mug or pint of beer. I might put a flower in his cap as ireland is a very green place and the flower will be sybbolic of the country side.

Tempers: The history of Ireland is indeed full of violence - as is the history of most countries. Their fight for autonomy from the time of the ancient Celts to the their struggle to become an independent nation may be responsible for the term "fighting Irish." American discrimination against Irish immigrants after the potato famine in 1847 may also have contributed. Irish immigrants were stereotyped as stupid, dirty, and lazy. "Irish Need Not Apply" signs were a common in U.S. shop fronts. Irish Americans had to fight their way through oppression and into main stream society. The average Irish person is no more prone to bad temper than any other nationality.
 Culture: Ireland is credited worldwide for their traditional folk music and dance but Ireland's contribution to visual art including sculpture and stained glass is sadly lesser known. Sculptor Jerome Connor, painter Beatrice Elvery, and and stained glass artist Harry Clarke all hailed from Ireland. Many districts where the government recognizes that traditional Irish is the primary language are referred to as Gaeltachtdistricts. In these districts, traditional Irish is the primary language spoken in homes and schools and all road signs are in traditional Irish.

The Spanish


'...But perhaps, then, to machismo? Not really. "There are countries that are infinitely more sexist," says Valcárcel. "The problem is that Spanish sexism has been crude, not at all subtle: women went about with their faces practically covered until the 18th century. But once the dictator Franco was dead, there was a great feminist movement, which in recent years has produced laws and a certain social sensibility that has permeated institutions.
"France and Italy, not to mention Greece, are more sexist. It's just that in France, for instance, the sexism takes a more gallant form."
The idea of a passionate character, which drives the European conception of Spain, is reflected in politics, too. Europeans acknowledge the "two Spains" when they talk about the breach between Catholics and secularists, nation-statists and regionalists, and left and right. The Spanish civil war, one of the most notorious conflicts of the modern age, did much to help paint this picture, which in some senses bears fresh brush strokes...' www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/26/spanish-stereotypes-we-have-mondays-too

The English


The british have so many stereotypes so I found it hard to draw. I am from britain also so I look at it probably completely different to everyone else. I have given this guy a suit and a hat, I'm not too sure what this means but it certainly isn't a bad thing. You could say that I have made Britain look hard working and intelligent when I seem to actually think that isn't the case at all! I see Britain to be full or people on benefits who wear tracksuits and love football. The wonderful traditional side of england has gone and now we are living in somewhere a lot different to what it once was. I think I need to re-think what this guy is going to wear. I might give him a football but I need to think about what he is going to wear. The umbrella I think is a good idea as britain is known for all its rain!

'...The stereotype is itself a stereotype. The European image of the Brit – either pukingly drunk football fan or snooty City gent, both living off past imperial glories, sullenly resenting being in Europerather than ruling the world – is itself a cliche. Just as Brits know that every good Frenchman wears a striped shirt and beret, and that ruddy-faced Germans subsist on a diet of beer and sausage, so we know precisely what all those Europeans think of us.
And, sure enough, drink, class and the second world war all crop up in the thumbnail sketch of the British (Europeans tend to use "British" as a synonym for "English", rather forgetting the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish)provided by our colleagues across the Channel. It would be nice to say that our neighbours have us all wrong – but, sadly, cliches only become cliches if they are built on a foundation of truth.
Start with the bottle. Sure, we can cling to the statistics that show we are far from Europe's heaviest drinkers. In fact, the last round of OECD figures ranked us 11th in Europe for alcohol consumption, far behind France in first place, followed by Portugal and Austria. But while the French, German, Spanish and Italians are drinking much less than they did in 1980, Britons are drinking 9% more.
Still, it's not the volume of pints (or litres) consumed that has led to our boozy reputation. It's the way we drink that's the problem. The French figure may be high, but that's driven up by a lot of people drinking moderately: the glass or two of red at dinner. The British disease has even entered the French language: le binge drinking is the preferred phrase for vast, rapid consumption aimed solely at getting hammered. It's this falling-over, vomiting brand of drunkenness, visible in most city centres on a Friday night, that has become part of our national image. One study found that 54% of British 15- and 16-year-olds admit to binge drinking, compared to a European average of 43%. In other words, there is more than a little reality behind the image...' www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/26/british-stereotypes-please-mention-war


The Italian 


Not that all Italians wear a overall and hold pizza, but the biggest stereotype I can find is that they make dam good pizza, that and pasta. Overall Italy is known for its good food so I think what this guy is wearing is suitable. Nothing offensive there! 

'...We are also fashion victims: you can recognise Italians by the way they dress from the head to feet (strictly black Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses; Calvin Klein boxers; Levi's jeans; Gucci handbags; tanned skin all year long; perfect make up). We will dress stylishly for every possible occasion. You won't ever see an Italian wearing sporting short pants combined with long socks: it's simply against our fashion rules (let alone our sense of style)!
We are chaotic. Nothing in Italy is well organized or easy-to-use. You have to fight to get the smallest scrap of information. Don't be surprised to see Italians fighting to get into the buses or jumping the queue to be served first at the coffee bar. Italy’s slow-moving and stressful bureaucracy has made us more pushy and resourceful....' http://www.justlanded.com/english/Italy/Articles/Culture/Being-Italian

The Dutch


1. The Dutch are stoned all the time.
This might be the most common stereotype about the Dutch, or at least something they are infamous for. However, the fact that soft drugs are more or less legalized in the Netherlands actually contributes to the lower numbers of addicts and users compared to the high percentage, almost twice as high, of soft drug users in the USA.
2. All Dutch are tall, have blond hair and blue eyes
This stereotype is indeed true only if you consider the people who are ethnically Dutch. The Dutch are the tallest people in the world with 1.84m on average for men and 1.70 for women. Dying your hair blond and putting on blue contact lenses won’t make you feel any special in the Netherlands. However, with the arrival of immigrants from all over the world, this once-a-fact can be just another stereotype.
3. The Dutch are greedy
There must be a reason why splitting the bill is called ‘Going Dutch’. It’s true that many Dutch keep a tight watch over their money. Men are unlikely to pay for their dates. (Ladies, take a clue. If you like to be dined and wined while in Amsterdam, going Dutch is not going to be a solution.) I am no sociologist, but perhaps this explains why there are not many beggars on the streets in Amsterdam compared to other mega cities in Europe. You will find street artists in other European tourist destinations complain about greedy Dutch who won’t spare changes for their acts.
But as a collective whole, Netherlands is a very generous country with a high percentage of their GDP going to development aid, 0.82%, above the UN target of 0.7 and lower than only their richer neighbor from Luxembourg, Sweden and the oil-loaded Norway.
4. All Dutch speak English
Dutch study English from an early age in a good education system and this combined with the similarities between the two languages ensures that you never have to bring a language guide to the Netherlands. You can ask for pretty much anything in Netherlands. Waitresses on the tourist squares are more likely to approach you in English than in Dutch and even if you try to speak Dutch, the Dutch will almost always switch to English in order to make it easier for you (or to brag their language skills).www.traveljo.com/7-common-stereotypes-about-the-dutch/



The Romanian


haha, this is really quite bad. I couldn't find a lot of information about them apart from a load of rubbish about vampires and Dracula.

The Gypsy population is a difficult social problem that has not been solved satisfactorily yet. They are not exclusive to Romania, but they live in larger numbers in Romania compared to other countries in Europe. In Romania they used to be dependent serfs and were freed only late in the 19th century. They speak their own language and live in their own (often migrant) communities, with insignificant mingling with Romanian society. There is a not insignificant amount of prejudice against them from mainstream Romanian society (some of them engage in criminal activities, which unfortunately has led to the whole Gypsy community being branded as criminal).
Treatment of Children: Romania has unfortunately made a name for itself through its orphanages. While I am sure some very sad cases are true, I would take the recent news in the media with a large pinch of salt. There are political interests and pressure is exerted on the Romanian government to allow international adoptions of Romanian children, so there might be some biases in reporting. Romania is a developing country and is doing what it can afford to do to provide a better life for its orphans. It is unfortunate that neither the society nor the church has a strong tradition of charity. However, accusing the country of systematically mistreating its children is unfair and untrue.
On a related note, since Romanian society is relatively traditional, children tend to be strictly controlled by parents and are not as empowered as their counterparts in the West. britishexpat.com/europe/romania/romania-stereotypes


The Polish



''...These stereotypes of Poles are true but only partly. Poles drink average amounts of alcohol, they are Catholic but not really bothered by what the church says, and they dislike Jews just slightly more than the average European.
According to data from the World Health Organisation, in 2010 the average Pole drank 13.3 litres of alcohol. This puts Poles just above the European average, which is 12 litres per citizen. Poles drink slightly more than Germans (12.8 litres), almost the same as the English (13.4 litres), and less than the Irish (14.4 litres).
So where does the stereotype of the heavy-drinking Pole come from? Half of the alcohol drunk in Poland is consumed by just 7% of drinkers. Research from the mid-90s showed that poorly educated men, mostly farmers and unskilled labourers, drink the most...' - www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/26/polish-stereotypes-hard-drinking-catholics



Time to make some surveys!

No comments:

Post a Comment