Culture: Smashing Stereotypes

SMASHING STEREOTYPES

 Dictionary Definitions

· Stereotype: “A fixed general image or characteristic that a lot of people believe to represent a particular           type of person”.

         

· Stereotyping: When someone claims that members of another culture all share the same, often inferior or offensive characteristics.

(Collins Cobuild Dicitionary)

· Click here to learn more about cultural stereotypes.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar/examples/stereotype-examples.html

Different kinds of stereotypes

· Racial: Red Indians in cowboy fims are seen as bloodthirsty savages. Gipsies are

  lazy.

· Gender: Women are bad drivers and talkative.

· Age: Old people are always complaining and they’re very forgetful.

· Religion: Catholic families have a lot of children 

· Profession: All lawyers are greedy, doctors are proud.   

A Stereotyped Vision of Heaven and Hell

Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Spanish and it is all organized by the Swiss.

Hell is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss and it is all organized by the Spanish.

Where do stereotypes come from?

· Society, culture and tradition (parents and family, friends, school, the media)

· Fear.

· Laziness.

· Ignorance, lack of experience.

· Vanity, a sense of superiority.

· Envy, a sense of inferiority.

Breaking Stereotypes

Look at these stereotypes. Match them with the information about different cultures.

1. British and American food is awful.
2. Mexicans are lazy.
3. British people are cold and reserved.
4. Germans work harder than anybody else.
5. Italians are warm and friendly.

1. People tend to like the food that they are used to more than that from other countries. For example, many people don’t like Indian food because it is too hot. On the other hand, many Indians find European food tasteless. Also, different cultures give different values to food. In France, Spain or Italy food is given more importance than in Anglo-Saxon countries.

2. People often associate countries that are not as wealthy as their with laziness. In fact, the “laziest” people are from the richest countries. For example, working hours are shorter and holidays are longer in Germany than elsewhere. In Mexico for example, most people work very long hours and have very few holidays.

3. In central and Northern Europe people don’t touch each other very much and  stand a long way from each other. This can make people from other places think that they are cold. In southern Europe people touch each other much more and stand much closer. For people from these cultures this can be disconcerting.

 Adjectives, nationalities and culture in: No Sex, Please, we´re British.

  http://www.tefl.net/esl-lesson-plans/TP_NoSexPlease.pdf

Would you like to know a little bit more about the British? Find out in True or False Facts about      British Life.

      http://www.isabelperez.com/britishlife.htm

     A stereotyped version of a teenager is also possible. Do you see yourself as “A Perfect Teenager”?

 http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/interlex/hotpot/jumbled/fre_1.htm

    A Narrative Text.

Write a narrative text (100-150 words) telling a personal experience with stereotypes. Try to organize your ideas in paragraphs, use simple connectors and pay attention to punctuation.

    Powerpoint Presentation.

       Use everything you have learnt from this project to make a powerpoint

presentation about cultural stereotypes. You will have to present your powerpoint project to your classmates in class.