What is your image of someone from your country?

What about other

Europeans? Americans? Chinese people? We look at some of the stereotypes.
French stereotypes: arrogant and good in bed? Bien sûr!
Ok, we probably aren't the world's greatest lovers and we're not always on strike but a little arrogance can go a
long way in such troubled times.

Let's not throw out the clichés 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.

Strike lovers

Proud of our keen sense of inequality, it's almost disappointing for us not to hear our neighbours cite the traditional
French propensity to strike – a tradition, nonetheless, that's largely disproved by statistics on the weakness of our
trades unions. Ditto the notion that the French are too affected, too chi-chi, and lapse into a certain arrogance.
Well, only the rich get richer, and the ever-rebellious Gaul will see in that particular allegation a kind of tribute. Plus
European film-lovers like French films, and our popularity among foreign tourists never seems to wane, despite the
undeniable inadequacy of our welcome (we did, after all, need a campaign to get Parisian shopkeepers to say "Thank
you".)
On the other hand, the chi-chi argument should worry our chefs, Michelin-starred and otherwise. It does rather
confirm the decline of our culinary model before such emerging gastronomic forces as Spain, Japan and China.

Good in bed

And so, finally, to the reputation of the French as the world's greatest lovers. I'd have to say the jury's still out on that
one. Surveys put us – as regards both the number of our partners and the intensity of our sex lives – slap bang in the
middle of the roll call of European nations.
Fair enough, but after the global soap opera that was DSK, can our European neighbours possibly hear that argument
without cracking a smile? As far as that particular cliché is concerned, maybe we're best advised to give up hope of
ever really disproving it …
British stereotypes: do mention the war, please!
Brits are portrayed as class-conscious binge-drinkers obsessed with the war, but that’s not the full picture.

The European image of the Brit – either drunken

football fan or snooty City gent, living off past imperial
glories, sullenly resenting being in Europe rather than
ruling the world – is itself a cliché. 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 exactly what 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
provided by our neighbours across the Channel. It
would be nice to say that our neighbours have us all
wrong – but clichés only become clichés if they are
built on a foundation of truth.

Drink
Start with the bottle. 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 may drink more, but that's because a lot of people drink 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, which has become part of our national image.

Class
What, though, of the description of us as "awfully class conscious"? We can hardly complain if our fellow Europeans
think we have a hang-up about class. What message do we Brits think we send when our signature cultural exports of
recent years are The Crown about the Queen and royal family, and Downton Abbey, a show entirely about the
intricacies of class, which apparently yearns for a return to Edwardian notions of hierarchy? Unfortunately, it's not just
a foreigners' myth that in Britain how one speaks and what school one attended still counts, and a disproportionately
large percentage of MPs and captains of industry come from public (i.e. fee-paying) schools and Oxbridge.

The war
Nor can we easily deny our obsession with the last war. For reasons that are not all bad, we have turned 1939-45 into a
kind of creation myth, the noble story of modern Britain's birth. We vote for Churchill as our Greatest Briton and
revere the Queen in part because she is a direct link to that chapter in our history, the moment when we were
unambiguously on the side of good.
That, of course, is a key difference between us and our fellow Europeans, for whom that period is anything but simple
or unambiguous.

More tolerant
Yet no Brit could accept the caricature of us without some dissent. For one thing, it's contradictory; how can Britons
simultaneously be both self-controlled and prone to rip our clothes off in a drunken haze? (One answer might be that
we're repressed and need alcohol to loosen up, but then go too far.)
But it is also incomplete. We are now a much more diverse and varied society, especially in our big cities, than the
hooligan/City gent image allows.
There is a vibrancy to modern British life that eludes the cliché’s grasp. Compared with other European countries, it's
probably true that Britain is, generally, more tolerant. Some of our public services – the NHS, the BBC – are still
cherished. Despite everything, Britain is not broken. And if that's hard for some of our European neighbours to accept,
then they should hear what we say about them.
Spanish stereotypes: statistics tell us they have Mondays, too
Sun, sangria, a lazy siesta and the noisy fiesta were commodities exploited to attract tourists – in real life
Spaniards work longer hours than most Europeans.

There's a tired, somewhat clichéd feel to the idea the rest

of Europe has about the Spaniards: a nation high on
fiestas, with stunning women who can't go to the
bullfight dressed in miniskirts lest their boyfriends and
husbands (who are so macho) have a fit. And then
there’s the siesta in the afternoon, and the partying at
night – an endless round of unchecked enjoyment.

!
Do Spaniards actually ever work?

The pictures Europeans have of Spain in their photo albums may be holiday snaps, but what happens there the rest of
the time? Just because we have holidays, that does not make us a country of idlers.
At 38.4 hours, the Spanish working week is longer than those in Finland (32.8), Germany (37.7), Italy (38) and France
(35.6), to give a few examples. We may have more national holidays in Spain than in any of those countries, but also
an older retirement age, in law (67) and in reality (62.3) – a year later than the European average. Spain never was a
nation of layabouts or lazy people, as it is made out to be.

So macho

What, then, of machismo? There are countries that are infinitely more sexist. 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.

Fiesta, siesta, forever

"Noisy" is another cliché. And it’s not wrong. It's something to do with the fiesta, which can occur as easily in a
restaurant as in the street. Then there are the actual fiestas: every tiny village can count on having two patron saints
and a couple of local fiestas. Not to mention the ones that are world famous, such as the bull running in Pamplona.
The sun, the beach, fiesta, and noise: these were the goods Spain exchanged abroad, through tourism, to staunch its
economic wounds.
So perhaps this is what foreigners are talking about when they say that the Spanish "know how to have a good time".
Alcohol and tobacco are cheaper here than in most European countries, allowing even those on the lowest incomes to
spend a little time every day in the bar; or to extend the fiestas into a never-ending bacchanal – until Monday comes
around.
German stereotypes: Don't mention the towels
No sense of humour? Heard the one about the German throwing all the towels in the pool one early morning –
he diligently fished them all out again later.

Yes it is true, all the clichés are correct,

even the one about the towels and the
sun loungers. At least as much was
confirmed to me by a reliable
(German) friend, who is widely
travelled? He also confirmed that only
the Germans do it. Mind you, he also
confounds the cliché: 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
cliché).

Efficient and disciplined?

My friend also supplied some ammunition for the second stereotype: that Germans are hardworking, efficient and
disciplined. When most holidaymakers from other countries complained about the towels ending up in the pool he
went straight down and fished them out.
Such diligence just goes to show that he is not from Berlin. Hard work, efficiency and discipline maybe typical
German characteristics but I've never heard they are traits for Germans living in the capital. Most Germans view
Berliners as the Latin Americans of Germany. Obviously, it's not down to the weather, rather the more relaxed attitude
towards schedules and getting things done.
Efficiency is not really a Berlin thing. Take construction. To build 2km of new tramlines to connect the new central
station, they set aside three years. Delays were not even factored in. In China, they'd have built whole new cities in
that time, or a high-speed motorway across the entire country. Maybe the Chinese are the Germans of the 21st century.
Or maybe Berliners are just not typical Germans. Can you stereotype a country if its capital is not typical?

No sense of humour?

The third cliché 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 former 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 resigned following allegations 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 clichés, the Germans are extremely diligent, efficient and disciplined about living up to
them.
Polish stereotypes: hard-drinking Catholic zealots? Nie!
Clichés about the Poles have a foundation of truth, possibly rooted in the past – however statistics show a very
different, changing Poland.

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
only slightly more than the average
European.

!
Heavy drinkers
According to data from the World Health Organisation, the average Pole drinks 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.

Catholic zealots?

Poles are indeed Catholic but they often disagree with the church. According to a survey from November 2011, 95%
of Poles declare themselves Catholic although only 92% say they believe in God. Around 40% say they attend mass
each Sunday while only 7% say they are "strong believers".
Each year, the number of atheists rises while the number of practising Catholics drops. It's not clear how many of
those declaring themselves as Catholics do so out of conformism and tradition. In the survey, almost half of all Poles
supported the right to abortion. There is also wide disagreement with the church on matters of contraception and
divorce.

Anti-Semitic?

Polish anti-Semitism is still alive, even though there are hardly any Jews in Poland. According to the last published
Polish census in 2002, 1,100 people declared themselves Jewish (out of 38.5 million people). Between 8,000 and
12,000 people belong to Jewish community groups.
According to an international survey carried out by the American Jewish Committee in 2005, 56% of Poles agreed
with the sentence that "now, as in the past, Jews have too much of an influence on what is going on in the world", 38%
disagreed with the opinion. Of the eight countries in Europe (plus the US), where the survey was carried out, nowhere
did more people agree with that opinion than in Poland. However in none of the countries did less than 25% agree
with that opinion. The number of people who consistently exhibit anti-Semitic attitudes is estimated at anywhere
between 10% and 20% in Poland.
On the other hand, according to international statistics, there are significantly fewer acts of aggression against Jewish
cemeteries, synagogues or institutions in Poland than in western Europe.
All the Polish post-Communist governments (be they from the right or the left) have been consistent allies of Israel.
Anti-Semitism still lives in Poland but more in subconscious stereotypes than in the sphere of real politics.
Italian stereotypes: yes, we are all individuals!
We're good-looking, sharp dressers who talk too much and pay too little attention. We are also a bit smug.

People say we are chatterboxes. They are right.

Plus, I'd add, bad listeners interested only in the
sound of our own voices.
It is also said that we're good-looking and crazy
about fashion. Naturally, compared to the
average European we are very sharp dressers. In
our country, white socks are punishable by law,
especially if worn with sandals. To those who
believe in the stereotype of Latin lovers, it pains
me to say that you are making a statistical
mistake. In Italy, sex drive increases with age.
Naturally, it is also present in the young (this is
why we have children), but it is only after the
age of 50 that the Italian male finally dives
headlong into adolescence. We are the only
nation to have had a prime minister in his 70s
who wears a bandana on his head like a tennis
player or a rap singer. These are consolations.

Does anyone pay tax?

It is not true that no one in Italy pays taxes. Employees and pensioners pay them up to the last cent. Not out of a sense
of civic duty, but because of a lack of alternatives. The state has no meaning to us. Our sense of community ends when
we reach our doorsteps. Indeed, the doormat – not to mention the apartment block staircase and the pavement – has
become a no-man's land. We have been a country only for a century and a half. For 2,000 years, we have bowed down
before dozens of invaders, obviously in a constant attempt to cheat them. We survived by locking ourselves away in
our homes and branding all those in authority as usurpers – as well as foreigners.
Are we all individualists? Actually, we can work in a team when there is an emergency. Ordinary administrative work
bores us. But, in desperate situations, we wrap ourselves up in our favourite blanket, that of the victim, and dust off
our favourite tactic: the knight's move. On the European chessboard, all the pawns move horizontally and vertically.
Only the Italian knight is able to cut through when you least expect it.
We are not brave, just more skilled. Our philosophy for life is the counter-attack, and not only in football. Every time
we have gone on the attack – from the battle of Cannae against Hannibal to Mussolini's declaration of war – we have
been ridiculed. But when we need to defend our doorsteps, we produce feats of resistance and unusual sacrifice.

Hypocritical?
Morally hypocritical? The Catholic culture with which we are impregnated means that we are tolerant towards sinners,
especially if we are the sinners ourselves. No one in the world repents as well as the Italians.
Our worst defect is something you'll have picked up while reading this article: it is smugness. Yet no one speaks as
badly about their country as we do, if only because we think we are so lucky to be born that we can permit ourselves
any luxury – even to the point of spitting at our luck.