The World Map of Useless Stereotypes July 8, 2011 Jill This is amazing, but I think it proves correct the stereotype that Northeasterners (or at least New Yorkers) are jerks, since the map-maker gives NYC its own continent. But the French stereotype is totally accurate. Those guys LOVE cheese.
Okay, I’m going to have to object to this on account of Canada is really big (video) [lyrics here]. I mean, smaller than Greece? Smaller than Park Slope (whatever a Park Slope is)??
Well, I’m too polite to mention my inferiority complex, but maybe I’ll just Skidoo down there and burn down the White House again while hopped up on Tim Horton’s coffee. Eh.
Jadey at least you exist. Hawaii is apparently not located on planet earth. OMIGOD, Obama is an illegal alien!!!?!?!
@Kristen J. neither is australia, apparently. i mean, it’s a giant freaking continent. it’s not like it’s hard to spot.
Well MAYBE if we could afford it we could get some fuggin romaine or field greens in there, but with the way the economy has gone (and continues to go) iceburg is cheapest and most plentiful…even though it tastes like eating a water balloon.
Yay! I just got promoted to a nerd from cha-ching cha-ching. I’m going to take my new found millions and fly off to that other planet with the Hawaiian Island our illegal alien president comes from.
It’s funny, but it’s very, very, very obviously made by an American, the Canada problem being just one of many possible examples. (Seriously, you think a country this big doesn’t have useless stereotypes within it? Anyone not to the right of center politically hates Alberta, everyone hates Toronto, and Quebec has a bucketload of stereotypes against it… there are so many to choose from! Plus the whole world seems to think we’re freakishly polite, even if the US is Cana-whatting.) Yes, though, the whole America-is-narcissistic thing is a classic. It’s kind of nice of whoever made this to show why that stereotype exists by giving half of the map to the US.
Niveau- Actually, it’s made by a German. USians aren’t the only people in the world who don’t care about Canada. But nice way to represent useless stereotypes!
Gosh, an American- and Northeast-centric illustration in a Northeastern American newspaper? Say it ain’t so!
I just love that Park Slope’s stereotypes are nothing but a feedback loop. That seems a fair assessment of Park Slopers. Oh, the “why don’t you come visit more often?” from Florida to Manhattan is priceless.
He’s a German who is writing from a very New York perspective, which makes sense because it’s a New York newspaper. He didn’t even put his home country on there — I guarantee he can name some stereotypes Germans have aside from the European tangle of Arrogant (plus cheese). In many ways, this map is itself the stereotype of Americans held by this one German man who lived for a long time in New York. Which is of course why people assume he is, in fact, American — the stereotypes are very familiar and ingrained in everybody not from America (and possibly many people from America). Very meta.
Niveau: It’s funny, but it’s very, very, very obviously made by an American, the Canada problem being just one of many possible examples. I don’t know, I think the fact that you use Canada as an example when actually Canada is one of very few countries to be individually shown on the map isn’t making Canadians look much less narcissistic than Americans. (Which is pretty true in my experience – we like to consider ourselves oh so superiour to Americans but we have a lot of the same problems). It’s an NYC centric map made for an NYC paper. It would be fun to see a more Canada centric one. Maybe a Canadian should draw one.
Becky: I don’t know, I think the fact that you use Canada as an example when actually Canada is one of very few countries to be individually shown on the map isn’t making Canadians look much less narcissistic than Americans.(Which is pretty true in my experience – we like to consider ourselves oh so superiour to Americans but we have a lot of the same problems). It’s an NYC centric map made for an NYC paper.It would be fun to see a more Canada centric one.Maybe a Canadian should draw one. I’m also livid that the only two foods mentioned near my area of residence are lattes and iceberg-with-ranch-dressing. I need a Food Map of the US Southwest. And yes, I would be willing to embark on a research project for this. 😉
I laughed out loud at the iceberg lettuce with ranch stereotype. When I moved back to Texas after living on the East and West Coasts, I constantly complained about the salads. “Iceberg lettuce with ranch is not a salad!” It’s so funny how you never notice something until you move away and come back…. 23 years of eating crap, and I never noticed. I have to say that this person hit that stereotype on the head.
It’s interesting that most places get arrows in both directions, i.e. get stereotyped and get to stereotype others. Apart from Africa.
As a life-long resident of “the Heartland,” it says volumes that the only two stereotypes about us are that we are “provincial” and “iceberg lettuce-eating,” while the stereotypes we harbor about the rest of the country are limited too “latte-drinking” and “French.”
Asinknits: If I’m not on the map, does that mean I’m not stereotyped? 😉 I think so…but that doesn’t mean that you don’t HAVE stereotypes. So without further ado…useless stereotypes from Hawaii. All people not from Hawaii are rude haoles particularly if they don’t like spam (Ahem). People from Alaska catch salmon. People from California think they can surf. People from Australia *can* surf. People from Japan are poor tippers.
Oh no, please don’t think all Canadians suffer from chronic humourlessness and narcissism :X *cough* but anyway, the stereotypes coming out of Canada –> US could get a lot ruder and more arrogant if there were more space. The popular imagination here is of Canadians being much smarter, more cultured, less crassly consumerist, and ON it goes. The most accurate stereotype about Canadians is how obsessed and insecure we are about America. 😛
igglanova: Oh no, please don’t think all Canadians suffer from chronic humourlessness and narcissism :X*cough* but anyway, the stereotypes coming out of Canada –> US could get a lot ruder and more arrogant if there were more space. The popular imagination here is of Canadians being much smarter, more cultured, less crassly consumerist, and ON it goes. The most accurate stereotype about Canadians is how obsessed and insecure we are about America. 😛 And I was about to add to Kristen’s list that Canadians are pleasant. Now I must inform the local hive mind that Canadians are condescending. 🙂
I’m quite an adventurous eater, but iceberg with ranch and hot sauce is like a (semi-healthy) plate of wings.
Wait, New York is a continent, right? The one that divides the Rest-of-America Sea from the Rest-of-the-World Ocean. And then across those bodies of water are the two other continents of Boring-US and Foreign-Country, which are the places some people start out before they get old enough to come to New York.
Niveau: It’s funny, but it’s very, very, very obviously made by an American, the Canada problem being just one of many possible examples. (Seriously, you think a country this big doesn’t have useless stereotypes within it? Anyone not to the right of center politically hates Alberta, everyone hates Toronto, and Quebec has a bucketload of stereotypes against it… there are so many to choose from! Plus the whole world seems to think we’re freakishly polite, even if the US is Cana-whatting.) Heh.. I wrote about this a while ago, and made my own map Everything I need to know about Canada, I learned from Twitter
Jadey: Okay, I’m going to have to object to this on account of Canada is really big (video) [lyrics here]. I mean, smaller than Greece? Smaller than Park Slope (whatever a Park Slope is)?? I love that you posted this.