Grevados
2 Jul 2011
Life / Stereotypes about Polish people being stupid? [281]
This never happened.
My guess is that the stereotypes arose from a mixture of propaganda and real events. Most countries don't lose their sovereignty - Poland lost hers due to a number of reasons, most of which could have been averted. Poland rose up numerous times in hopeless rebellions in an attempt to regain her freedom, but each of these uprisings were doomed from the start. They may have been noble, but they were stupid.
Still, I'd say fighting is better than lying down and taking what the world gives you.
I don't think that the stereotype is very bad or damaging. From my (American) point of view, a stereotype like this is somewhat of an acknowledgement of that country. We view the British as snobby, the French as cowardly, the Germans as mean, the Polish as stupid... and all of this is done in jest and good fun. In my opinion, it should be viewed as a sort of compliment. We have no stereotype for, say, Hungarians or Slovakians. Why should we? These countries have not influenced ours significantly, nor is the general public aware of their history enough to warrant any kind of stereotype. Countries with more contact with these ones no doubt hold their own stereotypes and generalizations, positive or negative - we do not.
My point is, a negative stereotype does not necessarily equal a negative perception of that country.
This never happened.
My guess is that the stereotypes arose from a mixture of propaganda and real events. Most countries don't lose their sovereignty - Poland lost hers due to a number of reasons, most of which could have been averted. Poland rose up numerous times in hopeless rebellions in an attempt to regain her freedom, but each of these uprisings were doomed from the start. They may have been noble, but they were stupid.
Still, I'd say fighting is better than lying down and taking what the world gives you.
I don't think that the stereotype is very bad or damaging. From my (American) point of view, a stereotype like this is somewhat of an acknowledgement of that country. We view the British as snobby, the French as cowardly, the Germans as mean, the Polish as stupid... and all of this is done in jest and good fun. In my opinion, it should be viewed as a sort of compliment. We have no stereotype for, say, Hungarians or Slovakians. Why should we? These countries have not influenced ours significantly, nor is the general public aware of their history enough to warrant any kind of stereotype. Countries with more contact with these ones no doubt hold their own stereotypes and generalizations, positive or negative - we do not.
My point is, a negative stereotype does not necessarily equal a negative perception of that country.