How are white people stereotyped in predominantly non-white cultures?

zupatol · 4 months

My wife from Cameroon was very surprised when she first saw white people that were poor. She didn't think it was possible. However once I went to visit a market and I heard I guy shout "white people are rich, but not this one. This white guy is poor". That was probably a clever way to get my attention to sell me something.

Maybe as a consequence of being thought rich, white people are very important or prestigious. Once we met a cousin of my wife who was bragging that her husband had several cars. My wife replied "yeah well my husband is white".

In Cameroon most people believe in sorcery. One guy who was apparently knowledgeable about these kinds of things told me sorcery doesn't work on white people.

whywasthatagoodidea · 4 months

In the mountains of Peru, it is an urban legend of sorts that white people will steal children. So much so that when I am around a misbehaving child the mother almost always threatens the child by saying that the gringo(me) will take you away.

WhimperNotBang · 4 months

A lot of my middle eastern friends think that white people only ever eat turkey and mashed potatoes or meat loaf.

Anomaly_Partition · 4 months

Back in highschool (We had 60% foreigners, Korean or Taiwanese mostly), the funniest thing I've ever been called was a "Round eyed burger muncher". Kid was serious too.

beesareeatingmybrain · 4 months

When I lived in the Middle East, I was told by an Arab friend that she always thought that white people (mainly the women) were very slutty and stuck up. It explained a lot of the not so nice things some of my classmates said about/to me before they got to know me.

StaticSabre · 4 months

I lived in a predominately hispanic area, and one thing was always associated with white people. Money. You were a rich white kid no matter how much money your parents had. No matter where you lived or how poor you were, you were a rich white kid.

adrianrides666 · 4 months

Among Dominicans, white people are considered rich and generally friendly. "We" also think that no crime occurs around white people. It is considered highly respectable for a Dominican woman to have a white man, even if he is a low life drug dealer. I can honestly say that most dominican mothers would rather have their daughter date a white, coke addict, garbage man than a rich, black doctor. White people are considered so above everyone else in our society. The funny thing is that to outsiders, Domincans are black. Domincan women in the US want to be as far away from black culture as possible. They think they're white basically. It is quite funny.

Thomas031 · 4 months

In Zimbabwe, white people are thought to have no knees. This is due to them wearing long trousers / dresses all the time, apparently. This is also apparently extremely funny.

tyelr · 4 months

I've been to Liberia a couple times, and I've picked up that a lot of the people there think that white people are rather ignorant of how the world works. They're very nice and helpful, but they make you feel like a child sometimes. Most of the time you have to rely on the actual children to figure out what the heck is going on.

Edit: Clarity.

TurbulentTurtle · 4 months

"I'll use my credit card."

00peligro · 4 months

I used to live in South Korea, and according to a friend: there is a belief among a few asians that white people are less evolved because they have more hair.

chaosroyale · 4 months

I've lived in Tokyo most of my adult life. There is a stereotype heirarchy which goes from "foreigner" (that's the most important) then to the subsets of "white" (automatically considered a loudmouthed American who only speaks English) or "black" (automatically considered a Hip-Hop gangsta who only speaks parody MTV English) or "Asian" (yes, that's a stereotype in Japan: you'll be considered a dirty poor Asian). I'm a musician and unfortunately my appearance means I fall into a further subset: "dangerous foreigner, probably a drug dealer" because in Japan everyone assumes most crime is by foreigners (actually crime by foreigners is proportionately much lower). So I get stopped by the police all the time. EDIT- I should add: just as being a black guy in a nice suit getting a coffee in Manhattan is a very different experience from being black with sagging pants and walking into a truck-stop in Alabama, so Japan has a wide range of contexts which will affect your treatment here. DOUBLE EDIT: If you are just a tourist you'll only notice that people in stores are generally very polite to everyone.

nucca35 · 4 months

My friend from Vietnam always talks about white people being crazy. He would say, if a black/asian guy wants to kill you, he will just shoot you.

But if a white person wants you dead he will eat you and rape your baby.

CAPTAIN_MAGNIFICENT · 4 months

White people dance with their elbows instead of their hips.

dottxt · 4 months

When I lived in Pakistan: Whites don't really love each other, or know love. We spend too much time working and never really get close to anyone because of it. Whites have little respect for their family and upbringing. Whites are wealthy, educated, and because of lack of family ties get to do absolutely whatever they want. Whites are formal to the point where it is insulting (I say please/thank you etc even when speaking with my best friend, this level of formality was often seen as a lack of closeness).

When I lived in Lebanon: Whites are wealthy, can't hold their liquor and are loud.

When I lived in a predominantly black neighborhood: whites have no common sense and need constant looking after so they don't wander into traffic and die.

Due to Confusion I am a white American. I am describing stereotypes about whites I've come across living in non-white places, not giving my own opinion about whites.

tumblingspider · 4 months

White guy here, but when living near the border, I had three different Mexican guy friends tell me on three separate occasions that "white women are freaks!" (i.e, sexually adventurous, to the point of intimidating). Apparently I have been hanging around the wrong white women.

Dravidor · 4 months

Where I grew up the word for white man was Mzungu (M-zu-ngu or Mu-zun-gu)... came from the word kuzunguka (ku-zun-gu-ka), it means to walk around in circles. Imo, this is a good basis for what they thought of white people.

Edit: I CANT SPELL!

goosie7 · 4 months

In Western China (where seeing a white person is so rare that people would stop dead when they saw me, stare, and often pull out a camera to snap some pictures of me/with me) white people are considered beautiful, fashionable, sometimes ignorant, and a little sneaky. They assume we all speak English. Most people assumed that I was British (I'm American) because I'm skinny (In fact I had people ask me, after finding out that I'm from the US, "why are you not fat?")

I didn't talk a lot of politics with everyone (kind of a touchy subject in China), but I talked about it with the family I was living with. They thought that Americans are war mongers. They thought it has been too long since we had real war on our soil, and we've forgotten what it's like. We go into war to "try and help people", but their opinion is that war helps no one.

trashinplato · 4 months

As a Chinese person who mainly grew up in the United States, I don't know much about how whites are stereotyped in China, but my parents do.

Essentially, in China people have a love-hate relationship with white people, wanting to be like whites (which is mainly just "westerner"; btw: in Cantonese a slang term for blacks literally translates to "fermented soybean," because of the black color of fermented soybeans) because of the power and status it represents but at the same time are resentful of that power and status.

People will fall head over heels around a white person, to the point where they'll just hire random white people to attend important parties or become spokesmen for products. Contrast that with the disdain they have for chinese that come from America. My mom once said that if you, as a chinese american, ever want to go back to China that you'll get better waiter service if you bring along a white friend wearing a business suit. Sad, but true. There was an Economist article a while ago that talked about how chinese were criss-crossing Europe to buy lots of Western goods, because it was a symbol of status in society that you could afford to buy those things.

Many chinese, likely due to the lack of education and exposure, are what I'd like to call extreme passive racists. This means that they have very stereotypical views of other ethnic groups, but they don't plan on taking action on those beliefs anytime soon. I'm sure it is like this for many other cultures as well.

Noowai · 4 months

I've been to China twice, with a Chinese-Born friend of mine. I'm from Norway, with blue eyes, white/very blond hair and a VERY pale/white skin. When I visited some rural-areas, where some of the elders HAD NEVER SEEN A WHITE PERSON, they came up to me and asked what was wrong with me and if I were albino o.o

Got a few pics of them, if anyone's interested:p

Picture of an Old Woman lauging at me :( - http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/China09217.jpg - http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/China09224.jpg

The rural-area that i visited http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/China09215.jpg http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/China09233.jpg http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/?action=view&current=China09228.jpg

My friend :) http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/China09235.jpg

The place i stayed/my friends family homeplace http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/026.jpg http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/RosiestOcean/ChinaPRIVATEA/004.jpg

I got a lot more pictures, but I doubt you'll find them that interesting:p (Though the Karaokee whore-bar was fun! ^_⁾ - Though that was last year, not from 3 years ago :D

AKXLVII · 4 months

some koreans jokingly think a lot of white (american) people greet each other with "yo wassup man" with the hand grab chest bump

PaperSt · 4 months

My Asian friend told me that all her friends always felt that the white people they had encountered smelt like milk. All the time.

Vennificus · 4 months

Washichu- he who takes the best meat for himself

tuxedoisadog · 4 months

I went to Nepal last year and apparently they believe white people never work. I was helping build playground equipment and crowds of people would show up to watch. They would gawk for hours. It weirded me out, and this is what I was told when I asked.

Some_Africans · 4 months

In Gambia, we think your really nice. Seriously.

iwsfutcmd · 4 months

I live in Bangkok, and here, White people are seen as rich, culturally disrespectful, and, for the men specifically, perverts.

Also, completely unable to eat spicy food.

whitepeoplethrowaway · 4 months

There's a few stereotypes I grew up hearing in an immigrant mixed race (South Asian and African) family in the West. These mostly seem to be about middle class white people. NOTE I AM SIMPLY REPORTING THESE - I DO NOT AGREE WITH THEM. I am writing them as if my grandparents are saying them. E.g.:

White people don't love their kids as much because they kick them out when they are 18 and don't support them after that. Also white people are not as educationally driven when it comes to their children (e.g. they won't work long hours in a multitude of jobs and save pennies to send them to the best schools and hire extra tutors and focus on their kids winning maths championships etc). The exception to this is Jewish people who are very admirable.
White kids, in turns, put their parents in nursing homes as soon as they're able which is unacceptable.
White people are all into artsy fartsy things like liberal arts and art school and painting that don't get you anywhere. They don't realise that the only worthwhile paths are medicine, law, engineering, pharmacy, sciences, accountancy and business.
White people eat really bland food. Like they eat things like chicken cooked only in salt and pepper and carrots in strange creamy sauces.
White people like to go to India, Africa, etc to discover themselves which is hilarious because then they start wearing saris and things and thinking that if you use curry powder you've made a curry and attributing erroneous spiritual wisdom to ethnic people
White people are not as clean, for example white people will put clean clothes on an unbathed body in the morning and they only use toilet paper in the bathroom (EDIT: AS IN THEY ONLY USE TOILET PAPER AND NOT WATER TO CLEAN THEIR ASSES). Also they wear shoes in the house and own lots of cats which walk on their kitchen benches.
White people have more random sex, especially white women. If you take them to a fancy restaurant and give them a rose and chat about poetry they will sleep with you (disturbingly, this is according to my grandfather). That's all it takes!
Some white people smoke pot with their kids
White people drink a lot, especially white women who often inexplicably consume wine alone. White people are obsessed with wine.

OH AND ONE MORE : White people are too gentle with their kids and don't discipline them properly (see also: Russell Peters)

neftalydotcom · 4 months

[deleted]

ipfreely_12386 · 4 months

The stereotype of whites amongst south asians is that white people can't manage their finances properly. And that they are (in a sense selfish) self concerned rather than being considerate about others. In that parents 'kick-out' kids at 18, and kids throw their parents into old homes, all because they're self concerned and only care about their lives. Also, that they can't plan for the future (part of why they're poor with finances). Also, white people, particularly americans are scared of everything. (seatbelts, pollution, terrorism, etc.), and by that I mean to an unhealthy level of scared of stuff in their minds. That's generally the stereotype.

Edit: Wanted to update this after people rightfully bringing up asians being inconsiderate. Keep in mind, the thing of most importance to South Asians is family and its family/social-circle that they feels deserves the most consideration. Given the highly populated natures of these countries and the laissez-faire styled capitalism/society, one quickly realizes being considerate to everybody is shooting yourself in the foot (unless everybody else is also considerate, which is rare). Thus, this consideration is limited to your family/friends. Its not as extreme in south-asia (in that they're willing to help a random stranger if it isn't detrimental to them), but the further extreme in an even more populous country such as China can be seen with the Toddler/Van accident. So I'm just giving that perspective, where they're perplexed by why white people don't have any consideration of the ones they love (family).

Also, you folks with the fans, south asia=/east asia.

And you dolts ;) , I don't mean whites are literally afraid of seatbelts... rather the wearing of seatbelts from fear.

SupriyaLimaye · 4 months

I'm South Asian, and I think most of the stereotypes I've heard come from the fact that South Asians (and most Asians, for that matter) are still very collectivist, while America is becoming more and more individualistic. Therefore people assume Americans don't care for anyone besides themselves, have no respect for family (as someone mentioned, putting your parents in an old folks home rather than caring for them personally), and have no culture as a by-product of not having any traditions/community.

Interestingly enough, I know many people in my parents generation who immigrated to the U.S., abhor the idea of their children (my generation) taking care of them in old age. They like the idea of being independent, and have no desire to do the work that generally goes along with staying with your kids, like looking after grandchildren all day.

Edit: I think there may have been some confusion, so let me clarify: I do not endorse or believe these stereotypes, I'm just commenting on what I think is the source.

WhatYouMeanNameTaken · 4 months

As a Caucasian who lived in China and other parts of Asia for some years... I'm generalizing a couple of stereotypes I came across (i.e. not everyone has them!):

White people are all from the US (I'm not), and can all speak English
White people all have money
White people have "more beautiful skin/ eyes"
White people who marry a local and have a kid will have a "very smart child" (because it's "mixed")
White people cannot understand Chinese (so it's fine to talk about them openly even when they're 1 meter away, nevermind if they understand every word)
Many white people have a more open attitude towards relationships
White people can be more rude, but that's mostly OK 'cause they don't know better

As a pink (err, "white") in China, I've pretty much never encountered hatred or open attacks. The racism, for better or worse, slightly favors white, which I suppose has to do with average income of foreigners there (Chinese have a lot of "whitening" products advertised, which I suppose may have to do with certain lower-status jobs like field-workers having more exposure to sun, hence are darker). However, my views are filtered from the racism I as white encountered: in other words, there may be a lot of stereotypes I never heard of because no one told me, or because of the language barrier (I speak a bit, but wouldn't understand everything). All in all Chinese were incredibly open and friendly (including being openly outspoken about race).

Note that the stereotypes some westerners I talked to had about Chinese were much more brutal than this ("they're like ants, uncreative, can't be trusted" etc. were some of the bad racist highlights I encountered).

Also note that the stereotypes of Chinese in relation to blacks are worse, too. Talking about race I've asked a couple of Chinese "what would your parents say if you dated a black guy?" and the answer was often that the parents would be strictly against this.

As a final note, let's repeat: above stereotypes are not held by all Chinese (maybe not even the majority -- maybe even only a minority). They're just some patterns I ran into.

mongzords · 4 months

In my family I was always told by my parents white people were lazy, never put value on education and had no culture of their own.

Note: Above is not my personal opinion

Tidler · 4 months

I'm surprised I didn't see this one yet. When I lived in the Bay area in San Francisco for about half a year, any of my friends that were chinese / korean thought that all white people never took their shoes off. I was constantly reminded to take my shoes off when entering their houses because they thought we all just walk around the house dragging dirt everywhere.

stillsittinghere · 4 months

Chinese here. My parents think white people are all divorced.

blacklisted4life · 4 months

Chinese in China view white people with fascination and curiousity, like they were aliens from the planet caucasoid. They generally don't have strong negative opinions of white people. However, Chinese expatriots living in the western world think most white people are extremely selfish and completely tactless. Many are also seen as outwardly polite but inwardly racist to some degree. Some, not all, white people are seen as excessively aggressive and have very incurable alpha male syndrome. They seem to be poor problem solvers... Only being able to plan one or two steps ahead. They don't like to think unless they have to. They can be very attractive but age very quickly and seem to gain weight easily - especially the women. They are thin skinned. And in negotiations dealing with them bluntly and directly is the preferred approach over diplomatic or passive aggressive methods. Also, never let white people borrow anything for very ling because after a while they will consider it theirs and won't return it.

Jonthrei · 4 months

I lived in South America for 9 years, and the predominant stereotype is that white people are rich, entitled, and immoral. White women are seen as easy. The former comes from nearly a century of abuse from the US Government and Corporations (particularly the latter). US tourists most certainly do not help alleviate this.

As a white guy, I ran into a lot of prejudice until people realized I was far more South American than American culturally, and spoke perfect Spanish. These feelings mostly manifested in me getting charged roughly 10x the cost a local would whenever I went anywhere or bought something, until I began to haggle in Spanish and they realized they had made a mistake judging me.

This will probably get buried, but I wanted to offer my own experiences, and noticed most of the comments up top refer to Asian stereotypes.

Filberto · 4 months

White guys have names like Lenny, whereas black guys have names like Carl.

mariposa888 · 4 months

In Mexico, white americans are stereotyped as stupid, loud, and the girls as incredibly slutty. weirdly enough, its the same in chile and argentina, where the population is more european than indigenous.

ninoffmaniak · 4 months

White people cant starcraft

OTO-Nate · 4 months

My best friend who happens to be black said that all white people love Wayne Brady. After asking around, I came to the conclusion that he was right.

BroganTheBoss · 4 months

Somewhat relevant. Although we're both white, european nations stereotype we americans. I have a german exchange student in my school, and i overheard someone talking about stereotypes with him.

Apparently, the stereotypical american is: (actual quote) a big fat stupid rude cowboy who drinks beer at mcdonalds.

Well, sh!t.

v4n3554 · 4 months

http://i.imgur.com/2ByMh.gif

aiinokkie · 4 months

From my parents: Tall, loud, always willing to wear less and less clothes, long nosed, can't control their emotions, fat.

But at the same time, they're modern, civilized, savvy, they get things done in an honest manner (government, business, etc.).

First typically describes a tourist, second typically described the colonialist.

They are nicknamed "Falang", or "white foreigners". Sometimes they're called "Ki-nok", which means "Bird Shit".

Chicken65 · 4 months

"They have no culture but agriculture."

myninjaway · 4 months

Hmm...I'm indian, and this is an actual conversation I had:

White Woman: So in India, do you really go to school on elephants?
Me (laughing making it obvious I was joking): No. We have camels for that.
WW (laughs too): So what did you think of the US when you first came here?
Me: It was just like the movies!
WW: Which movie?
Me: Terminator.

Unknown to her, I wasn't joking! Apart from the action, the country looked exactly like in the movies and people seemed to act exactly like in the movies.

Hmm...This is kind of irrelevant to the question, I just realized. But...since I've typed it all....

SittinOnTheToilet · 4 months

Black person here: most of us believe white people don't like being fisted.

spaceman9 · 4 months

Salty.

LincolnSt · 4 months

Rapacious, murderous and oppressive, apparently. At my NYE party I walked into a room where my room-mates (black) sister was talking about how she wants to kill all of the white people in a bloody revolution. There wasn't really any dissent coming from the rest of the room.

As the only white guy in the room I just kind of backed out the door quietly.

jamaicasumo · 4 months

I'm Jamaican and people generally think whites (tourists and non residents) are crazy risk taker's (have been known to do things like go to the beach during a hurricane) that always wear shorts and carry a huge backpack with everything they own in it at all times also they prefer to walk every where (all look like hikers) btw local whites are not thought of like this

dirtymoney · 4 months

I have noticed in a lot of asian anime that the enemy always seems to be a blond white man.

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