Stereotypes or facts?

Stereotype, a stereotype is an image or a standardized conception of an ethnical group or a race of people. Stereotypes may have an historical justification (depending on the trait depicted by the stereotype) or they might be as well conceived due to a few outstanding individuals of each nationality.  In this essay I will talk about stereotypes of Western Europe, the backgrounds of those stereotypes which can be tracked and how most of these stereotypes are outdated nowadays.

France, land of arts and culture but what do other countries think about its people? Over the years the stereotype for the Frenchmen has received little to no change. The Frenchmen are depicted as arrogant, cowardly people with poor hygiene and despise towards Americans. A few of the aforementioned stereotypes have well known foundations which I’ll mention immediately. The conception of a cowardly Frenchman was created during World War II due to the fact that France surrendered to the Nazi regime instead of resisting Nazi occupation. The idea of poor hygiene as characteristics for the French people had their roots in the Renaissance and Medieval era in which it was a privilege to have a bath whilst on other countries it was seen as something a bit more ordinary.  Nowadays the conception of France for people who are uneducated remains the same but the reality is quite different.

Thinking about Dutch people according to the stereotype, means to think of them as open minded farmers whom live in windmills and own gardens full of Tulips. Most of these conceptions and depictions were originated from the reality that the Dutch countryside once lived. Farmers were forced a long time ago to live in windmills due to harsh weather conditions during winter. The topic of the Tulips came into play during the golden Dutch age in the 17^th century, in which Tulips were rare and expensive plants with a high demand, but low supply ratio.

Belgians according to the rest of the world are people who brew good beer, are good at mathematics and eat only sweets. The stereotype for beer and sweets are well founded due to the fact that both are a tradition back in Belgium. While traditions are a fact, the idea of a Belgian being good at math is as conceivable as an individual of any other nationality being good at math.

Throughout the history, dissimilar events have happened all over the world, each one creating at its own time an impression which might have eventually turned into an opinion and later on into a stereotype. Although most stereotypes seem easy to follow most of them consist on outdated misconceptions of individuals which have rarely ever been accurate. No matter if there is an actual background to a stereotype or not, these are not ideas to be taken seriously, people should rather take them as an outdated conception which at some point in history might have been true.