American Stereotypes of Canada

437 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: American culture influence canada culture

American Stereotypes of Canada

The following paper will analyze the discussion generated from our

Focus Group session, which covered American stereotypes Canadians

portrayed in their media. The topic an interesting one to Canadians

and rather enlightening to you because of your American upbringing was

chosen based on what we observed during the Olympic coverage.

We noticed that the Americans covered the events only when their

athletes were participating or would abandon a broadcast of an event

when it was clear the American athlete was not in contention for a

medal to watch something a little more interesting. However, when an

event has a dedicated audience such as figure skating, and the judging

scandal took place, it was the American audience that stood up for

their neighbours to the north. Since in the eyes of the United States

we are "weak, mild and timid". (USA Today) Yet it was obvious by the

media coverage around the world including the American views that

Canada was not about to take the Gold medal scandal sitting down.

We asked the class what some of the negative stereotypes Americans

have of Canadians and it became apparent as an observer that our

multicultural classroom was one under the Canadian flag. How so? In

the discussion I noticed that we Canadians are all in on the joke. We

all understood that the Americans were ignorant of Canada and that we

played up to the stereotypes at their expense.

What are some of the negative stereotypes we encounter on a daily

basis? As shows like the Simpsons and South Park made so evident was

that Canada is known for are the RCMP, hockey, maple syrup, and of

course snow. However are these stereotypes a bad thing to Canadians?

Not necessarily, because American satirists use Canada as a tool for

satirizing themselves. Trey Parker and Matt Stone did not create the

flip-top headed Canadian characters in South Park to offend Canadians

- they did so to take a jab at Americans' stereotyping of Canadians.

They chose to "Blame Canada, before somebody thinks of blaming us" for

Show More
Related

  • Understanding Anti-Americanism: A Historical Perspective

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order to understand the complexity of the Anti-Americanism, it is important to understand the history and relationship between Canada and the United States. The sentiment was first conceived by the Europeans and the issues it had with the upcoming “rebellious” American culture. Europeans at the time had the tendency to see Americans as, “overconfident and self-important… it was this egocentricity that most aggravated Europeans” (O’Connor, 2004). In its earliest form, the American ideology seemed to be an opponent to the popular European ideology. Which soon became a campaign between “high culture” (the European ideology) and “low culture” (the American culture) and through that rivalry many European citizens held the belief that,

    Read More

  • Public Broadcast and Democracy

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    National Identity, TV, and CBC. A COMPASS Poll for CanWest Newspapers, Global TV, and the National Post. 1-39. Retrieved from http:// http://www.compas.ca/data /020429-NationalIdentityTVAndCBC-PC.pdf

    Read More

  • Americanization and Canadian Culture

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gaëtan Tremblay is a professor at the University in Quebec in Montreal. As a concerned Quebecois, He wrote an article which discusses the Americanization of Canada, in particular Quebec. Tremblay seems to have a strong stand point about the future of Quebec. Using statistical and literary evidence, primary and secondary sources, he attempts to support his argument that Quebec is a victim of American cultural colonization. Tremblay fears that Canadian culture is going to disappear as a result of the Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement.

    Read More

  • American Stereotypes of Immigrants

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    America was widely known as a “melting pot” of sorts for many generations. The country earned its title by accepting immigrants of various cultures and molding, or melting, them into the American lifestyle. However, the “melting pot” idea of America is starting to dissipate. According to a Newsweek Poll on the public, “only 20 percent still think America is a melting pot” (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.4). As more Americans push away immigrants and create stereotypes against said immigrants, America continues to lose its title as a “melting pot.” There is ethnic friction in America and people have begun to have a hard time assimilating (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.18). .America is beginning to place a negative outlook on its culture. Authors Jack Shaheen, Richard Rodriguez, Peter Marin and Zora Neale Hurtson all shape American culture in a detrimental way.

    Read More

  • AMERICAN INFLUENCE ON CANADA IN 1920'S

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Canada was influenced throughout the 1920's by America, that by 1929 Canada became very similar to America in social trends, economics and produce. But has this stopped in modern day era? Canada continues to be heavily influenced by the amount of American products and media outpouring into Canada. Canada has made attempts throughout time to impede the onslaught of American invasion but American invasion is seen on a huge global scale. Hit movies, tv shows, products among others are generally based on American culture, views, or based within American domain. It is a reign yet to be stopped.

    Read More

  • Sources Of Nationalism In Canada

    306 Words  | 1 Pages

    The main context of all three sources relate to nationalism. In source 1, Quebec wants to gain sovereignty in order to achieve ethnic nationalism. While the context in source 2 relates to narrow civic nationalism, since Harper concentrates that Canada is not a bilingual country. Source 3 demonstrates general nationalism, as the Aboriginals feel a sense of belonging to Canadians, because they lost their land too. Although all three sources do not express the same type of nationalism, the general meaning shown through the source connects with nationalism. The type of nationalism shown in sources 1 and 2 are similar; both show a type of civic nationalism. In Source 1, general civic nationalism can reflect from Canada’s side of the source, because

    Read More

  • The American Cultural Invasion of Canada

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...Y, Emily (December 17, 2000). “ An American Guide to Canadian Media” Online at: http://www.icomm.ca/emily/cancon.html , consulted on February 12, 2004.

    Read More

  • The Perpetuation of Racism in Canada by the Mainstream News Media

    3978 Words  | 8 Pages

    Canada is internationally renowned for its commitment to multiculturalism. In fact, Canada was the first nation to officially adopt a multicultural policy. However, while the Canadian government has developed a broad-based multicultural mandate that includes a national human rights code and increased penalties for hate-motivated crimes, and most Canadians oppose overt forms of discrimination and hate, racism continues to exist in Canadian society, albeit in a subtle fashion.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Women's Hockey In Canada

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    When I think of what it means to be Canadian, one of the first things that come to mind is hockey. This is true for many Canadian’s as hockey was and is an integral piece of the formation of the national identity. However, when people think of playing hockey their attention usually turns to the men in the National Hockey League or other top men’s leagues and tournaments. Even so, Canada has come a long way from its beginnings, when women were not even considered persons under the law until 1929. While it has taken many decades for women to receive more recognition in the world of sport, today shows great improvements from the past. A key reason that women are not treated the same way as men in regards to hockey is due to how the game began;

    Read More

  • The Influence of American Culture in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada

    539 Words  | 2 Pages

    Canada as a nation has been striving to characterize itself as more ?Canadian? for decades. This has included numerous struggles and events such as protests, bans, and the creation of the Massey Commission, to encourage national development in the arts, and support major companies like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board (NFB). However, this has not been an easy task for the Canadian government, as major influences from below the border (the United States) have been captivating the Canadian audiences by large. American media has had a momentous revolutionizing effect on Canada, even through efforts made to define Canada with its own cultural identity.

    Read More

  • Liberal Stereotypes In America

    244 Words  | 1 Pages

    The two ideologies that dominate America are Liberalism and Conservatives. The Republican Party known as right wing are conservative, while the Democrats are the left wings known as Liberal. To start off the Liberals and Conservatives have different opinions on things, Conservatives tend to be traditional, they focus more on the economy, limited government, while Liberals focus more on equality and freedom, they also protect human rights and believe that their leader should mostly help the people. In my opinion the Liberals are more open minded they believe abortion should be legal because mistakes happen, they believe gays should be treated like a normal human bean with the same rights, they do believe that the death penalty isn't correct

    Read More

  • Canada Is Becoming Too Americanized

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today Canada and the United States are major trading partners, allies, and two neighboring countries with a long history of cooperation with each other. But is it possible for Canada to protect its independence and culture living next door to the country so powerful and rich as the United States. Since the Canadian confederation, Canada started developing relations with the U.S. As the years passed by, Canada began to relay on the United States in the national defense. Many Canadians think that the military, political and economical dependence would not make a difference to their daily life. But today more then even Canadian culture is affected by the American influence. Media, American artists, economic dependence, American propaganda and political pressure from the United States is making Canada too Americanized. All of these factors reflect on the social life of ordinary Canadians threatening the heritage and the traditions that define Canada as independent country.

    Read More

  • Native North American Stereotypes In Film

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    All stereotypes are harmful in any context, and constant exposure to them can blur the lines between fact and fiction. Reel Injun, a documentary by Neil Diamond, shows how Native North American’s cultural identity can be lost through the use of stereotypes in film. The first appearances of Natives in film portrayed only positive attributes, restricting them into roles that generalise how they think and act. A few decades later, Natives are known for negative qualities on the big screen, requiring them to all look the same as well as to have a downgraded intelligence. However, both kinds of stereotypes have been challenged by their intended target and others, with movies showing Natives as three-dimensional characters, and a race to admire.

    Read More

  • Canada And Canada's Identity

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    The culture of Canada refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that are a representative of Canada and Canadians. Throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced by American culture because of a shared language, proximity, television and migration between the two countries. Over time, Canadian-American relations have helped develop Canada’s identity during the years 1945-1982; thus introducing changing social norms, media and entertainment. In support of this, due to the United States being approximately 9.25 times larger in population and having the dominant cultural and economic influence, it played a vital role in establishing Canada’s identity. With Canada being its neighbour, naturally, the United States would influence their way of life upon Canada.

    Read More

  • Hispanic American Stereotypes

    484 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hispanic American students are stuck with the stereotype that they have the tendencies to be emotionally troubled and violent and may be slow learners, which is often associated with the frustrations of being English language learners. They often live in inner city areas where schools are staffed with teachers that lack experience or lack funds to upgrade to materials that are current and up-to-date.

    Read More

More about American Stereotypes of Canada

Open Document