Tag Archives: stereotype

Clothes Are Wings

Age: 24

Text:

“Clothes are wings.”

Context:

The informer tells me that this is a Korean proverb, and essentially means “Clothes make people better”. They’re not sure where they learned it from, but they assume it’s from their parents, or from watching k-dramas.

Analysis:

I thought it was very interesting that Korea would have a proverb about physical appearances and how it affects how people may perceive you. Korean society is very much one where one’s physical appearance absolutely determines how you are treated, where you are in the social hierarchy, and what people think your character and personality is like–this is all determined by how you look. It can become so extreme to the point where it may becomes toxic–one must always be skinny and slender, conventionally attractive, pale, chic, with impeccable fashion taste regardless of your socioeconomic status.

I feel like this emphasis on physical appearance has something to do with how homogenous Korea is, and its values on community rather than the individual. By having the mindset that “clothes make the man”, it creates a standard that everyone must strive to meet in order to not stand out and disrupt the flow of what is considered “normal”. This is a Confucian ideal(community over individual), which is a foundational aspect of Korean culture and social roles.

Polish Joke: Six cars, six shirts

TEXT: “Przy plaży spacerowało i rozmawiało dwóch Żydów:

– Jeśli kiedykolwiek miałeś sześć pałaców, czy dasz mi jeden?

– Oczywiście!

– A jeśli kiedykolwiek miałeś sześć samochodów, czy dasz mi jeden?

– Oczywiście!

– A jeśli kiedykolwiek miałeś sześć koszulek, czy dasz mi jedną?

– Nie ma mowy!

– Dlaczego nie?

– Bo mam sześć koszulek!”

INFORMANT DESCRIPTION: Male, 82, Polish, Jewish

CONTEXT: This polish man told me this joke. He translated it to English for me after I heard him saying in Polish to his also Polish friend. He explained that he learned the joke from his parents. The joke is about the stereotype that Jewish people are cheap or thrifty but he said that the beauty of the joke is that it seems the other man is not cheap until the scenario becomes real. Also he explained that when he was growing up in Poland in the 1940s really nobody had six cars, now the joke has changed in its absurdity because it is more common to have more cars, especially in the industrialized booming economy of the States. The joke was told anytime you wanted to make a joke and were among Jewish people that would not take offense. Or when they were all around sharing jokes about judaism as a family to get a laugh out of each other. 

ORIGINAL SCRIPT: “ Przy plaży spacerowało i rozmawiało dwóch Żydów:

– Jeśli kiedykolwiek miałeś sześć pałaców, czy dasz mi jeden?

– Oczywiście!

– A jeśli kiedykolwiek miałeś sześć samochodów, czy dasz mi jeden?

– Oczywiście!

– A jeśli kiedykolwiek miałeś sześć koszulek, czy dasz mi jedną?

– Nie ma mowy!

– Dlaczego nie?

– Bo mam sześć koszulek!”

TRANSLATION: “Two Jew men were walking and chatting by the beach:

– If you ever had six palaces, will you give me one?

– Of course!

– And if you ever had six cars, will you give me one?

– Of course!

– And if you ever had six shirts, will you give me one?

– No way!

– Why not?

– Because I do have six shirts!”

THOUGHTS: I think I am accustomed to not enjoy jokes that are at another person’s expense but this one seems to be really for people that are of this religion and have an understanding of the stereotype and are able to be comedic about it.

Armenian Nose Joke

Age: 28
Residence: Fresno
Primary Language: English

Why do Armenian’s have big noses? 

Because the air is free!

Context: [informant] I first heard this from my cousin when I was a kid. I really though she was going to give a reason why our people have big noses but it was joke about them being cheap. I kind of took it personal even though she was Armenian too, but later I heard the same exact  joke about Jews and thought it was funny.

Thoughts: This is a prime example of multiplicity and variation. The stereotypes here are that Armenian and Jews both have big noses and tend to be money-centric cultures, so it makes sense the same joke can be applied to either culture. Having “big” noses implies they use it sniff up as much free air as possible.

Serbian Derogatory Roma Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Manhattan Beach, CA
Performance Date: 03/21/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Serbian, Spanish

“So a Roma woman, a gypsy woman, goes to the gynecologist, and the gynecologist has his gloves on. He notices that his gloves are ripped and notices that his wedding ring has fallen into the gypsy woman’s vagina, So he goes and he looks around and then sticks his head in, and then he sticks his whole body in, and he he is walking around in her vagina. And he sees another man in there who seems to be looking for something. He says to the man, “Hey I lost my ring, have you seen my ring?” And the other man says to him, “No, have you seen my horses?”

Context: This informant, SM, is half-Serbian and was telling my friends and I about a specifically vulgar and racist joke that she has heard other Serbian folks tell her. She explains that the Roma people are all over Europe and some parts of Asia, and are nomadic people. They are known as “gypsy” people, which is a derogatory term as they do not like being called as such. Serbians do not have a positive outlook on the Roma people, as they are seen as beggars and pickpockets. SM explains that sometimes they [gypsies] even use their children to get sympathy and get more money. The stereotype that is used by this joke is that Roma women have a lot of children, hence the size of the woman’s genitals in the story. The joke stuck with SM because of how derogatory and misogynistic it was. SM does not agree with this derogatory speech towards this specific ethnic group, and whenever telling the joke she prefaces by stating her own views towards the joke.

Analysis: Jokes, especially crude ones, are incredibly telling and descriptive of the culture from which the joke emerged. Jokes are a reflection of the things that a particular culture find humorous or witty, or can be a way to allow the persistence of certain stereotypes and essentially make fun of them. For example, the ample number of “blonde” jokes that are basically just jokes about how dumb blonde people–specifically women–are. These jokes allowed the spread of this stereotype across various American communities, leaving many blonde people the burden of having to prove their intelligence–even though none of this is rooted in fact. In this case, the Roma people, and the Roma women are being put down in a racist way, and is a reflection of certain Serbian communities’ views on the ethnic group. The experiences and observations of the Roma People by the Serbian society have influenced the way that they perceive these people. These stereotypes bleed into their jokes as a way to connect with the rest of their community, despite its provocative nature.

Along with this, there is a specific demographic to whom we tell stereotypic jokes. SM would never repeat this joke in front of a Roma person, in fear of offending them or them thinking that she shared the views espoused by the joke. This shows that we alter the way that we share folklore based on the context and the audience.

Chinese Restaurant Clapping Game

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/22/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

“So we had a clapping game that my friends and I used to do that involved this one song that I always thought was a little bit weird:

“I went to a Chinese restaurant, to buy a loaf of bread, bread, bread.

They asked me what my name was, and this is what I said, said, said:

‘My name is….choo choo Charlie, I can do karate, punch ’em in the stomach,

Oops, I’m sorry! Please don’t tell my mommy!

Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Freeze!'”

Context: The informant, ER, is an Asian-American student. She really enjoyed playing games with her friends when she was growing up in California; some of these included clapping games like this, along with making lip-sync dance videos. ER is a very popular girl, and wanted to fit in with the other girls, which includes participating in this game. ER explains that she uncomfortable with singing along with this song. Being an Asian-American, she felt that this song was quite racist and drew from various stereotypes in order create a catchy song to sing along to.

Analysis: This song follows other types of children’s songs that are common and widespread. It has catchy, simple rhythm with equally catchy lyrics. In this case, it involves repetition of certain lyrics that are necessary for clapping games. Towards the end of song, the lyrics become a bit nonsensical, and do not really provide any real connection with the original theme of the song. Even the first line of the song make no real sense since no one would normally go to a Chinese restaurant to purchase a loaf of bread. However, rational lyrics are not the main purpose of children songs, but rather about parodying other songs, or making fun of strict components of society.

However, probably the more telling part of this song is the slight racial insensitiveness of the lyrics. In this case, the lyrics are playing on stereotypes of Chinese people, and also equating them with other Asians, including Japanese people and Indian people. For many children, it is common for them to not be able to differentiate between different groups of East Asians, or can tend to be more racially insensitive. Due to this, it means that when these children come up with these rhymes and games, they will be less inhibited by potentially insensitive lyrics when trying to find rhyming words and catchy lyrics.

For ER, calling out her friends because of a racist song had too many consequences. From the social side, ER did not want to say that she did not want to participate in the game, which would create a rift between herself and her friends due to a mere song. Children’s social structures and relationships tend to be very fragile and complex, and due to this, telling your friends that you do not want to participate in a favorite game would be seen as an insult. Due to this fear, many kids will not tell their friends about something that bothers them personally in order to maintain their friendships and keep their social standing.