Shooting with (Patreon)

Anastasiya Mihaylova

I want to talk about prejudices

Long before I came to America, I already had my own prejudices about this country and its people.

Well… “my own.”

Because if I’m being honest, they weren’t really mine at all. We’ve all heard them. Spaniards are lazy. The French are arrogant. Germans are obsessed with order. Americans are overweight, not particularly bright, and constantly eat McDonald’s. The British are a little snobbish and have a strange sense of humor that nobody understands. (Okay… maybe that one is actually true.))) Italians are loud and overly emotional. Jewish people are stingy. Every Indian works in IT.....you know the list.

The interesting thing is that when these ideas live not only in my head, but also in the heads of my family, friends and people around me, they slowly stop sounding like opinions and start feeling like facts. And even when we finally experience something ourselves that contradicts them, it’s surprisingly difficult to let them go. Instead, we think, “Well… I guess they’re just the exception.”

Take American supermarkets, for example. Pretty much everyone around me was convinced that food here has no flavor, that everything is artificial, and that nowhere tastes as good as Ukraine. Of course I absorbed those opinions too. It’s surprisingly easy to borrow someone else’s certainty when you haven’t had a chance to build your own yet. After all, it’s always nice to believe that something back home is “better.”

The same thing happened with stereotypes about Americans having bad taste or being a little dumb. I mean… why wouldn’t I agree with that? It automatically makes me feel smarter. And apparently my taste becomes better too. Convenient.)))

You probably see where I’m going with this.

The more I think about it, the more I notice that many of these prejudices quietly place us just a little bit above someone else. And that makes me a little sad. A while ago I read "Creating the Enemy" by Umberto Eco, and I keep thinking about it whenever this topic comes up. I started noticing that prejudice often works exactly like that. It’s much easier to unite people when everyone agrees that someone else is somehow worse....or stranger..... or simply “not like us.”

And once enough people repeat the same idea, it slowly starts sounding like reality.

I’ve noticed this before when my parents would confidently talk about places they had never visited or things they had never personally experienced. Not because they’re wrong. But because many of those opinions weren’t actually born from their own lives. Some came from Soviet propaganda. Some from stories told by grandparents. Some were simply repeated so many times that they became “truth.” I don’t dismiss other people’s experiences. Those experiences matter. But I’ve realized I’d much rather build my own opinions from my own life.

So… after a few weeks in America, some stereotypes were confirmed, some completely fell apart, and some turned out to be much more complicated than I expected :

The food?

It’s… food.))) Some stores are great. Some aren’t. Kind of like everywhere else.

Yes, I’ve seen overweight people.

I’ve also seen an incredible number of athletic, healthy and ridiculously fit people. The stereotype somehow forgot to mention those.

Americans are definitely patriotic.

Sometimes… enthusiastically patriotic.))) But honestly, I don’t really see anything wrong with loving your own country. I’d actually love to see that level of patriotism in more places. As long as it stays focused on loving your own country instead of trying to manage everyone else’s.

Yes, Americans like spending money.

But honestly… Who doesn’t?))) The important question isn’t whether you enjoy spending money. It’s whether you actually have any to spend.

And yes… Americans really do love small talk.)))

Unfortunately, that stereotype appears to be true. They can start talking to you literally anywhere. In a supermarket. At the checkout. In an elevator. While waiting for coffee. Usually about absolutely nothing. And I still don’t know how I’m going to survive that.))) But here’s the interesting part. Somehow they’re able to turn “absolutely nothing” into an actual conversation. Maybe even into a friendship. I don’t fully understand how they do it yet. But I have a feeling there’s something worth learning there.

As for Americans being unintelligent…

I genuinely can’t say yet. I haven’t lived here long enough or had enough deep conversations to judge. But Gary, his parents, and everyone I’ve met so far have been making that stereotype increasingly difficult to believe.)))

And my biggest culture shock? - Not every supermarket sells Coca-Cola.

I genuinely wasn’t prepared for that plot twist.

So I guess the conclusion I’ve come to is pretty simple. I want to remind myself more often to rely on my own experience instead of what someone once told me. I’m sure someone else could come to America and have a completely different experience with Americans, and that’s completely okay. But I want to build my opinions based only on what I’ve seen and what I’ve felt. And I wish the same for everyone)))