Quote:
Originally Posted by mercedesjin
Okay, thanks. I'll make sure to check it out.
I think you may have misunderstood the statement I made. I didn't say that people can go to another country without caring about what is rude or not. I meant to say that a person might not understand what is rude or not.
I read and reread the article. I doesn't say that "the French make the least amount effort." It says that the French are the worst tourists. It's an article that stereotypes and attracts readers who easily believe these kinds of surveys without questioning it - without raising questions such as, "Who gets to decide that they're rude?" and, "What if the tourists don't have the resources to understand another culture?"
"The French" is the same as saying "every French person." It's a generalization based on a person's nationality. Saying that Americans like cheeseburgers is also a generalization. It's like saying, "Americans are idiots for voting Bush in for a second term." It's a generalization because not everyone wanted Bush back into office. Saying that the French are rude and don't make an effort is a generalization and a stereotype because I'm sure there are French who do make an effort, and who are extremely polite. Words like "most" and "some" need to be added, because - according to the English language - saying "the French" means every single French person.
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I agree with you that a person might not understand every part of a culture before visiting it. People certainly make mistakes. I think hotel workers are the perfect people to ask for surveys like this, because they surely see it all. In 2009 I think it is hard to say people don't have the resources to get the information they need to not be considered rude. It doesn't mean they have to blend in seamlessly into another culture, but the basics are surely available.
Making generalizations and stereotyping are two very different things. Generalizations allow us to say things like "Americans are idiots for voting in Bush" because we KNOW not all Americans voted for Bush. "Japanese food is about subtle flavors." This is true, but not all Japanese food is about subtle flavors. In this article they say "The French don't go abroad very much." Do you read that as "Every single French person doesn't go abroad very much"?
Without generalizations it would take forever to communicate ideas because we would have to put caveats on every statement. I had my years PCing my language as to not offend anyone, and those years are behind me.