Before leaving for Spain last fall, I was so excited to be exotic for the first time in my life. In the States “Sarah plain and tall”—a term to which I have been compared—is hardly considered irregular. Unfortunately, upon arriving to Spain, although I stood out like a sore thumb, I was still not exotic, I was just an American.
Due to the massive influence of American culture, we are rarely considered mysterious or unusual.
This substantial presence leads to various labels and presumed behaviors.
In any study abroad orientation, advisers will discuss these stereotypes.
Some of these basic characteristics include wealthy, obnoxious, loud, and often ignorant.
However, one of the most prominent stereotypes not often covered in these meetings is that of the drunk, sloppy and easy American girl.
In the States, and especially in college, it is much more culturally acceptable for a young woman to be drunk.
Walk the streets of any college town and you will find smashed girls falling all over the place, equal to their male counterparts.
Although these images certainly aren’t attractive, it is nevertheless widely accepted and certainly never considered strange.
However, in certain parts of the world, such as
Spain or
Costa Rica, being a drunk woman in public is like having, “please fondle me” tattooed to your forehead.
One woman’s good time often turns into an open invitation to an easy target.
Even if you are lucky enough to escape the interests of some of the less noble local men looking for a score, you will still be considered extremely trashy to be seen in such an inebriated state.
If you look around the majority of Costa Rican and Spanish bars, you will discover very few drunk local women, if any at all.
The ones that always draw stares are the loud rowdy American women.
Even without alcohol, American women are often considered easy.
I have two theories related to the existence of this belief.
The first is American women are seemingly much more assertive and expressive than in other cultures.
As Americans, we are taught that women are equal.
While feminism does still have a long way to come and there are still various prejudices and inequalities directed towards women in the States, we are much further along than in many other parts of the world where women are still considered inferior.
Additionally, the topic of sex is much less taboo in the States than in other parts of the world, especially where Catholicism is the predominant religion.
Of course there is sex in
Costa Rica, but you are not allowed to talk about it nor practice it openly.
Women have less sexual freedom and are forced to pay much more attention to their sexual reputations.
The other origin of the easy American girl assumption is less related to our strength and liberty, but rather to phenomena such as Girls Gone Wild.
Unfortunately, the easy drunk American girl is often an accurate stereotype.
Young people go on vacations with the intention of “getting crazy,” and committing acts they would never perform otherwise.
Later we recall these memories with nostalgia uttering phrases such as, “Ha ha, I cannot believe I did that! I was so drunk!”
Unfortunately, these found recollections of dancing on tables and making out with strangers is exactly what creates the myth of the easy American girl.
It is important to remember that on a study abroad trip, the student is representing not only herself and her school, but rather an entire culture.
People will assume traits about an entire country based on an experience with only one person.
Of course, part of studying abroad is going out, having a good time and meeting lots of people.
This often involves the consumption of alcohol.
However, what many young college students don’t seem to realize is that is possible to have fun without being hammered.
I am certainly not suggesting that a young woman should not go out and have a great time but rather that there is a time and a place for everything. You should utilize your study abroad opportunity to discover new pursuits and interests which exist within your host country. “When in Rome,” do as the locals do. If the locals aren’t pounding shots then maybe the act should be saved for returning home, where it is much more culturally accepted.
Perhaps not the classiest possible representations of American women)
Remember it is hard to break first impressions.
There is always “that” girl in any study abroad group, the completely crazy girl that is constantly swimming through hoards of local men.
Trust me, you do not want to be that girl.
Besides, any guy you meet in this condition that is still attracted to you is not a guy that you want to be talking to anyway.
Stereotypes are something that we all have to face when we study abroad.
Whether or not we opt to represent them accurately is a choice of our own.
Comments
I guees a drunk woman in a pub of Alabama is not seen as in New York.
I used to work in a tipicall bar of "guiris" so long ago and I found the same behaveur when me and my friends were the foreigners
I understand what you're saying about American women stereotypes. But I'll be frank: welcome to the world of exoticism. Being exotic always implies a sexual availability that can be uncomfortable at times and even disguting at otthers. In Spain, white American women are seen as loose, similar to the way Latinas and other women of color are in the U.S. Welcome to our world. Might I add that as a U.S. black woman in Spain, I was seen as an African prostitute and was repeatedly harassed for just walking down Las Ramblas minding my own business. In the U.S., we often think of exotic as a good thing, but there is another side to it that is quite ugly.
I also wanted to add that the sterotype you mentioned is one that blacks and latinos have of white girls too-- that they act a fool when their drunk and that their easy. So, no, it's not seen as appropriate or okay even in the U.S. for a woman to be inebriated in public. I think you paint a more idealistic picture of U.S. attitudes than really exists.
I believed that part of the problem is what the TV shows about the American. The most popular series and movies show young people looking for sex all time, or almost all the time. The other part of the problem is people who think it is true.
Concerning the comment about the topic of sex is much less taboo in the States than in other parts of the world, especially where Catholicism is the predominant religion I considered it is a stereotype too. Because Costa Rica and Brazil for example are as open to the topic as America is. And catholic countries like France, Spain and Italy are much more open inclusive.
In my experience with Americans I´ve seen that they are two natures in relation to the sex: How the Americans show their selves to the world, and their real position about it. It depends of us in feed or not the different stereotypes.
Sorry for my English, it is not my mother tongue, but I really like it!
Come to Corpus Christi Texas. A man can't keep a woman here because they are all cheaters. Even if a man falls in love with a woman he has a hard time getting over the fact that he has had maybe 20 lovers in his life but all possible girlfriends and future wives have had over 100 by age 30. No (real) man will be able to deal with a woman with that kind of track record over time. It just gets to them, especially when the woman runs into the many many exes out and about it public and hugs them and such. The white girls are just as bad as the latinas too. The latinas only difference is that they will have sex with the losers as well as the hotties.
Well put thank you for this.
No foreign doesn't always imply sexually available.I was a foreigner in Spain and when I told people I was Bosnian they were almost scared to act flirty and actually considered me more conservative than I actually am (same with Bulgarian women). One actually thought I come from a huge family and that he'll get beaten up by my brother for flirting (i'm an only kid) looooool
i soo don't get the esay American and conservative south-east European thing
Do you realise how incredibly typically American 'Stuck up' this article sounds? Well done for feeding the stereotype.
Having lived abroad, I can say the stereotypes of American women are well deserved. You would be surprised how often an American girl meets up with a European guy and is willing to put out on the first evening out with a guy. I think this is for several reasons, but mostly because American women on vacation want a sexual adventure and will gladly do things in foreign countries because no one will be the wiser back home and they can get away without any damage to their reputation. When I was in France, the local men didn't even count sleeping with American women as sexual conquests because it was as they said, "Playing with the net down."
LOL, I saw the same thing in France. All the frenchies had to do was talk in a thick Euro accent and stare into their eyes and the panties came off everytime. Wow is all I can say. I especially loved watching the lil' spoiled christian girl types with their crosses dangling from their necks getting banged in the back room of a club by some euro freak. Too funny, such good girls, NOT!
Now I must say, the frenchies didn't get alot of oral as the uncut euro does not excite the typical US girl.
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