Why do Japanese people think of Mexico as Ponchos and Tacos?

[Elizabeth]

But my defence, your honour, is that I'm just not interested in Spanish speaking countries and cultures. It's complicative ignorance. I don't know - I know I don't know - and I don't care. I think you'll find that most 'ignorant' people have a very similar reason.

I am not Hispanic, but was it really necessary to single out in such specificity and so flippantly an entire ethnic/language group not to be "interested in" ? Geez. Even if this prejudice is welling up inside to the point it is barely containable, a wiser man would say I've never had a particular interest in or need to know about Latin American affairs and let it go at that.

 

[craftsman]

I am not Hispanic, but was it really necessary to single out in such specificity and so flippantly an entire ethnic/language group not to be "interested in" ? Geez. Even if this prejudice is welling up inside to the point it is barely containable, a wiser man would say I've never had a particular interest in or need to know about Latin American affairs and let it go at that.

Er...Elizabeth I don't think you got the point. But if you wish I will remember to change my language in future to make it more digestible for you. Terribly sorry.

I've got to go because I feel the prejudice welling up inside and it's barely containable.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

I had no interest in or knowledge of Belgiumﾂ before being bombarded by posts about Belgium on JREF. Now I have no interest in or knowledge of Belgium.

You too? It's funny, I have even less interest in Belgium than I did before joining JREF.

 

[RockLee]

@mika:
Same here ! It's just that, my interests lie somewhere else.(Japan and Finland atm) I have knowledge of Belgian things, of European things, non-European, etc. though.

 

[Maciamo]

I passed my history GCSE without learningi anything about Belgium. Or Mexico. And I mean not anything.

I can't believe your history tecahers didn't mention anything at all about Charles Martel, Charlemagne, the first crusade, Charles V of Habsburg, or (especially for a bRit) the battle of Waterloo.

That's all very well, but following that line, it would mean that we all ought to learn everything about every country. Much as I would like to be able to, and I'm sure it would be extremely interesting, I doubt I have quite the necessary mental capacity.

Not anything or everything, but at least the basics (e.g. country's capital, flag, type of government and economy, main languages, ethnic composition, basic history...)

I am not Hispanic, but was it really necessary to single out in such specificity and so flippantly an entire ethnic/language group not to be "interested in" ? Geez. Even if this prejudice is welling up inside to the point it is barely containable, a wiser man would say I've never had a particular interest in or need to know about Latin American affairs and let it go at that.

For once I agree with you.

 

[ArmandV]

@Mika:
Same here ! It's just that, my interests lie somewhere else.(Japan and Finland atm) I have knowledge of Belgian things, of European things, non-European, etc. though.

When I think of Belgium, I think of waffles. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to open an IHOP there.

 

[Karamuucho]

In Kinsao's defence, English GCSE history covers British history (the monarchy, etc), with a long look at Britain's part in the first and second world wars. Geography is mainly about farming (types of soil, weather, the water system and such) with not even much covering the geography of Great Britain itself. Cultural stereotypes are everywhere, but most people generally (as in any country, I hope) know that they are just stereotypes (again, _most_ people).

 

[hideway]

Mexico isn't just about Ponchos and Tacos. There are also other good stuff like tortillas and Tequila.

 

[sabro]

Belgium??? I checked the California State World History Standards (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade10.asp) for high school and I don't think there is anything specifically about Belgium, except where it has to do with larger bits of European history. Since California was once a part of Mexico and since we share a border, Mexico comes up a bit more frequently- from pre-Columbian empires to the Revolution during the last century.

I guess the positive thing about that is that we don't really have a set of prejudices and stereotypes about Belgians...

An old friend of my sister, Susana Guzman is an opera singer. In those Mexico Tourism commercials, she can be heard whispering "Mexico" in hushed sexy tones.

Mexico is where the current VW Beetle comes from, at least here in the US... Mexico also produces some cell phones, computers, components and iPods.

Bimbo/Gamesa cookies, Jamaica, Horchata, Bitter Chocolate, Telenovelas, Silver from Taxco, BIG belt buckles, and old American pick up trucks...

 

[Maciamo]

Belgium??? I checked the California State World History Standards (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade10.asp) for high school and I don't think there is anything specifically about Belgium, except where it has to do with larger bits of European history.

That's obvious, Belgium only became known as "Belgium" in 1830. Before it was called Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Empire, Spain, France, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

It's like saying that history textbooks don't mention anything about Italy before 1868 because it wasn't a country until then. Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bouillon, Brughel, Rubens and others were as Belgian as Leonardo da Vinci, Marco Polo or Galileo were Italian.

The curiculum in link certainly has a lot about Belgium. In point 10.4 on colonialism, Belgium possessed all Congo, which represents most of central Africa and some of the most important natural resources of the contient. In 10.5-7, the major frontline of WWI in Western Europe was in Flanders, at the border of Belgium and France.


Talking about Mexico, did you know that the last Empress of Mexico, Charlotte (wife of Maximilian) was a Belgian princess (daughter of the King of Belgium, Leopold I) ? After the execution of Maximilian I of Mexico during Republican revolution, Charlotte went back to Belgium were she lived as a widow in a castle north of Brussels (now part of the National Botanic Garden).

 

[sabro]

Talking about Mexico, did you know that the last Empress of Mexico, Charlotte (wife of Maximilian) was a Belgian princess (daughter of the King of Belgium, Leopold I) ? After the execution of Maximilian I of Mexico during Republican revolution, Charlotte went back to Belgium were she lived as a widow in a castle north of Brussels (now part of the National Botanic Garden).

I did not know that.

 

[ArmandV]

I did not know that.

You should see an old movie, "Juarez" with Paul Muni and Bette Davis. It is about Juarez and Maximilian.

 

[dreamer]

What strange idea. I have never even seen raw eggs in a Chinese restaurant in Europe !

Well...I still wonder where they got such an idea...the only thing that looks like raw eggs we eat is called in French "oeuf de cent ans" but it's rarely used in restaurants as far as I know...

In what way what your relatives think of you is a national stereotype ?

French people are known for never taking bathes
I've met this stereotype here in the US as well but the guys were saying that jokingly

There are about 10% of people officially looking for a job, but if we include the children, retired, handicapped who can't work and other people not looking for a job (e.g. housewives), then the number is well over 60%.
Your colleague was probably talking about the jobless among the active population (those aged 16 to 64), which is 37% in France (31% in Japan and 29% in the USA => see stats).

Hum... the sentence sounded more like "Our teacher told us the amount of jobless people was about 30%, is that so difficult to find a job in France? Won't you rather stay here?" so I doubt she was including housewives,disabled people and students...

 

[Han Chan]

Ok, so i said in email prior to meeting her, "i'm hispanic". And she responded "i never met any hispanic people and i don't know about them or their culture". And when we met she was so austounded by me and my roots, like i was a space monkey or something^^ I also noticed Chinese people also seem to not know about Latin america at all.

As "hispanic" is a specific american expression it is likely that she thought that you came from a country called hispania or something. When japanese think of mexican as someone with poncho eating tacos it might be because of Hollywood of some Tex-Mex food company - what do I know? Actually she might know more about mexico that she revealed. Playing slightly ignorant about a topic is a very commonly used strategy in order to keep a conversation gooing: Aa so desu ka? (Is that so?) is constantly used in japanese conversation.

 

[Davey]

Dear pinson27, You are taking life too serious! please stop asking questions that you can know yourself if you think a little deeper!

(my personal opinion)

 

[taehyun]

Better ponchos and tacos than drug dealers and other criminals, as they are often shown on the US TV serials and movies
Ref: "24" (season 4), The Shield, "Wild speed 2"...

 

[sabro]

In an aside: The Taco- as a snack composed of a tortilla wrapped around a meat or vegetable filling... is according to some three thousand years old dating to the Puebla region of the Sierra Madre. The hard shell creation with meat, grated yellow cheese, shredded lettuce and sour cream- is (like the fortune cookie) a more recent California fast food innovation.

Ponchos, like cloaks, capes, mantles, pareos, robes and stoles-- due to the functionality and simplicity of the garment are nearly ubiquitous. The origins seem to be more South American, from the Peruvian Andes...but something so brilliantly simple probably has many stories of origin.

I like the story of the the Jesuits throwing blankets over the immodestly naked natives of the Andes, who quickly adapted the woolen blanket into a visual textile of expression... (It echos the Hawaiin shirt story.)

 

[Maciamo]

I have split the offtopic about Belgium, history and geography here

 

[sabro]

Thanks, it is a rather interesting side topic.

 

[MajideSaiaku]

Cool cool, split thread, nae bad.

 

[sabro]

I still wonder why Index's comments were deleted though...

I thought they were rather insightful and added to the discussion.

 

[maushan3]

Belgium??? I checked the California State World History Standards (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade10.asp) for high school and I don't think there is anything specifically about Belgium, except where it has to do with larger bits of European history. Since California was once a part of Mexico and since we share a border, Mexico comes up a bit more frequently- from pre-Columbian empires to the Revolution during the last century.

I guess the positive thing about that is that we don't really have a set of prejudices and stereotypes about Belgians...

An old friend of my sister, Susana Guzman is an opera singer. In those Mexico Tourism commercials, she can be heard whispering "Mexico" in hushed sexy tones.

Mexico is where the current VW Beetle comes from, at least here in the US... Mexico also produces some cell phones, computers, components and iPods.

Bimbo/Gamesa cookies, Jamaica, Horchata, Bitter Chocolate, Telenovelas, Silver from Taxco, BIG belt buckles, and old American pick up trucks...

Man, props to you. haha I never knew anyone with so much Mexican knowledge. You definitely know a lot more than your average Mexican. I don't even know who Susana Guzman is.

My dad is from Taxco and my mom is in the silver from Taxco business.

I definitely like the fact that people get reminded of Mexico with tacos, tequila, tortillas, sombreros, etc. than from corruption, drug cartels, gangsters, gambling, alcoholism, and so forth.
Don't get me wrong, I think gambling and drinking is not bad at all, as long as it doesn't take over your life. It is just that many people in Mexico take these things very seriously.
I'm in 11th grade in high school in an all-boys school and around 80% of kids in my grade drink. And some 30% constantly consume alcohol every weekend as in drinking till they hurl and pass out.

Mauricio

 

[sabro]

Muchas Gracias! I was in Taxco about 25 years ago. It was a beautiful town back then. Drinking s definitely a problem back here in the US, too...

 

[maushan3]

Talking about gambling, I just got home from watching the Super Bowl with some friends at a sportsbook. One of them is so into gambling that he played $3,000 Mex. pesos (around $270 USD.) on the coin toss and won them. And he also played $9,000 ($810 USD) stating that Indianapolis was going to win by more than 7 points, he won that also.

I do not know where he gets this money, he is definitely not loaded.

Just wanted to tell people how impressed I am by things like this. Wow...

Mauricio

 

[yukio_michael]

My last girlfriend was Mexican, it's been maybe a month or more since we split, but her knowledge of all things Mexican cooking was pretty encyclopedic... She was a nice girl, (probably the type of girls who I never get along with... I tend to be attracted to the ones who hurt me most)... but I still came away from the relationship with the idea that Mexican culture is highly influenced by food...

My sister and I used to ask her to pronounce words like tortilla just to hear the accent... Silly really... but that's what I remember most about the good parts of the short-lived relationship.