Chateau Heartiste

Investigative reader Joe T. sent me this unintentionally hilarious survey of Central Asian (particularly Kazakh) attitudes toward, and stereotypes of, foreign women. The survey was conducted by the Gender Studies department at a university in Kazakhstan, and all I can say is that if American gender studies departments were like this one, our college “””educated””” women wouldn’t be so fucked in the head. I might even take a class. It’s disconcerting to note that it’s in the marginally 3rd world countries where the truth doesn’t send people into pants pissing mode and where no one uses PC as a sanctimonious cudgel to gain status over close kin rivals. You have to concede that the West is in a race to abdicate everything that made it great. Stupid fucks.

The stereotypes of foreign women that the survey highlighted shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has lived a day in his life.

Appearance of the Chinese woman is distinguished by refinement, small forms, delicacy, grace, fragility, slimness, beauty, narrow eyes. Often it is mentioned, that Chinese woman is poor, submissive, hurt, without claims and demands, traditions, home, family are in the first place for her. She can be secretive, knows which side her bread is buttered, reserved, silent, patient, and, probably, wise, calm, polite.

Her main typical quality is diligence, also she is very practical, thrifty, talented, persistent, indefatigable. In the post-Soviet environment Chinese woman can be met at the bazaar, where there is much of everything, everything by wholesale and very cheap.

If you’ve been through a Chinese street market, you know they eat just about everything under the sun. Very nutritionally resourceful.

[…]Korean woman is associated with Korean salads, rice, spices, kuksi noodles and dog meat. She is distinguished with narrow eyes, miniature, graceful and exotic beauty and cleanliness. Like Uigur woman she is engaged in trading at the bazaar, business in area of café, restaurants, clubs, shops, and for this reason she is rich. Her entrepreneurial success is promoted by diligence, accuracy, intellect, tenacity, pragmatism, dynamism. Depending on situation and character Korean woman can be both refined, subtle, tender, lively, wise and capricious, crafty and bad-tempered.

Does anyone talk like this anymore in the US? They should. It’ll help people get along better.

In the row of Asian women with outstanding cooking abilities a special place belongs to Tatar women. Unlike Uigur and Korean women, Tatar women are not active in trading and financial sphere. She is also cunning and practical, but these qualities help them to settle their family and social affairs.

Having dated a half-Tatar Ukrainian woman, I can attest to the above description. Funny how the Kazakhs and me both agree on female Tatar characteristics, depsite being from opposite sides of the globe.

How are the Turkish women viewed by Kazakhs?

Many note her exotic beauty, plastic, graceful figure, big black eyes, long eyelashes and an indispensable attribute – a headscarf. […]

Social status of Turkish women is presented by people in typical way: submissive, driven, without rights, enslaved, captive, slavery, many children, family for her in the first place, a housewife, tries to resemble a European,, closed door, does not know her bridegroom before wedding, under yoke of rigidly patriarchal and stringently ruled family life.

Above explains associations of her complex inner world: closed, reserved, aggressive, spoilt – are these not images of harem captives?

Any man who can successfully manage a harem can run a multinational corporation.

Oh, here’s a juicy one sure to raise hackles.

Jewish woman  is sometimes described by ethnographic images (synagogue, Esther, Rachel, Sarah, “Havva nagila” song”). Everyone knows her typical appearance: hair above her lips, dark-brown eyes, hooked nose, large thighs, thin waist, often fat, speaks in scandalous manner, not very neat.

Amazing unanimity is observed in responses regarding maternal role of the Jewish woman. Variations on this topic are as follows: head of the family, mother with many children, mother of the family, mamma of the big family, 100%-mother, brooding-hen mother, mummy, very much attached to family values, home, thrift, good housewife, cultural traditions.

Psychology of Jewish woman reveals a complex and flexible character: she is cunning, knows which side her bread is buttered, self-conceited, ironical, easily adaptable, lively, not boring, warm, intellectual, coquettish, sexual, expansive, uncommon.

Surely, Jewish woman is smart, she has high intellect, talent, mathematical cast of mind, elitism. Nevertheless, she has also such qualities, as greediness, practicality and prudence, this woman always knows her advantage and always settles her affairs well. This explains her successfulness, activeness, strength, well-being, prosperity.

The thing with stereotypes is that they don’t arise out of the ether unbidden. They must have a kernel of truth to exist in the first place.

Like Chinese, Japanese woman is beautiful, graceful, she has small feet, cheeks, eyes, porcelain face, small pace, but she is bright, thin and strange, like greenhouse. Traditionalism is her main specific feature, she is patriotic, proud with a country, with herself, her husband, life. Educated and cultural, she knows her rights, emancipated, travels trough the world. Her portrait is supplemented by such qualities as quiet, secretive, reserved, well-wishing, agreeable, refined, delicate, poetical, with sense of beauty.

How do these barbarian Kazakhs form such accurate impressions of foreign women? It must be low class bigotry fed by media consumption. Ah, no. Most of the survey respondents were from the educated classes, the type of people who have read extensively of other cultures and traveled abroad.

The survey covered 85 people, 75 of them were women, 10 – men. 59 of them were citizens of Kazakhstan, 5 – of Kyrgyzstan, 5 – of Tajikistan, 4- of Russia, 3 – of Belarus, 1 – of Ukraine, 2 – of Georgia. The sampling mainly included members of the Central Asia network of gender research (41 people) and representatives of women’s public organizations. Most respondents have higher education, live in cities, being by occupation NGO activists (37 people), university professors (22 people), post graduate students (5 people), students (2 people), pupils (2 people), journalists (2), employees of international organizations and funds (6), non-working people (2) and others (7).

Now we get to the juiciest stereotypes; you know, the ones formed by the locals of foreign women who are from countries much farther away from Central Asia. Let’s see if their sweeping generalizations remain as accurate for Western women.

Probably, the most typical ethnographic image of German woman, known from textbooks, is a blonde in white flounced apron, with plump hands, shaking off flour.

German woman usually is bright-eyed blonde, often stout, plump, sometimes wan, awkward, plain. Often respondents present German woman as unattractive, thin, without make-up, manlike. Undoubtedly, she is a good housewife and spouse, she has a strong united family. One can easily guess which features are typical for German woman in the most concentrated way, serving as a national attribute. They are accuracy, cleanliness and pedantry. This is supplemented by practicality, prudence, diligence, strictness, discipline, thrift, solid sense, honesty, punctuality and we have a business portrait of German woman. However she is characterized with poor spiritual qualities: coldness, dryness, cruelty, secretiveness, boring.

Score! German personality: Nailed. German woman’s propensity to shake off flour: Bullseye! (I’m not kidding. I have fond memories from my youth of my female German descended relatives arm deep in flour puttering around the kitchen barking orders like a military officer. “Flour, please. Flour und eggs, mach schnell! Vere ist your flour und eggs, hmm?”)

I’d quibble with the Kazakhs’ opinion that German women are unattractive, but they are hinting at something true with their description of “manlike”. German women, especially the northern Nordics, do have more prominent facial features and stronger jawlines than the Central Asian women Kazakhs are used to seeing.

Italian woman speaks much and fast, very noisy with a loud, scandalous and hoarse voice, sultry beauty, sensual, southern, sunny, sun tanned.  She has magnificent hair, splendid bust, this is Sophie Lauren. She is embodiment of flourishing, money and luxury. This spirited, expressive woman, full of love, energetic, can cause a scandal and quarrel any minute. Men value in her sex appeal and impulsiveness, merriness and restlessness, sense of humor and bright womanliness. This is a volcano, ready to explore all of a sudden, warm strength, which makes a dull life of bored man an art of survival and self- possession. This a holiday of which one is tired, but always wishes again.

As with my German relatives, I concur with the Kazakhs’ views of my female Italian relatives. They do seem to seek any excuse to start a drama-fest. Italians and Italian-descended women must need to nourish their souls with histrionic outburts. Yet I cannot look away. They are indeed a holiday of which one is tired, but always wishes again.

Ethnic archetype of Swedish woman is defined by rigid landscape – snow, mountains, cold wind, ships, Vikings. Let’s imagine a tall sportive woman without make-up, in trousers, coat and sports shoes, with few gestures and self-confident. Her color is white. It dominates in description of her pale image: white, fair, with fine complexion, with fair hair, with straight straw or flax-color hair, freckles nose, a pale moth, in one word. […]

Respondents could not help recalling a Swedish family, where sex is so common, that children are taught it in the textbooks from the age of five, without any secrets and love, as a result.

Answers of male respondents show, that their images and stereotypes are very similar to presentations of women by both content and visually.

Swedish babes… lusted the world over.

And now we get to the Central Asian stereotype you’ve all been waiting for: American broads!

American woman is described in quite contradictory way. Most amazing is a negative estimation of her appearance. There are many variations on this topic: not well-groomed, not stylish, does not dress well, not fashionable clothes, not ironed shorts and T-shirt, sleepers, put on bare feet, elderly woman in shorts, emancipated woman, for whom it is not important how she looks, a girl without make-up, happy fatty woman, stout and shapeless person, a short hair-cut, a knapsack, waddling walk, tennis shoes, dentures, plain, manlike, unisex. Positive estimations are given less frequently: smiling, loudly speaking, stylish blonde, jeans, jeep, cowboy hat, cigarette, uncommonness.

“Happy fatty woman”. Ha haaw! Even the positive estimations are backhanded compliments. “Loudly speaking”? Yeah, that’s real feminine.

Knowing a kind of our sampling (activists of female organizations and researchers of gender issues), we are not surprised, that most people relate image of American woman with achievements of the female movement in the USA: feminist, independent, free, self-sufficient, uninhibited, emancipated, enjoying equal rights, wealthy, hater of men.

Please stop, I’m dying over here. The Kazakhs are more astute and honest regarding American cultural disintegration at the hands of the alpha male-feminist front nexus than are our own fucking elites. I hope I’m painting a clearer picture of who exactly is your number one enemy in this war supreme to bring America to her knees. Hint: It ain’t al-Qaeda.

Besides, American women are emotional, uninhibited so much, that they look ill-mannered, snobs, arrogant, hypocritical, empty, with complexes, cold, dry, egoists, superficial, non-constant and impudent.  Their actions are often characterized with regulated character, black and colored women are distinguished with a habit to rely on social support and not to undertake anything to change their life.

File under: Things you will never see printed in the New York Times.

But the Kazakhs do have something nice to say about American women.

Despite this, business qualities of the majority of American women – intellect, professionalism, activeness, self-confidence, discipline pragmatism, career-mindness – are worth of great respect.

Thanks, you want ‘em? I’ll trade you my professional “active” American women for your sweetly feminine Kazakh women. Then we’ll see how long your “great respect” for them lasts.

Read the whole article. It’s a trip.

The Kazakhs speak their mind and tell it like it is. Something the West should relearn. It causes ulcers to constantly police against stating the bleedingly obvious. Diversity is a wonderful thing to observe, if not necessarily to live amongst. I’m intrigued that there are so many different nations of so many different ethnicities and races with their unique characteristics, some good, some bad. Nations are really human ethnic groups by another name. Even America. Though to a lesser extent than that of, say, Japan. Or Israel.

Maxim #42: Xenophobia is good for diversity.

The Kazakhs need reeducation in the proper parlance of the times: We’re all the same on the inside, we just look different on the outside. Only a bigot could think otherwise.

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