(no subject)

[pooplina.livejournal.com]

happy new years y'all. For the Russians here, its a time to bust out the new years tree, sit for a thousand phone calls from relatives, and watch the old folks get hammered. Ah, New years.
In other news, I recieved an email from colgate (I'm applying so I guess that means they own my soul) about their daily news and there was a link to student responses to their time in Vladimir.
http://www.imakenews.com/colgatemedia/e_article000334250.cfm?x=b11,0,w

I'm reading this thing, and for some reason I got a little ...irked.. It might be part of my overall tendency post-trip to Vladimir to get possesive about "my country" but I hate how the student responses made the russians sound like freaks or subjects in some experiment :

"One thing that I have definitely noticed is that the Russian fashion sense is unique. For some reason young women seem to think, the tighter, whiter, brighter the better. Also, there are elfin-like shoes that appear on nearly every woman’s feet. I wonder how they manage to walk. The Russian woman’s love of fashion does not end after the age of thirty. I have seen many middle aged or even elderly women with florescent pink, deep purple, bright blond, or even blue hair.”

Yea ok, when I was there, I thought they dressed weird too. Then again, I spent most of time with teenagers, and they thought the way I dressed was strange as well . ("Vintage? So wait, you spend more money on used and old clothes?" )
I just hate the attitude of some Americans who go over to Russia, make generalizations about what they see, and come back thinking they know everything about Russians. The pointy shoes did bother me though. Thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?

Comments

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

I don't see anything offensive about that paragraph. Are you trying to say that students shouldn't write about how Russian women dress, because that wouldn't be politically correct, or something? It's wrong to point out differences, or ... ?

I'm not sure what your objection is. No, not all Russian women wear tight white pants and pointy-toed shoes, but heavens, you can't expect students to include a disclaimer ("This is a generalization based on an increased probability of seeing Russian women in tight white pants and pointy-toed shoes as compared to American women. It is not meant to be a description of every single Russian woman's fashion sense and should not be taken as such, as I'm sure that there are Russian women who dress like Americans that I simply did not meet due to my geographical location and limited social circle.") on everything.

[pooplina.livejournal.com]

I know and hey, trust me I hate the politically correct people who end up sterilizing everything. I just got that ick feeling from the whole student response by the way this kid made a distinction of "russian women" versuses people in general . " I wonder how they manage to walk..." Then you read on in the colgate responses about how it must be so great to live as an old person in Russia - which in my opinion is bull shit, because in Russia a lot of the elderly are struggling just to get enough food for the month. What I am getting at is: in effort to point the differences between the two cultures, the responses made Russian people look very un-human. I don't want any disclaimers, it just makes me cringe that this stuff is supposed to provide insight on Russian life.

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

What's the problem with making a distinction between Russian women and people in general? What's wrong with wondering how someone walks in shoes that would trip you if you were wearing them?

Yeah, some of the responses were naive and ignorant, but that doesn't mean in any way that they were dehumanizing Russians! I honestly have no idea why you think that they were making Russians seem inhuman.

[kart.livejournal.com]

Russian fashion sense is unique because Russia is unique. Observing the culture is a very important part of learning the language, for without culture there'd be no need for language. :)

[xpy.livejournal.com]

well, I'm from Russia (although Novosibirsk where I live might be quite different from Vladimir), and I don't find anything offensive in those observations. They just describe what they saw... At the age of 15-16 I spent a year in the US, and at first many things seemed weird and stupid and "oh, so not right", but after awhile you get used to it, and then you understand WHY people do it this way and not the way you are used to back home.
I don't know how long these guys stayed in Russia, but the funny thing is that if you come visit for a short period of time, you get particu;ar impression of the country and people, and if you live there longer and hang out with the locals, it will be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Not only about Russia, it's about any place in the world. And it's awesome when you can look at some things from both cultures' points of view.

PS but you know what, pointy shoes used to bother me a lot, too! :) Esp. when you try to get a pair of shoes, and 9 out of 10 are those crazy pointy ones ;P

[cema.livejournal.com]

On the oter hand, consider some Russians who do not go over to the US and still make generalizations about what they have not seen.

[quieres.livejournal.com]

Estoy seguro que
... just like US (=United States) Russia consists of many different States. And (just like in US) even in one state it is possible to find people of different style, mind and heart: anybody can feel the difference between 3-bucks-per-night hotel manager and PhD Candidate.

[quem98.livejournal.com]

Meh... I wouldn't be too too offended. Just keep in mind the perspective that this is coming from. We're not talking anthropologists or social scientists here, we're talking college students. Having been in that position, I can understand why those particular passages were there I picked up on the Russian fashion sense too when I was there, so I am guilty of it too.

My personally favorite observations of Russian dress came from a friend of mine who is currently in a 4 year program at MXAT

"They wear these heels... on the ice... and I keep waiting for them to fall... on the ice, but they don't... And... and they wear these pants... and they look like they've been spraypainted on. And I stare at them not because I'm attracted to them, but I don't know how they got into their pants!"

I dunno. I was amused.

Also Russians tend damned blunt. I once got my hair cut at a fairly upscale salon. The woman gave me these slanted bangs. When I asked her if she could do something different, she said
"Нет. Ты будешь похожа на Гоголя."
The customer is always right... not so much the concept over there.

So the moral of the story is, it's sort of human nature to generalize. After a few months of realizing just how much you stick out from your surroundings, it becomes something of a survival mechanism. It's how we deal with things. Russians who come to the US are no better, believe you me.

Ask any Russian who's been to the US about how we smile all the time. It's a human thing.

On a side note... Looking at the pictures they linked to made me really miss my summer in Vladimir. Those were all of my instructors from... Oh dear God, was that already almost 3 years ago?

*feels all warm and fuzzy*

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

>Russians who come to the US are no better, believe you me.

Oh yeah. You tell me. I still remember my 1st visit to the States some 6 years ago. "Oh my, why on Earth _all_ American women may want to dress in so anti-feminine way and, well, so _ugly_?" :)))))

[yozhevich.livejournal.com]

> "Нет. Ты будешь похожа на Гоголя."

Ouch.

I mean, from laughing so hard. :)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

As for the pointy shoes, all of what has been stored in supercheap Turkish markets (this is from where the most of cheap stuff comes to European part of Russia :)) was sold out during 2003, so by 2005 this fashion would be probably over :))))