Rugby, Racing, Beer: The Stereotypical Kiwi
Most countries usually feature a national ‘type’ such as the Germans are often being depicted as being well-organised men wearing lederhosen and drinking beer. But what does the stereotypical Kiwi look like?
New Zealanders are often portrayed as pioneer types being rural, strong and unemotional who spend little time on high culture. Most of them are portrayed as country people who keep their sheep and are good at tasks which the country requires. Thus, Kiwis typically seem to love their natural land and the great outdoors even though most of the people in New Zealand live in urban areas since the late 19th century.
The characteristics of a stereotypical kiwi vary a lot. The most important quality associated with people in New Zealand is that they are hard and strong men who are prone to violence. This macho attitude is combined with heavy drinking which is one of the Kiwis favourite activity besides rugby and racing. Kiwis are known as being rugby-mad. It has been popular for a long time either as spectator or as participant. We could even say that the stars of New Zealand’s rugby team are admired as national heroes.
Coming to the second activity, the racing, it picks up the idea that horse racing was and still is a really popular hobby for Kiwis because it was one of the few things which could be legally bet on. However, interest for horse racing has declines in popularity due to the legalisation of other forms of sports betting in the 1990s.
Considering the stereotypical Kiwi female, we can say that Kiwi women are usually portrayed as independent women because New Zealand was one of the first countries who gave women a vote. Furthermore, Kiwi women are associated with an unfeminine style which includes wearing masculine clothing and spending little time on makeup and other forms of personal grooming. This, however, can also be interpreted in a positive way as they hold back modern beauty ideals for women.
To conclude, we can say that the stereotyped Kiwi is a rural, unemotional and strong farmer who plays rugby, loves horse racing and drinks beer; and is on top of that married to an independent masculine-clad wife. However, we must consider that these are just stereotypes of people living in New Zealand. Stereotypes are oversimplified images of a nation which are often outdated and only applicable to a small section of society. Nevertheless, some stereotypes seem to have some truth in reality, haven’t they?
