6 ms·

The title is fun, but this is a terrible paper. Yes, Canadians poke fun at Québécois, and sometimes poutine is used (but rarely these days given its popularity)

by cal5k 8y ago

The title is fun, but this is a terrible paper. Yes, Canadians poke fun at Québécois, and sometimes poutine is used (but rarely these days given its popularity). But a big part of Canadian culture is being “in on the joke”. We tend to love it when we’re satirized in the media, particularly American media. I think this appreciation for jokes made at our expense is partly responsible for our high volume of comedian exports. So we make fun of BC folk, they make fun of Torontonians; Quebecois make fun of Acadiens; we all make fun of PEI. It’s not done from malice, just good-natured ribbing about our differences. This paper is a great example of research-free critical theory.

DKnoll 8y ago
>We tend to love it when we’re satirized in the media, particularly American media. I don't at all. I find the same overplayed Canadian jokes from Americans extremely tiring and patronising. Don't use 'we' to refer to over 35m people.
- cal5k 8y ago
  I think it’s possible to broadly generalize about a culture without needing to caveat that yes, obviously some people are different.
  - DKnoll 8y ago
    Just saying, speak for yourself, I know I'm not the only one who doesn't like to be steriotyped by ignorant people for laughs based on my nationality. As for the regional steriotypes about different provinces being 'fun' or 'lighthearted,' that is not always the case and many of them are rooted in historical military or political conflicts.
jperras 8y ago
> It’s not done from malice, just good-natured ribbing about our differences. I'm Québécois. My family has been Québécois for hundreds of years. My first language was French but I spoke English from a very young age, and went to a mixture of English and French schools. I watch Québécois movies and tv shows, listen to Québécois music and radio, and cook traditional Québécois food for myself and friends every chance I get. I can't vouch for any of the other Canadian subcultures you've named, but I can assure you that I never enjoyed the taunting, the name calling, the literal physical violence (I got beat up many times as kid because I was "one of those fucking French frogs"), and not to mention the inevitable eye rolling and pointed questions about why my particular cultural heritage was even allowed to exist in Canada. Some people view us as some sort of blight that needs to be eradicated because we don't fit the mould of what a "Canadian" is. I've had people tell me to my face that they "can't wait for the French to just die off in this country", and then laugh because they think it's a funny joke. I'm not saying everyone is like that, and things seem to have softened in the past few decades, but please don't believe that we enjoy being marginalized.
- cal5k 8y ago
  I mean hey - that really sucks. It sounds like you've met some shitty people. It doesn't change the fact that good-natured ribbing is really common in cross-cultural contexts. I grew up in Ottawa, a really bilingual city, and making fun of each other was part of how we all bonded in spite of our differences. Intent matters.
  - jperras 8y ago
    > Intent matters. There’s an entire aphorism dedicated to the idea that intentions and effects are often vastly different. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_with_good_intentions https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_wi...
  - rfrey 8y ago
    Intent matters, but so does being aware of the effect of "punching down". Ontario, specifically Ottawa and Toronto, dominate so much in Canada, that people in repressed Quebec, impoverished PEI, or one of Ontario's western colonies may not appreciate it as much as you think.
    - cal5k 8y ago
      I find this claim that Quebec is a repressed province bizarre, particularly when more Prime Ministers have hailed from Quebec than any other province (including Ontario): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Canada_by_constituency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Can...
- pasbesoin 8y ago
  Hearing a 20-something Albertan casually reference "frogs" made the bottom drop out of my stomach. (This was the better part of 20 years ago.) They'd never call someone that, face-to-face out on the patch, but the disdain was apparent. And the superficiality. Montreal is one of my favorite cities -- warts and all. (No pun intended, although now I see it.) This person reduced to using the term "frog" had never been to Quebec and had not even taken the time to learn the basics about the place, people, and culture. Canada has assholes, like everywhere else. Fortunately, on balance, I've found Canadians a lovely people. Not perfect -- but then again, not particularly trying to be, either. Good, not "perfect". Or so, as an American, I need to hope. Some place better than what we are becoming. The wheel turns... P.S. Shawarma Poutine. Whoever's appropriating what, I've made a mental note, for the next time I'm up there.

by cal5k 8y ago

DKnoll 8y ago

>We tend to love it when we’re satirized in the media, particularly American media. I don't at all. I find the same overplayed Canadian jokes from Americans extremely tiring and patronising. Don't use 'we' to refer to over 35m people.

cal5k 8y ago
I think it’s possible to broadly generalize about a culture without needing to caveat that yes, obviously some people are different.
- DKnoll 8y ago
  Just saying, speak for yourself, I know I'm not the only one who doesn't like to be steriotyped by ignorant people for laughs based on my nationality. As for the regional steriotypes about different provinces being 'fun' or 'lighthearted,' that is not always the case and many of them are rooted in historical military or political conflicts.

jperras 8y ago

> It’s not done from malice, just good-natured ribbing about our differences. I'm Québécois. My family has been Québécois for hundreds of years. My first language was French but I spoke English from a very young age, and went to a mixture of English and French schools. I watch Québécois movies and tv shows, listen to Québécois music and radio, and cook traditional Québécois food for myself and friends every chance I get. I can't vouch for any of the other Canadian subcultures you've named, but I can assure you that I never enjoyed the taunting, the name calling, the literal physical violence (I got beat up many times as kid because I was "one of those fucking French frogs"), and not to mention the inevitable eye rolling and pointed questions about why my particular cultural heritage was even allowed to exist in Canada. Some people view us as some sort of blight that needs to be eradicated because we don't fit the mould of what a "Canadian" is. I've had people tell me to my face that they "can't wait for the French to just die off in this country", and then laugh because they think it's a funny joke. I'm not saying everyone is like that, and things seem to have softened in the past few decades, but please don't believe that we enjoy being marginalized.

cal5k 8y ago
I mean hey - that really sucks. It sounds like you've met some shitty people. It doesn't change the fact that good-natured ribbing is really common in cross-cultural contexts. I grew up in Ottawa, a really bilingual city, and making fun of each other was part of how we all bonded in spite of our differences. Intent matters.
- jperras 8y ago
  > Intent matters. There’s an entire aphorism dedicated to the idea that intentions and effects are often vastly different. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_with_good_intentions https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_wi...
- rfrey 8y ago
  Intent matters, but so does being aware of the effect of "punching down". Ontario, specifically Ottawa and Toronto, dominate so much in Canada, that people in repressed Quebec, impoverished PEI, or one of Ontario's western colonies may not appreciate it as much as you think.
  - cal5k 8y ago
    I find this claim that Quebec is a repressed province bizarre, particularly when more Prime Ministers have hailed from Quebec than any other province (including Ontario): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Canada_by_constituency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Can...
pasbesoin 8y ago
Hearing a 20-something Albertan casually reference "frogs" made the bottom drop out of my stomach. (This was the better part of 20 years ago.) They'd never call someone that, face-to-face out on the patch, but the disdain was apparent. And the superficiality. Montreal is one of my favorite cities -- warts and all. (No pun intended, although now I see it.) This person reduced to using the term "frog" had never been to Quebec and had not even taken the time to learn the basics about the place, people, and culture. Canada has assholes, like everywhere else. Fortunately, on balance, I've found Canadians a lovely people. Not perfect -- but then again, not particularly trying to be, either. Good, not "perfect". Or so, as an American, I need to hope. Some place better than what we are becoming. The wheel turns... P.S. Shawarma Poutine. Whoever's appropriating what, I've made a mental note, for the next time I'm up there.