Cultural Identity and Intercultural Communication (CL)

One of the first things I am asked by people I meet when they learn I'm from the United States is what I think of Donald Trump. In some cases, it's brought up pretty directly, in others, more indirectly. The other day at a restaurant a man walked up to our table, saying, "You're Americans? You know Donald Trump? He's crazy!" 

My host mother brought up Donald Trump one of my first nights, saying that it's fun to laugh at him. "Well, it's scary," I said, and she agreed, saying that it is hard for the French to understand how someone like that can run for president. 

Someone else once brought up the subject by asking if I followed politics, and starting to list off the names of the candidates in the American election. "Clinton..." 

"Sanders," I said. 

"Right, yeah, and Trump?" 

"Unfortunately." 

While watching TV with my host mother one evening, the American elections came up again, and she said, "I think we know more about you than you know about us." 

"That's probably true," I said. 

"We like to follow American politics," she said, "so we can laugh at it. Americans don't know as much about us." It's true. In general we tend not to pay much attention to the politics of other countries. I know a little bit about French politics, but only because I've been studying French for years.

While I was trying out classes, one of the professors asked if we found certain flags prettier than others. "We find the American flag and the English flag pretty," she said. I almost winced - for me, the American flag is very much tied to the idea of "patriotism". I always think of older White men talking about how much they love their country, where they can be free - to impose their beliefs on other people.

It's not unexpected that Trump keeps coming up as a topic of conversation because I'm American. Our national identities may be brought to the forefront when we travel somewhere else. These images that come up for me when I think of the word "patriotism" are also, I believe, the images that come up for the French when they think of Americans, especially with all the media coverage of Trump lately. The French image of Americans, or at least part of it, is one of ignorance and nationalism. What is this belief based on? The news, where Donald Trump's face is plastered. This isn't something that can be denied or refuted on a large scale. Yes, Donald Trump is running for president, and yes, he has a frightening amount of support. They're not wrong. 

How I personally am perceived by strangers varies depending on how I appear on that individual day. On days when I look dressier, wear fashionable dresses and tights, I am sometimes seen as English. On days when I wear baggy men's clothing many sizes too large for me that I found in thrift stores, I am more likely to be perceived as American. I don't know how much I believe in blending in. Maybe it's nice on some days, to not stand out. On others, it may not be fashionable, but sometimes the way I dress is a small form of rebellion, a small form of self-expression.

Every time a song in English plays on the television, my host mom sings along and asks me if I know the song. She also tries to compare Angers to what she believes me to have come from, though she's never been there. "I guess Angers is probably smaller than Fayetteville?" 

"No, Angers is a bigger city than Fayetteville." Angers has a population of 147,571. Fayetteville, Arkansas has a population of 78,960. But because I come from the United States, she was assuming that everything was bigger. 

She also likes to point out American brands. "You know H&M? Everybody knows H&M." Or, "I hear that the McDonald's here is better than McDonald's in the United States." I have no doubt. 

One night more recently, my host mom felt that she had sounded me out enough that she could bring up politics again. "Things are worse than they used to be. It's not because of age that I say this. When I was 18 I was able to afford an apartment. That's just not possible anymore. I think it's like that for you, too." 

"Yes, it is," I said. 

"You young people are brave," she said. "There's so much violence today, and it's so hard to find jobs."

I'm still feeling out what the French think of me, my host mother in particular. Sometimes she brings up "boyfriends or girlfriends" or "boyfriends and girlfriends" in passing. Example: "That's a good place to bring your boyfriends and girlfriends." I had a lot of thoughts at first, all at the same time. Is my host-mother slut-shaming me? Does she think I'm like that because I'm American? Or is she just being non-judgmental and giving me options?  I'm starting to believe that she's just acknowledging that I haven't talked about my orientations and she doesn't know which ones I have. The other day she was giving an example of what something meant, and said, "If you were to fall in love with a boy or a girl..."