Are you Australian by nature?

I was reading a marketing book the other day and it discussed how to asses a culture when marketing a product. In this case, they tackled the good ol’ Aussie stereotype. First of all, I’m disturbed by stereotypes of any kind, secondly, I can’t imagine making sweeping generalisations to the point of writing a book about it, or even a living. Generalisations result in diamond adverts that claim you’re not loved unless you have a cold, hard stone on your wedding finger.

I’m writing this post because I wanted to know if you thought the below sterotype was true or not. Some I agree with, others don’t apply to my friends and I at all.

What are Australians?

“Australia has a distinct culture. According to Hugh MacKay, in his book, Australia Reinvented: The Mind and Mood of Australia, Australians are:

Very casual: The don’t tend to treat people differently, even when there are great differences in age or social standing.

Direct: They don’t talk around things. To some foreigners, this may appear as abrupt or even rude behaviour.

Competitive: Some foreigners may find Australians assertive or overbearing, particularly in sports.

Achievers: They like to keep score, whether at work or play. They emphasise accomplishments, particularly in sports.

Questioners: They ask a lot of questions, even to someone they have just met. Many of these questions seem pointless (“How ya doing mate?”) or personal (“What do ya do fer a crust mate?”) ( I think this is a bit of a cop-out. A lot of cultures ask pointless Qs like ‘how are you’ without waiting for the answer)

Gamblers: Australians will bet on almost anything, even on insect races – and you can bet on it. 

Xenophobic: Australians mistrust foreigners, particularly when the foreigners speak in their own language in front of Australians – seen as sign of rudeness and ignorance.

Australians value leisure: They work to live, not live to work. Most effort is usually leisure oriented, even if material standards fall as a result.”

Some of these I’m proud of, others, not so much. I am a little too relaxed, while others are working night and day to be the top dogs in their work place, I’m more concerned with aiming for closer goals. I don’t play sport but I do have a penchant for getting to the point. As for the xenophobia, I do get pissed off when people are talking in another language when I’m in the conversation. I’m working on that.

Are these stereotypes accurate? In my case, yeah, I would say so. I wasn’t born in Australia and yet the culture has absorbed under my skin over the last 16 years.

What do you think is quintessentially Australian? More so, what is typical of your country? What are you proud of and what do you despise?