Dating Differences: Stereotypes About American/Western Women

A little over a year ago I started dating my Japanese boyfriend. It was my first relationship with someone from another culture and his as well. So what do you do when you don't know what to expect? You Google and use stereotypes to try to prepare yourself. (Or at least we did...)

Of course, generally stereotypes are bad, but they can give some insights in certain cases. Plus, some of them are just funny to me. About a month into my relationship my boyfriend and I shared some of the stereotypes we believed and found online. Today, I will talk about his.

One thing that my boyfriend found is that Americans will date many people at once. This is not wrong, but it is at a different stage of dating for us Americans. First, we maybe go out to dinner with a few different people before we get "serious". (To be fair, I have never dated this way.) My boyfriend didn't understand American dating culture, so when he asked me out, he made sure by checking, "Just me?" Haha. I was very confused why he asked this, but I get it now. 

Another stereotype that my boyfriend had was that American girlfriends are very emotional. I don't know how typical Japanese women are when they date, but I can totally understand why this is a stereotype. In general, I show my emotions more than any of my Japanese friends. I cry when I am sad, like a lot, but I also laugh a crazy amount when I am happy. He said he actually prefers it because he can tell exactly what I am thinking. Haha. 

While the stereotypes listed above aren't so bad, one misconception that is often held by Japanese men, that is not just about Americans, but most Western women too, is that we are easy. I didn't have a problem with my boyfriend about this, but he did explain to me it is a common belief among Japanese men. Which makes sense because I have had encounters with kind of creepy men before. I like to call these men "exotic girlfriend hunters". They don't care about what you are actually like, they just want to be able to brag about with being a foreigner, so if you are dating in Japan watch out for these men.

While these stereotypes are, of course not true, knowing them helps to give insight to the view Japanese men have about American women, and Western women in general since we get clumped together in one group. Knowing these can help prevent problems in your relationship, and weed out the creepers.

Have fun dating and good luck!!