There are stereotypes everywhere around us and we've tried to explain several stereotypes concerning Serbs, to help people understand some of the aspects of life in Serbia. Through the different examples given, whether positive or negative, a little portion of the different views has been given. There are always other aspects left to consider, but the basic views have been interpreted in these texts. If there are other views, freely contribute them, since there is a variety of beliefs all around us and we would always enjoy a new perspective and topic to discuss.
We hope you enjoyed our attempts at an examination of stereotypes in Serbia.
Until next time. :)

" A mind is like a parachute,
It only functions when it's opened."
James Dewar

What young visitors first notice here is widespread hedonism. The locals know how to enjoy life and never miss an opportunity to make a party. So the average Serb is seen as laid-back, never in a hurry and careless about money. But when the same man moves to Germany in pursuit of work, he becomes at once a highly appreciated gastarbeiter. Friendliness, kindness and warmth are the characteristics often associated with us by foreign visitors. Being stubborn and close-minded is the common stereotype we have about ourselves.

History

To begin with, people gather impressions of other people based upon what they see on TV. Only few of them have visited some part of Serbia. The people visiting Sebia expect to find here the atmosphere from Kusturica’s films. However, most of them get surprised by the urban character of Belgrade.

The image of the country has changed much due to the isolation.The ordinary people abroad watch Serbs as villains in the American movies. As well as being the result of the politics, these stereotypes are historically based. From the medieval age we had a reputation as great warriors in this corner of the world.

It is important to know that we also didn’t have help from abroad to organize two armed uprisings agains Turks,as Greeks and Bulgarians did. The only trace of this belligerent spirit today are Serbs who work as bouncers in night clubs all over Europe. The stereotypes are often centuries-old, and don't get updated. As a conclusion, there cannot be a stereotype which would cover all Serbs as we consider ourselves a mixed bag of temperaments and characters differing from village to village.

Neighbours

Although Serbs and Bulgarians have been relatively hostile against each other in history, they still see Belgrade with its brand stores and discotheques as the city of dreams . The Romanians nurture positive stereotypes about Serbs. Romania is the only neighbouring country which has never been at war with us.

Serbs and smoking

The most mentioned belief I've encountered is that many Serbs smoke. It is something that cannot be discarded easily. There are smokers everywhere, but in Serbia, the situation is much more serious.
A few years back there was a list of the world's heaviest-smoking countries. Serbia was number 6 on that list. That was a scary fact, considering that it said that 47% of the country smoked. When I was younger my parents used to tell me how older people used to grow tobacco and smoke it. Most likely, Serbs kept the habit of smoking from the period in which we were under the Ottoman empire. Unfortunately, it seems to have stuck for a long time.
Personally, all my life I've been surrounded by smokers and I can't say I've become used to it. There were, and still are, people around me who smoked, but I must say I was most surprised when I found out how many people smoked when I went to elementary school. Also I found out a fact on a school excursion that many kids, although they didn't actively smoked, they at least tried a cigarette at the age of 12 or 13. When I got older it was quite horrid to be around a smoking crowd, especially if you would go out to a club with some friends and practically suffocate from the smoke of cigarettes.
All these facts stand, and there still are many people who smoke, but there is also a better view of things. Recently a law was brought that smoking was banned in state institutions and buildings, schools, social care institutions, buildings used for cultural and sports activities and media buildings. It wasn't accepted so well, but time has to pass for people to adjust. Also, when I was growing up, cigarettes could be sold to minors and that is forbidden know. And many people from my generation, actually don't smoke. The social awareness has arisen somewhat, and people are more conscious of the harmfulness of cigarettes. Therefore I would say that with enough effort and actions we could decrease the number of smokers in Serbia.  

Serbs and superstitions

Many people, that I have met, believe that Serbs are superstitious. From my own experience, I would have to say that there is some truth in that. Of course, it goes without saying, that many people, no matter where they're from, are superstitious, but it seems that Serbs take it quite seriously.
There is also the fact that we have our own superstitions, of which I will mention a few. Firstly, there is the superstition that if a black cat crosses your path, it will bring bad luck. This is a common superstition in the world, but the threat of bad luck is severely taken into account in Serbia, and the avoidance of it is the main object. I have a friend, who, when a cat crossed our path, made me go through this whole ritual, which involved spitting and taking three steps back, and some other aspects, which got me thinking of the importance of these types of beliefs with people I know. Secondly there is a superstition about cutting your nails during night time. I first heard this one from my grandfather and he never allowed us to cut our nails at night while we visited him. It is also considered a bad omen, since, night time is not for those type of activities. There is also the popular superstition, that if you whistle you will attract mice. That is a sentence I've heared since I was little, because my mother always tried to stop my sister from whistling.
Also a widely held belief is that you should never do any work on a Sunday, since that is a holy day. It is said that if there is thunder and lightning it means God is mad at you for cleaning, ironing or doing any type of work on a Sunday. And if you forget to pick up any silverware from the table while you're cleaning it, it means that you will have guests. There is one that says if you start hiccupping it means that someone is talking about you. But, what surprised me, where the superstitions I found concerning the draught. It is considered that if you sit next to an open window, you will have a stiff neck. Many elderly people I know, take this very seriously, and even during the summer, when it's very hot, they tend to close the windows. The amusing thing I found was a saying that said that many people have died from draughts, but no one has died from a bad smell.  
All in all, there stands the fact that this is something that is not easily disregarded amongst Serbs. I would have to say that there are very few people who don't believe in at least one superstition. Actually, it is so much installed in our nation, that some don't even look at them as superstitions, but as some kind of facts one abides by.

Serbs and drinking

Serbs are known as people who love partying. In any Serbian town, especially Belgrade and Novi Sad, wonderful and extraordinary parties are held every now and then. Needless to say that the general feel is extremely convivial. However, there is an inclination towards seeing Serbs as heavy drinkers, which refers to both men and women.
First of all, there definitely is a shred of truth in this stereotype. Namely, Serbs love any kind of social events which, of course, include consumption of alcohol. There have been cases of drunken brawls in Serbian bars and clubs. Still, it would be too harsh to call Serbs “heavy drinkers”. I know from personal experience that in other countries (Greece and Hungary in particular) people drink much more frequently. Additionally, in Greece there were so many deaths due to drinking, especially among teenagers. Not to mention fierce fights (some of which I witnessed in Greek and Hungarian clubs) and breaking of chairs and tables. It’s not that I’m saying that such things don’t happen in Serbia, they do, but compared to these incidents mentioned above, it is milder. Apart from that, alcoholic beverages are all around us, in the entire world, thus it sounds rather magnifying to call Serbs, or any other nation, “drinking nation”, since there are alcohol-lovers all around the world, not just in several countries.
In the end, it is worth noting that Serbian people are, generally speaking, very vivacious and jolly fellows, who love to drink, sometimes to excess. However, it is important to remember that alcohol has always been part of human life in almost every culture, therefore, Serbs are, quite naturally, not the only nation that enjoys drinking.

Serbs are womanizers-true or false?

Funnily enough, there is still an on-going stereotype describing Serbian men as womanizers. Well, if truth be told, that’s the way things sometimes look like in that respect. Certainly, there really is something about mentality and upbringing of some Serbian men that makes them cheat on their girlfriends or wives. However, one should be careful about this, since adultery has always been omnipresent phenomenon, especially nowadays in the 21st century, in the era of mass communications and standards imposed by the world of show business. That is to say that adultery exists everywhere, in every culture, and that not all Serbian men are womanizers, of course.
First of all, I’d like to make a sort of paradigm. On several occasions and for various reasons I heard plenty of female arguments about division of men of different nationalities into “faithful” and “unfaithful” ones. According to their beliefs, some nations have “a tendency to encourage cheating on one’s girlfriends and immoral behaviour in relationships”, while other nations “are exemplary ones, because they have strong moral values, which help their men stay true to their girlfriends/wives”. Most of debaters, of course, placed Serbs into the “unfaithful” category; and, on top of that, their experience usually boiled down to one or two men! How strange point of view – one or two Serbs are unfaithful, therefore all of them are unfaithful as well. Some kept repeating it like a mantra. Frankly, it is an exaggeration. Generally speaking, Serbian people (of both sexes, but men in particular) are very competitive and eager to prove themselves in anything; the same goes for relationships with opposite sex. In that respect, there are Serbian men who will commit adultery in order to prove something to their friends, or for some other reasons. One should know that, in a way, Ottoman rule in Serbia left its trace, bearing in mind Muslim customs in terms of women and relationships. Nonetheless, it is just one part of the whole picture. In practice, many Serbs are loyal, caring and devoted boyfriends and husbands, ready to do anything to make their partners happy. Besides, they make excellent fathers, fully committed to their children.
At the end of the day, what makes someone womanizer doesn’t account for his nationality. It is usually socio-cultural factors, family background and individual sets of values that contribute to somebody’s preferences regarding love life. Additionally, it is important to remember that one swallow doesn’t make a summer, which goes for every situation in our lives.

Are Serbs lazy?

To start with, there is a tendency to view Serbs as people with little or no motivation to work in order to improve their living conditions. Besides, preassumptions are made that Serbs lack organisational skills. Another preconception is that Serbs have no business sense. Let's see and try to view these beliefs, all of which count for a stereotype about Serbian laziness.
First of all, speaking of the motivation part, there certainly are people in Serbia who lack motivation and who don't have any real idea of direction in their lives. However, one can find such individuals in any other country as well, can't they? Secondly, there is a grain of truth in this preconception about organisational skills. I know some people who experienced serious problems with organising their daily routine. Nonetheless, there are much more people I know who have some kind of ability, or a natural talent, to organise their day in segments, so that they can divide it into time for work and time for pleasure. Finally, I'd like to say something about business part. Not everyone in this world, of course, is a natural born businessman. Some nations are better in economic respect than others, which is probably due to mentality and socio-cultural factors. However, there are many examples which shatter this kind of stereotype. Myriads of people with Serbian origin made their name in extremely lucrative professions, such as Carl Malden, Mila Jovovich, Peter Bogdanovich, Vlade Divac, Holly Valance and many others. Additionally, variety of Serbs across the globe contribute to the development of culture, business and industry of countries they live in (unfortunately for Serbia, but that's the way things are). As you can see, Serbian people can cope with business of various kinds very well.
To sum up, Serbs do tend to be lazy and without motivation for work. Nevertheless, Serbs are, on most occasions, good and industrious workers, who are persistant to achieve what they want. Given that Serbs were enslaved by different conquerors for centuries, they certainly know what it's like to strive for achieving important goal, and it's tenacity along with agility that helps them to accomplish what they set out to do.

Stereotypes about Serbs - general

Every nation is, in a way, "victim" of various stereotypes regarding their mentality, customs, or tradition. For example, Scots are usually perceived as stingy; French are thought to be incurably romantic; Spaniards are quite often viewed as lazy; and when you mention Italians, word "passion" is the first that crosses one's mind. However, the crucial question for our topic is - what about Serbs? Which category do we fall into? How do the other nations see us?
Well, the answer is not so simple. As with any other nation, there is a mixture of various factors determining its reputation among other nationalities. During the last decade of the 20th century, there was an avalanche of articles and reportages in the media picturing Serbs as fierce, wild, uncontrolled people who enjoy killing each other and hate foreigners. There is another side of the coin, however. In the first decade of the 21st century, as Serbia experienced significant political and social changes, its image gradually started to improve, although there are still people from other countries who will avoid visiting Serbia for various reasons. Anyway, in last several years Serbs have been perceived as "party maniacs", extremely hospitable people with wonderful tradition, highly talented sportsmen, musicians etc. As you can see, there is not just one single view of Serbs. There are many different angles from which one has to look if they want to see the entire picture. Needless to say, the same goes for other nations.