Drunken Irishmen

The image above parallels a representation of Irish people which has remained the same for hundreds of years. Assumptions about Irish culture generally focus on the uncivilized, drunken behavior of Irishmen, a people who not long ago were drawn as dogs and considered to be less than human. This cartoon represents America’s perception of Irish culture as opposed to Irish representation of their own culture. The men pictured are very obviously intoxicated. They appear to be singing boisterously and lean on one another to stay standing. Their physical features also demonstrate misconceptions of a culture; the men all have red hair, clothing in the colors of the Irish flag-one is even holding the Irish flag. They are COVERED in shamrocks, suggesting that the picture takes place on St. Patrick ’s Day, or the artist is just reinforcing Irish stereotypes. The background of this cartoon is left a barren white, leaving focus on the objects: drunken Irish men.

The position this cartoon presents is to accept a narrowed, cliché view of Irish people. The author assumes his or her audience is very aware of the accepted view of the Irish. The drawing is not for Irish people or for those living in Ireland because it is not a true representation of the population; instead it combines most of the general misconceptions about Ireland as a whole. It encourages classification of one country into a specific subgroup similar to the representation of Americans as all being overweight. The common representation remains consistent; Irishmen are drunken gingers without class or sophistication. Throughout American history, the Irish were considered to be rambunctious and foolish. They were of lower class, less than human, and were treated as such. Before the prohibition, German and Irish immigrants were treated poorly by those of more ‘well behaved’ backgrounds. Today, many of those themes remain on television, movies, and cartoons.

My body reacted in two different ways when I stumbled upon this image. One, the American side of me, shrugged at the image shown and didn’t question it because these kinds of cartoons about the Irish are everywhere. My Irish heritage got slightly irritated at the object, however, because not all Irish people are gingery drunkards. I showed the image to a non-Irish friend of mine, and they didn’t react at all. Culturally, Americans accept narrowed views with continuous connections between the Irish population and alcohol consumption. America constructed a culture to be completely irresponsible and undignified with bad food and gruff manners. Admittedly, there are worse things for a culture to be known for, but offhand comments can get very annoying very fast.

When I typed “Irish People” into Google for a project once, the first suggestion which popped up was “Irish People drinking”. Even Google is heavily influenced by cultural perceptions, apparently.  Sigh.