The British Myth

How constructed is the ideology of our culture?

Do these signs really represent Britain? Why does the media promote these ideas and values? 

What are we supposed to feel/believe about ourselves? 

How are others meant to view us?

The Stereotypes Americans (and probably other places) have of us Brits:

1. We all have terrible teeth - it is a myth that has been constructed in pop culture due to the likes of Austin Powers, that one Brit on Family Guy, The Simpsons, and more. A 2013 study claimed that only 23% of British adults have tooth decay, compared to the 92% of Americans! Teeth whitening is much more popular in America than over here - so are the Americans more fascinated by the 'perfect smile' than we are?
2. Posh Accents are everywhere - absolutely not. No one has ever called a Geordie, Brummy, Mancunian, or Scouse accent POSH. You just couldn't count the amount of accents from south of England to Scotland; around only 2% of Brits actually use proper Queen's English.
3. Queuing - this definitely could not be called a myth- we probably are the best queuers in the world.
4. Sarcastic humour - oh yeah, definitely. 
5. Manners -  allegedly, we aren't as courteous as some of our European neighbours, but our manners such as, 'excuse me', 'sorry' and the classics, 'please' and 'thank you'
6. Tea - Most likely every person in Britain has a box of teabags in their house.
7. Football - there are always newspapers, magazine covers, documentaries, or even the latest match on down at the local pub, and dedicated to some story about football in Britain, and there will always be the occasional rowdy football hooligan, but doesn't everywhere have them?

Most of this ideology is mythical, however there is some truth to these, as the British over time have a long history of things we did, and some stereotypes have stemmed from that. For example, the idea of posh accents and manners and tea-drinking could have blossomed from the British class system in the Industrial Revolution, and further along in time.