What this post will explore is the misgivings of Poland’s
characterization. This will just be a quick rundown of why he was characterized
the way that he was. I’ll conclude with a brief critique of Himaruya’s approach
to the subject.

Poor Creator Choice:

A common reaction in the fandom is complete bewilderment at Himaruya’s
characterization of Poland. No Polish cultural stereotypes implicate cross-dressing or speaking in a Nagoya (school girl/ valley girl) accent. 

Poland’s “high-schooler”
speech was a creative choice made by Himaruya (vol 1 bio), albeit in poor taste. 

“Also, his Nagoya high schooler-like speech is just a personal preference of the artist.”

In the
fourth original chapter, Himaruya also confirms that this choice was pointless;
in other words, there was no real meaning or significance to it. He did it
because it was his preference.

Sources: Hetarchive.net/ Poland + Hetarchive, notes & etc + Hetarchive, main story chapter 4. 

When
you portray—let alone personify—another culture, a vast degree of
consciousness and discretion must be exercised. While Poland’s initial design as a girl
influenced the cross-dressing trope, it doesn’t make it any less of a bad decision
on his part.

Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, July 23, 2008).

Character Notes:

Other criticisms of Poland’s character have to do with how
incompetent, silly, and unserious he comes off as. I’m not here to argue
against that. What I am here to disprove is the claim that this was done with
no meaning behind it.

That’s not true. Again, while it’s poorly done in taste, it
still has a purpose to Poland’s character.

He’s described as a shy and anxious person who becomes weird
to hide this sensitivity.

Source: Hetarchive.net/ Poland

Ex: When he and Lithuania first form their union. He initially didn’t want to talk to Lithuania but later adopts an ‘eccentric’ casing to hide behind. 

Avoidance, Underuse,
and Reformulation (?)

As Hetarchive’s profile on him has already pointed out, over the
years, Poland’s tendency to cross-dress has “toned down.” In other words, the
trope isn’t as common anymore.

                                                           vs

Source: Hetarchive, Halloween 2006 comic + Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, November 13, 2013). 

This is an ongoing trend in Himaruya’s content that I’ve
picked up on over the years. It’s clear that he’s learned from his mistakes by
discarding harmful, insensitive, and ignorant portrayals of the characters.
However, what disappoints me is that rather than acknowledging these mistakes,
he has chosen not to comment on the matter. This is more harmful in my opinion
because it lets the pot of discourse stew and boil in an unresolved,
discombobulated mess.