Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Might sound like an odd question, but as a non-American I sometimes get that feeling. There seems to be contempt or outright hate for anyone that is considered gentle in one way or another. There are lots of words such as ***** to make fun of anyone considered gentle, be it vegetarians, emos (I am not a fan of those, either, but I don't make fun of or tease them, I just ignore them), environmentalists, people who reject guns and violence, soccer players and fans, even intellectuals (who tend to be rather gentle as well, avoiding physical confrontation), bikers and pedestrians, reasonable/moderate/soft-spoken people (sometimes it seems to me that the more radical people's views are, the better in the minds of many Americans), etc.
And if my impression is correct, why is it that way?
Knock yourselves out
You are perhaps 50% correct. There ARE a lot of Americans like that.
But I grew up in a California community of European immigrants, as well as Mexican immigrants, and I can tell you that "they" were all every bit as bad about criticizing and poking fun. AND being clique'ish and judgmental. It's one of the main reasons I've had no desire to visit my parent's country, much to bafflement of my brothers, who finally gave up trying to make me go.
Well yeah, I think generally speaking Americans are tougher than Europeans and such. Europeans tend to be a lot more girly and feminine. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I do find your question to be pretty offensive in the way you worded it, but.. it's obvious that you wanted to do that.. but hey.. that's typical of you guys.
Yeah, go tell the the hundreds of Dutch and French professional kickboxers they are girly or feminine. Or have you met a working-class Scotsman or northern Englishman? I wouldn't exactly say they aren't tough.
Yeah, go tell the the hundreds of Dutch and French professional kickboxers they are girly or feminine. Or have you met a working-class Scotsman or northern Englishman? I wouldn't exactly say they aren't tough.
I know. Not all European men are "Trendies" aka metrosexual/girly men. It's mostly a university thing and a yuppie thing, nothing more
I know. Not all European men are "Trendies" aka metrosexual/girly men. It's mostly a university thing and a yuppie thing, nothing more
I also forgot Sicilians. I have only known a few in my life, but you couldn't pay me enough to call them "effeminate" or say they weren't tough to their face. And, no, they weren't mobsters, but I learned just how personal they take can take offense to relatively minor things. I'd hate to think how they would react with an outright insult to their masculinity or reputation.
Sorry, total fail.
I lived in Mannheim for 3 years, no one acted like a dork there, and as a matter of fact, no one ever acted like a dork stateside about the bolded.
Get over yourself.
What do you mean, "acted like a dork", specifically?
I stand by my assessment. From my experience, Americans are far more uptight, quick to turn hostile, and overly proud than Germans.
Oh yeah, and here's something else for you to "get over":
Germans don't litter anything like Americans do. When I was stationed at Ramstein AB (for about three years as well), the only trash I saw on the ground was either on or around our base.
What a load of crap. Americans give more than any other people on the planet. What many, maybe even most, Americans dislike is having their money extorted from them by the government and given to people who don't deserve it. American individual, especially the conservative, non girly, tough guy the left despises so much gives more of his/her time and money than most.
And Americans don't hate gentleness, we hate weakness, a distinction beyond many people.
How many Americans would hate this soldier for being gentle? None.
Again, a) per capita and GDP Americans donate less than other countries. Only in absolute terms do Americans spend more, simply because they have 310m people and a much larger economy than any individual European country, and b) donating money has little to do with gentleness. You can buy people and their favors etc., but not the way you are perceived by them.
So, you think hating weakness is any better? That is a rather un-Christian attitude in my view.
John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. They never smile. They glare with contempt at everyone they meet. Tough guys. They ain't no wussies. They got big fists. Git outta their way.
I was not even talking about that stereotype, behaving like that would be totally inappropriate in the 21st century. Touching anyone against their will is a complete taboo in my view, except in self-defense. The last and only time I had a physical fight with anyone was with my brother decades ago. But I guess for children it is normal, and it was more or less for fun anyway.
An adult hitting another adult in the face like they show it on many American programs is absolutely absurd.
You say you're intelligent. Do you not see that you're trying to stereotype all Americans simply by asking the question? It's been explained to you that we have all kinds of people, as do all nations, yet you insist that we all be categorized under one little simple index tag: Tough Guys
I believe you're very wrong. Sure, many of us liked Dirty Harry and others like him. We escape in our movies. That doesn't mean at all that we hate gentleness. And of course some do like the tough guys, whatever the definition is.
I can't speak for all Americans, nor even all I've met, but I'm 66 years old and have known my share from all points of the nation, from rich to poor, young to old, male and female, city slickers to country bumpkins and from store clerks to national leaders. I'll wager I'm as knowledgeable as anyone to answer your question, and I'd say you're dead wrong.
Americans may be entertained by some pretty weird talking heads, and we might even elect many to office, but the ones we like are the reasonable, gentlefolks who try to be fair, open-minded and do the right thing. We are generous with our money and with our time, particularly on a local level. We do not directly offer money to help our next-door neighbor in hard times, as that could be insulting, but we are quick to give to charitable funds for those who have fallen on hard times. We give to school kids wanting to go on trips and to world-wide charitable organizations -- often to a fault.
We're not all like this, but it's generally what I see in those I've known over my lifetime. Granted, I live in rural America and have most of my life, but I've not noticed a big difference in those I've known from the cities.
Oh, on social issues: Many Americans do not like turning their money over to politicians to dole out to bureaucrats. Charity and politics/bureaucracies are simply a bad mix, particularly on the national level. Some of it is necessary, but simply because we may not want taxes going to some social service does not mean we don't care. We know what happens. Bureaucracy takes over and money is squandered in government salaries. Then more money is needed. I've never heard of a bureaucrat turning money back because they were given more than they needed, but wanting more is universal.
Being gentle doesn't mean we don't have a toughness. My mother was a gentle lady, never raised her voice, never uttered an obscenity and was mighty slow to offend, but she also stood firm in her convictions.
Do you not see that I have written several times that of course there are exception like to any rule?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
