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Another thing is that Americans have a certain way to smile. Not all of them, but many. They seem to feel more pressured into smiling and have a very broad, sometimes fake-looking smile.
That's related to the social disconnected look I was talking about. For smiles to really matter they have to be authentic and must have a real stimulus behind them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob702
It is very hard for me to tell Europeans apart. French people usually dress pretty nicely. Sometimes you can tell from their complexion, whether they are Mediterranean.
The French also appear reserved at a first glance; some slightly insecure.
Eastern Europeans? The more Eastern/Balkan, the more insecure.
The Brits? Some have a self-possessed, poised air that can be crushing.
I, personally, am yet to meet a truly "socially connected" American. The social bonds are typically weak, including in families; and please don't ask for "empirical studies" to support my argument.
Your argument can't be supported not because you didn't do your "empirical studies," but because you simply didn't have enough of material to work with. With another words, dare I say you don't know America and Americans all that well. I'll repeat again - Americans are "socially disconnected" comparably to say, Italians ( if we are talking Western cultures) only because they take their roots in British culture. When you are saying that Britons on the contrary are very "socially aware" you are misplacing the argument, because the difference here is not the "social connectedness" of Britons vs their "socially disconnected" cousins, but because Britons are still the "Old-Worlders" while Americans are not. The kind of awareness or "art" that you've described earlier, such as
"Three seconds after you've opened your mouth, they've probably had you evaluated along the lines of:
- how well you dress.
- how pretty your face is overall, as well as features taken separately.
- how fat you are (oh, so important over there!)
- how intelligent or well-spoken you are.
- how naive or how socially skilled you are.
- what kind of social class you belong to; if you have money, are they "new" or are they "old"
belongs to the Old World and goes far beyond than just "social awareness" and "connectedness" you are talking about. This is the depth and sophistication of the Old Worlders on many levels that Americans can't have by definition, since they belong to the nation that came in picture much later in time. ( Be aware however, that while staying in the Old World countries, some of them start catching up to those levels pretty fast.)
But now let's go back to a question of actual "social connectedness" of Americans so to speak.
Although I am not a big fan of the US suburbia, and I did find people in the big cities to be of the luke-warm temperatures for the most part, once I've made it to the Mid-West, the picture definitely changed. I live in a small town among Americans who are "socially connected" just fine, I enjoy my relations with co-workers, and family ties here are definitely a big deal. It's called "Heartland" you know)))
PS. Oh, and when you stroll through a local shopping mall, American women passing by are overwhelmingly on a roundish side as another poster has put it - with "hourglass figures" - whatever)))
The ones you've described earlier are the "corporate types" as I identify them))))
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I think Americans on average do tend to look somewhat different to Australians in having more German and continental European features, while Australians are mostly Anglo-Saxon, although we have alot of say Italians or Asians. Overall the US is still very diverse, and things like being overweight are different from ethnic features.
I think Americans on average do tend to look somewhat different to Australians in having more German and continental European features, while Australians are mostly Anglo-Saxon, although we have alot of say Italians or Asians. Overall the US is still very diverse, and things like being overweight are different from ethnic features.
Americans also have largely Irish ancestry, and most of those anglo-saxons are just native british people, considering most angles and saxons did not have any major impact in the british DNA, but it was mostly a cultural and linguistical impact.
I would say only eastern england/east anglia had a considerable impact of anglo-saxons and germanics , yet they still have a large part of their ancestry remaining from older native brits.
Americans are just a very mixed bunch with pred British/Isles followed by Irish (who fit perfectly in the British isles physical variation) and Germans (mostly south-western germans from pallantine region) and then Italians followed by jews, eastern europeans and scandinavians. Do not forget many people (not majority but a considerable amount) do have minor amerindian or ssa ancestry but usually in the single digits.
Americans are very diverse But they are predominant British Isles+Irish ancestry altered by central european and southern european inputs in their population (southern germans/Pallantine and southern italians/sicilians). there are also considerable pockets of eastern european and scandinavian blood but they are restricted to certain areas.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HonestMind
Americans also have largely Irish ancestry, and most of those anglo-saxons are just native british people, considering most angles and saxons did not have any major impact in the british DNA, but it was mostly a cultural and linguistical impact.
I would say only eastern england/east anglia had a considerable impact of anglo-saxons and germanics , yet they still have a large part of their ancestry remaining from older native brits.
Americans are just a very mixed bunch with pred British/Isles followed by Irish (who fit perfectly in the British isles physical variation) and Germans (mostly south-western germans from pallantine region) and then Italians followed by jews, eastern europeans and scandinavians. Do not forget many people (not majority but a considerable amount) do have minor amerindian or ssa ancestry but usually in the single digits.
Americans are very diverse But they are predominant British Isles+Irish ancestry altered by central european and southern european inputs in their population (southern germans/Pallantine and southern italians/sicilians). there are also considerable pockets of eastern european and scandinavian blood but they are restricted to certain areas.
Many Australians have Irish ancestry too, probably a greater percentage than Americans, the major difference I think is there are a lot fewer people with German ancestry, although it's not uncommon in places like Melbourne or Adelaide. There are many Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, not very many Spanish or Hispanics, and decent populations of Eastern Europeans (Poles, Serbs etc), although Australia is far more predominantly British than the States is.
Like you said though, the 'stereotypical' American look is British and probably alot of German imo (since many Americans seem to look like Germans, moreso than Australians) but of American tourists I have seen, they have been far too diverse to have one physical types. I've seen many Hispanic looking ones, Asian Americans, Blacks etc along with people with a variety of European-type features.
One can tell from the way people dress, their mannerisms and facial expressions from what part of the world they come from. One just needs to learn these facts in advance to be able to guess correctly.
You can usually tell by things like physical appearances and fashion sense.
I find that it is rather difficult to tell the Europeans apart from each other and apart from Americans and Canadians since white people tend to dress in almost the same way (except for maybe the Russians who do make an effort to dress up even in normal occasions).
It is rather easier to tell who the Latinos or Central and South Americans are. Unlike Europeans and many Americans and Australians, they tend to have black hair. Also, they are usually smiling and seem pretty happy and easygoing.
Of all ethnicities, I'd say Asians are the easiest to distinguish from each other (especially East Asians).
The Japanese are usually short (especially girls) and do make the effort to dress up even for normal occasions. Japanese girls tend to not expose their legs by wearing leggings, dresses or longer skirts. Japanese guys are generally skinny or of average build. Senior Japanese people (especially the women) tend to wear huge hats in normal and hot weather.
Korean people are among the tallest in Asia. Many Korean girls seem to have whiter faces (maybe because o too much makeup) and tend to expose their legs by wearing short skirts. Many Korean guys are buffer and fitter than Japanese guys.
Chinese people are slightly difficult to distinguish (especially from Hong Kong and Taiwanese people). But I'd found that they are generally not as well dressed as their Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean counterparts.
I don't care what anybody says or thinks, I think they make 1000x more sense.
Of course they do!
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With another words, dare I say you don't know America and Americans all that well. I'll repeat again - Americans are "socially disconnected" comparably to say, Italians ( if we are talking Western cultures) only because they take their roots in British culture. When you are saying that Britons on the contrary are very "socially aware" you are misplacing the argument, because the difference here is not the "social connectedness" of Britons vs their "socially disconnected" cousins, but because Britons are still the "Old-Worlders" while Americans are not. The kind of awareness or "art" that you've described earlier, such as 
