or is prejudice against America considered OK by most of mumsnet?

[VajazzHands]

Comments about America on mumsnet, really ridiculous comments (basically that all Americans, are fat, stupid, god botherers bent on taking over the world) seem to be largely ignored and accepted as fact in a way that comments about any other country never would.

Blatant sexism, racism, xenophobia, disablism would never be tolerated on MN in any other circumstance. Why do people let it go about Americans?

"basically that all Americans, are fat, stupid, god botherers bent on taking over the world"... aren't they though? For majority of us living north of 49th parallel, its more of a joke to make these comments than a reality. I agree with thumbwitch in that I think some of the prevalent politicians haven't made it look so great there though. The funny comment I heard a lot of while living in London was that how is it that American's all have great looking teeth... I don't know. I also noticed how different I was treated when people found out I was Canadian and not American.

What does burn my ass a little, and its just a pet peeve on my part, is how the rest of the world refers to it as America, opposed to The United States... Canada is technically in America too and we are completely different. But that's just me. We call it The States here, not America.

Sorry GotArt! I always separate Canada and America in my head, I know you're on that continent but America to me is the USA. Sorry.

im british and ive actually allways thought living in america would be nice. it seems like a happy place but i suppose that is stereotyping too.
however youd be surprised how quickly people on playstation or xbox live wil turn on you if your english and they are american. "ooh look at me im english and i love tea, i say do you want a scone with that old boy?" is the wierdest yet ive got from an american!

thats WEIRD jasminejo24

You told him to stop being such a cock I presume?

what the person on xbox live? no i told him i prefered coffee or expresso and he shut up

Actually, I went to register with a new doctor here in LA. He spent the whole time saying "you sound like an English nanny" and "cheers" and chuckling to himself that I'm promptly registering with someone else. But I don't think this was because he is an American doctor, simply that he is lacking in bedside manner and a bit of a twonk.

Your accents are much more of a novelty to most Americans, because we don't see a lot of your films or television shows; not nearly as many as you do of ours anyway. That's changing a bit now, however.

And American means USA to me, too. Canadian means from Canada, Mexican means from Mexico, and North American means all of us.

Shows how little I know then - I thought Mexico was Central America. Although I knew Canada was included in North America, I did not know that Mexico was. Makes sense really - Central America isn't exactly big enough to be a continent in its own right.

I like Cheerful Yank's version - that's what it all means to me too. :)

Anonymosity - some people are just like that. A Scottish friend of mine went to work in USA for a year some years ago, staying with her uncle. She was forever being invited out to tea by friends of his and her aunt's - because of her "cute accent". She has her own stories - being asked if the Scots have tv, telephone, electricity - that kind of thing.

jasmine - I guess that's on a par with DH being greeted by his UK colleagues with "g'day Skippy, let's throw another shrimp on the barbie" regularly. He got pretty tired of it.

Darth, we have family living in Northern Virginia (within the suburbs of DC, well within the distance you mention). It's pretty nice, and some parts are still very green, and they have a lovely neighbourhood pool where the kids all do swim club and hang out every day over the summer. I don't think of that as soul-destroying.

I think Americans are much politer more generous and more considerate then they are here as well.

I think that Americans as a whole are not any more polite, generous, or considerate than those I've met in the UK. And I've lived in America for many years, and have lived in the UK for a number of years. It's the groups of people you associate with, the area you live in, and your approach to things in general that affects how you see them. I think this is the point of the OP - you can't just lump everyone together and say "the Americans are ..." or "the British are...." ... every individual is different, and I can't say individually that there is that much of a difference. Governments and such? Oh yes, vast differences, and I much prefer the UK. But that's entirely different from the general public as a whole.

I know lots of lovely, good-natured Americans, but the cultural differences are undeniable and inevitably lead to stereotyping. Point in case; I was stopped by two armed cops whilst walking on the sidewalk in a small town in Texas. They literally could not comprehend the idea of "going for a stroll" and they insisted that I "hop in" to the police car so they could be sure I wasn't doing something suspicious. When I had convinced them that I was only walking to the store for a drink, they parked outside and waited whilst I did so, and then tailed me all the way home. Talk about "Southern hospitality".

I think Americans (the ones here anyway) are more nice on the surface but are less willing to help you out. I get quite frustrated by 'can we help you' or 'come by if you have any questions' and when you do they actually don't want to help if it involves anything.

I also find that people in the street don't try and walk slightly around you if you have pushchair etc. Then again, you can have quite lovely chats with people in the shops so half a dozen of one and six of the other.

I am with Triggles on this. I am opposed to a great deal of things that the American Government has done and still do. I dislike an awful lot of things about the education system there. There are great swathes of people who belong to groups that only exist in the US that I find abhorrent. There are also a massive amount of US citizens who share my viewpoint, or who don't but are prepared to either debate it in a reasonable way or just accept that we are different. So in essence, I dislike things about America, but that doesn't mean I dislike Americans, or assume that they are all the same. That would be hugely xenophobic and narrow minded of me and as a Brit I am better than that

ok. But you haven't mentioned any of the particulars...for example:

• what time of day/night was it
• are you male/female
• were you looking a bit scruffy?
• have there been any specific incidents in that area recently (ie burglaries, thefts, etc)
• did you have identification on?
• when you say "walking to the store for a drink" did you mean alcohol?
• how long have you lived in that area? are you considered a "stranger" still? makes a big difference in a small town

Thing is, lots of little things can affect how they reacted to you. I've worked in law enforcement both in the states and the UK, and honestly I've seen just as much of that behaviour in here as in the states. And realistically speaking - it's behaviour that's actually more likely to happen in a small town (in UK or US) than in a larger town, where they simply don't have the time for that.

Clearly if you're talking about a nation of over 300 million, then it's a huge generalisation! I'm sure that not every individual American is polite. Same for the British. Of course I've met rude Americans and polite British.

However, my experience having lived in both the US and the UK is that American society is politer. Americans are also far more likely to be generous and there is an expectation of philanthropy, even among the middle classes, that you don't see here.