To wonder if the anti-Americanism on MN is typical of the broader UK population?

[NCforthisonetwothree]

MN regular, NC for this. I’m an American, been in the UK for 10+ years. DH is also American, moved here for his work. Most of the posts I see that bring up the US are pretty down on it (and I agree! Trump, guns, healthcare, etc.) but there’s also a sort of strong general anti-American-ness, a sort of disdain, I’d say, for things (names, attitudes, behaviours, styles, etc.) that are “too American.”

We have two kids (born here) and both work full time and have integrated (reasonably well, I think?), but most of our friends are other expats and immigrants. I wonder whether the anti-American sentiment that seems fairly widespread here on MN is representative of most of the UK?

Posting here obviously as I don’t think anyone IRL would give me a straight answer.

Oh god how seriously everyone takes this! Isn't it human nature to poke fun at other groups?

Agreed. There are lots of "rivalries" between countries that poke fun at each other. Some I know of are:

Belgium and Holland
Sweden and Norway
France and Italy
Brazil and Argentina
China and Japan
Australia and New Zealand

And I bet there are tons more that I don't know about.

@doadeer there are some really, really upsetting and vile comments levied at Americans on Mumsnet on a weekly basis.

I'm obviously not condoning that. I've never seen a post like. I thought you were just talking about silly stuff like Americans love saying things are awesome and high fives. Like British say the French are stuck up and French say the British have a stick up their arse.

A post like that *

And obviously everyone hates the British! We have a vile history and are really annoying!

Once again, no one hates you. We can't summon up the energy to bother.

Sorry love, just poking fun.

Loads of people hate the British have you never seen Eurovision? 😅

(and you don't need to call me love)

If there is one stereotype that many Americans have about Canadians, it's that they are very polite. And yes there are jokes about it, but they tend to be of the affectionate and admiring variety.

And I bet there are tons more that I don't know about.

It's true everywhere I suspect. A colleague of mine from Venezuela explained the Latin American version of it all - Mexicans think they're better than everyone else, everyone makes fun of the Argentinians, etc. It was quite an eye opener.

It's such a tragedy about Venezuela. The health care system there, which used to be pretty good, has essentially collapsed.

Loads of people hate the British have you never seen Eurovision?

Not recently no, they don't show it in the US. How very insular of us to not be watching such an important piece of European TV

Oh, here we go! It's all just banter .

Yes, they're getting married there, MASSIVE wedding (Catholic). No two tiers of guests LOL, just one reception following the Mass. No requests for cash gifts but they do have a few registries as it's the done thing there and they have not lived together (although just bought a house this week) or had children. Yes, we are going .

@timshelthechoice whereabouts? It'll be fun!

Never seen Eurovision

A sampling of British TV Shows in the US (some from back in the day)

Upstairs Downstairs
Keeping Up Appearances
Poldark (1970s version too)
The First Churchills
As Time Goes By
Fawlty Towers
Downton Abbey
Inspector Morse
Father Brown
Shetland
Absolutely Fabulous
The Vicar of Dibley
Broadchurch
Luther

Of course there are a lot more available now through streaming services such as Britbox and many of the older ones are on YouTube.

There's SO much British tv on here. I think Americans know way more about Brit culture than people realise.

All of my friends here are obsessed with Fleabag, Catastrophe, Peaky Blinders, so many shows. Some English shows are so popular here they get shown here before airing in Britain (payback for when I have to wait and some bastard posts a spoiler.)

We're even showing Bake Off at the same time as the UK now. Although many Americans think life in the UK is just like bake off which is amusing.

When we have TV dinners at my in-laws they always want to watch Mr Bean which is fucking ridiculous.

Those darn insular Americans watching British TV and loving it.

I forgot about Bake-Off. It's a favorite of most people I know.

Yes, they're getting married there, MASSIVE wedding (Catholic). No two tiers of guests LOL, just one reception following the Mass.

That's standard here. I couldn't get my head around the way it splits up in the UK with guests being invited for one thing but not another. Lost of guests will ignore the gift registry and just write a check, which is fine as money always fits and is the right color. I think you'll enjoy it immensely, but be prepared for the ceremony to be quite long if it's RC.

There's SO much British tv on here. I think Americans know way more about Brit culture than people realise.

It was British TV that made me curious about MN when I first read about MN in The Economist. I adored Foyle's War, Sherlock, Happy Valley, the Fall, etc. on Netflix. People here are very aware of British culture thanks to all of the British TV we see here now.

Those darn insular Americans watching British TV and loving it.

My children - bizarrely for insular Americans - also watch Spanish TV. DD1 is a huge fan of Casa de Papel, while DD2 loves Las Chicas del Cable.

Occasionally however I do force them to watch some 'Real Housewives of Cheshire' to keep them in touch with their roots.

Cal tho Liv weddings last for bloody AGES!!!

To be fair, the two tier and no kid wedding thing is more common in Britain as we generally have smaller venues and more red tape surrounding how many people can be in the building.

I've never encountered similar at a wedding in the States, the venues seems to be much bigger and not as anal about numbers. At least where I am. My American friends and family are always surprised at my having to turn down weddings in the UK because of the no child thing or hearing there are two tiers!

Ds likes Dora. Does that count?

He loves bake off and Masterchef. I suspect it was him that single handedly got most of Midcoast Maine's toddlers watching Octonaughts and Peppa Pig.

The thing I love about American weddings is that you can get married anywhere. Top of a mountain? Beach? Garden? Go for it.

I loved this story about a couple getting married outside, and the weather was terrible, so this woman opened up her home to them to get married there.

www.brides.com/story/mississippi-couple-hosts-rained-out-wedding-in-their-living-room

We had our first wedding on the beach 1 minute from our house. (Had to have a shotgun wedding the next day after speaking to our lawyer for visa reasons.)

That story made me tear up. I could totally see that happening here, people are so giving and helpful.

@SenecaFalls Funeral services are for the deceased. I don't think holding up traffic is respectful to others, and utilising police who could be used elsewhere is way over the top. That's what I mean. It is all way over the top. I can understand a 20 car procession if it was a President or the Queen - even then, it's way over the top. It is disrespectful to the living motorists to hold up traffic. Funeral services, singing, hymns, prayers, obituaries - that is the only needed way of showing respect.