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Original poster

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

362 replies

NCforthisonetwothree · 02/09/2019 14:41

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.

OP posts:
BlueDaBabaDee · 02/09/2019 21:59

amandacarnet

But would you say my gran was a Jew and that you are not?

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 22:00

Tim's of course you speak for all Scottish people?

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 22:01

I don't know if your gran was a Jew or not as I don't know why she was in the holocaust camps. No I am not a Jew, either by Jewish law or by self identification

BlueDaBabaDee · 02/09/2019 22:07

amandacarnet

Fine, you are not. In other cultures it would be very offensive to tell them that they are not what they are by descent. I can't imagine telling a bunch of Americans of ethnically Jewish descent that they are not allowed to call themselves Jews anymore and can only call themselves American. That sounds like a genocide in itself.

BlueDaBabaDee · 02/09/2019 22:12

Also there are many cultures/ethnicities that do not have a country anymore (i.e. native tribes). Are they not allowed to claim their background and must call themselves only American or wherever they live now is called?

timshelthechoice · 02/09/2019 22:14

Tim's of course you speak for all Scottish people?

Well, you just did by saying 'it's offensive'. It's not to everyone. I find it kinda funny myself.

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 22:15

Jewish law dictates who is Jewish and who is not.

BlueDaBabaDee · 02/09/2019 22:18

Jewish law dictates who is Jewish and who is not.

Yes and some believe you are what your mother is, even if your mother gives birth to you in China. Hence descent.

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 22:19

Fine I am going to leave this now. But if you think it is okay for an American to visit Scotland for the first time, or maybe who has never even been to Scotland, to tell yOu they are Scottish, then we have to agree to disagree. Because frankly these individuals do not have the first clue about Scotland or what being Scottish means.
My grandparents were from Eastern Europe. I don't pretend to have the slightest understanding of what life is like for people in the village they lived in. Sure I heard stories from my grandparents, that were romanticised by age and totally out of date to people living there now.
If you can't see that me going to that small village and claiming to be one of them is offensive, then I am wasting my time.

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 22:20

Blueoasis seriously?.. there are Jewish people in virtually every country in the world.

timshelthechoice · 02/09/2019 22:23

But if you think it is okay for an American to visit Scotland for the first time, or maybe who has never even been to Scotland, to tell yOu they are Scottish, then we have to agree to disagree.

I said I don't find it offensive, you said it was offensive. I disagree. I think it's kind of funny.

BlueDaBabaDee · 02/09/2019 22:30

there are Jewish people in virtually every country in the world.

Yes and they still claim to be Jewish. There are others who were in forced diasporas who do the same and even if they want to not claim it, it's not like it's not going to be known for many. I can't suddenly change my face or my mum's maiden name, and not live with the fact that I was treated different as a child. The same goes for many others, imagine a child from Nigeria raised in America, can he hide his lineage? No. He lives with it everyday and he lives with all the racism he could get for it too. It's so tone deaf to try to tell people they are not allowed to discuss where their DNA comes from anymore.

CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook · 02/09/2019 22:37

I don't think it's that people don't like Americans or America overall, but there's this sort of American imperialism that ironically we bulk at in the UK (yes, it's hypocritical) And the reason we bulk at it is because we used to be the imperialists and you remind us that we're not anymore so we'll draw from our well of cultural superiority (where we still trump you) to put you 'back in your place' (It's queue, not line..it's Autumn, not Fall etc etc)

Another thing we don't like is this sense of our 'special relationship' only working in one direction, (America's) and yet not being truly equal - lots of people were really unimpressed that we got drafted into supporting the Iraqi war. Obama warning us not to Brexit and telling us we'd be at the back of the queue, (I'm a remainer, but understood the annoyance) feeling like we have to ask so nicely for a trade deal and feeling like we have to be uneasy about aspects of that (chlorinated chicken, healthcare, NHS) because despite appearing to be similar your ethics are out of synch with ours especially in regard to the environment and guns etc etc.

timshelthechoice · 02/09/2019 22:40

Another thing we don't like is this sense of our 'special relationship' only working in one direction, (America's) and yet not being truly equal

Really? After WWI and WWII? That's incredible.

ElizaPancakes · 02/09/2019 22:41

When you only get the worst bits of the media displayed and the best bits are all rich youtubers giving away iPads to boost their subscribers, people form maybe unfair opinions. Anywhere, not just here about there but there about here as well.

But maybe I’m just crotchety and cynical this evening.

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 22:57

Blueoasis I am not sure you understand what being Jewish means. It is not tied to a country. Just as being Catholic is not tied to a country

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 23:01

And racism is very different. I look a certain way and judgements are made based on that. But that as I said is very different from me claiming to be one of them to people living in the village my grandparents come from.
You are mixing up a lot of different things to support your argument that it is fine for an American whose gran was Scottish, o tell Scottish people that they are also Scottish

BlueDaBabaDee · 02/09/2019 23:16

amandacarnet

Being Jewish is a religion and an ethnicity. Non practicing Jews would face the same persecution as practicing ones.

I don't really care if an American claims to have Scottish lineage or not, but I don't want this idea to snowball so that people aren't allowed to discuss lineage anymore ESPECIALLY if they do not have a home country to go back to any longer (I.e. Yazidi people). That would be genocide.

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 23:17

The yazid people is very different from an American claiming to be Scottish.

amandacarnet · 02/09/2019 23:20

There is of course the issue of who is Jewish, non practicing or not. According to Jewish law I am not Jewish. According to hitlers laws I am Jewish. When it comes to racism and genocide, definition matters.
And of course people are discriminated against on the basis of assumptions. One of my children looks totally white and as an adult gets treated differently to my other two children.

spongemumnudiepants · 02/09/2019 23:24

I have never been to America and I don't think I ever will because it's not safe. There's a new shooting virtually every week. I do know a few American families in my area and they are actually quite nice but they are very loud and their kids are
Loud and undisciplined. American children seem to get away with more than British children do and many do not have nice manners ( think honey boo boo and family)
As another poster mentioned as well there are certain names that seem to be associated with Americans such as Kaitlyn, Audrey, Logan, Paisley, Payton and ( the silliest) Sailor.

00q007 · 02/09/2019 23:28

All the Americans I know are democrats and lovely,

I've no time for gun toting republicans and Trump voters. Same as I wouldn't piss on a Tory/Brexit voter if they were on fire at the moment.

It's idiots I'm anti, not Americans!

eeksville · 02/09/2019 23:37

I think it's considered more acceptable to ridicule Americans vs other countries & there is a lot of stereotyping. It's a huge country with a wide variety of people so you can't group them all together. I think America is a great country & some must have a sense of humour eg Curb your enthusiasm. I have occasionally found some Americans to be quite loud, brash & I do think some have quite a narrow view of the world but every nation has idiots!

drsausage · 02/09/2019 23:47

I've just replied to two other threads on here where people have made blanket statements about the whole of the US, as if it's one tiny place. Apparently all our school dress codes emphasize modesty, and we all drive like we're in LA.

Neither of these things is true of most of the US, but when you start judging a country this size according to a small part of it you're going to get it wrong for the majority of the population.

I find most people on Mumsnet who are anti-American have a tendency to think of the 370 million Americans en masse as one homogenous group.

eeksville · 02/09/2019 23:52

I watch too many American reality shows & I will judge them for their weird spelling of names. Like adding in a random 'y' or an apostrophe. Or having a name spelt Philomena but pronouncing it Filoma.

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