Brother saying he would never date a British girl

[Glambow]

My brother is 27, we met up tonight for some drinks as we won’t see each other over Christmas, we aren’t especially close as there is a large age gap.
We got onto chatting about his dating life and he said “yeah I don’t know I’d just never date a British girl”, I was confused by this so pressed a bit and he expanded saying he wouldn’t date a girl who was raised in the UK or had spent most of her life in the UK. He also said he wouldn’t date Americans, Australians or Canadians. His reasoning was “accents are hot and I just don’t like British girls”.
This does appear to be true as his current girlfriend is from Argentina and his exes have been Norwegian, Italian and Armenian.

AIBU to think this is a very strange preference? Part of me can’t help but feel like there is something off about it.

Nothing wrong with that.
There are some men that I would never date.

It's well for some people isn't it? When we were young being Irish was more likely to get you arrested than laid. It was about as cool as dandruff or halitosis. Plays tiny 🎻.....

As someone who is married for 27 years to someone from a different country with a different accent, which was very attractive on meeting, you don't actualy hear it after a couple of years. So it's probably just part of that initial attraction that we have but can't always explain completely.

Yeah, I don’t think it’s the accent. My initial
thought was preferring less ‘emancipated’ women, brought up to be more submissive to a man, etc, but probably it’s not that if dating Norwegian, etc.

However there’re men on YouTube who preach to other men to not have British/ American gf’s for the reasons above and these videos are very popular.

I'm the opposite, I'd probably only date people who grew up in the UK, or maybe even just England. I really like having all the same cultural references as the person I'm closest to. I travel a lot and have friends all over the world, but when it comes to dating I want someone who feels really familiar in that way. DH has dual nationality but grew up in England.

People are going to date who they want to date, to suggest they do anything else is madness.

People are going to date who they want to date, to suggest they do anything else is madness

I agree. Regardless of what you personally think about their reasons, to encourage someone to date another person when they arent really attracted to them is utter stupidity.

Imagine how it would feel to be dating someone and then find out they werent really that into you but were only dating you because they had been told by their family that their preferences were wrong and they had to give you a chance.

I cant imagine more of a turn off or a blow to self esteem than finding out someone was treating me like a dating experiment to see if they could make themselves find me attractive as I wasnt their usual type.

Yuck.

I don't find this weird at all

Armenians are more likely to understand the warning signs of what exactly? Communism/ socialism/ far left politics creeping in?
I’m from a similar background by the way, albeit not Armenian.
And OP’s brother doesn’t seem to have a particular preference for Armenians, it was one relationship out of several.
It doesn’t seem to me like he’s specifically seeking out women from one particular background.

I don’t know about now as I cashed mine in twenty five year’s ago when I was diagnosed with cancer. It paid off my mortgage at the time on a flat. My only regret was that I didn’t take out a bigger policy but of course had no idea I would get cancer (I also pondered many times about cancelling it but was very glad I didn’t).

Hmm I think it depends. The majority of my exs are foreign but I wouldn’t write off a British man. They just aren’t normally attracted to me. I often get mistaken for Slavic so maybe that’s why I tend to attract men from these countries more. I lived abroad for many years which probably also contributes to most of my exs being foreign.

I find most British men my age (twenties) around me at least are still partying and not wanting to settle down.

Having said that, I once dated a British man who seemed to have a fetish for Slavic and Asian woman. Hi exs we’re all from there and he would always say how I didn’t look English.

He once said he preferred these woman as they were more submissive and loyal but that his ex was a goldigger. When I pointed out men from her country are providers he went in the huff.

I think a lot of British men want a woman from said countries but are then shocked when the woman expects them to provide.

Yes, whether you agree or not about rigid preferences we are very fortunate we live in a culture where we are at absolute liberty to date the types we prefer (as long as they are consenting adults).

The using economic power to play the white Knight saviour and then expect eternal gratitude and subservience, is particularly nauseating in male behaviour and not uncommon, unfortunately. And not restricted to targeting women from overseas either.

Norway and Italy, two famously non-Western nations.

Look at Rod Stewart, he would only date tall blonde women. I’d don’t think he would have appreciated being told he had to date a 5 ft brunette.

😂

😂 As an Asian woman, reading this made me laugh. I think your friend hasn’t dated many of us. That’s a stereotype that’s so dated. It’s 2025, crazy how people still think that!

I’m more like this too. I like familiarity and shared cultural references (even if it’s just old kids tv programmes). Hypothetically, I would still date foreign men but my preference would be familiarity and shared language/culture.

First post nails it.

My DD is an unusual heritage for the UK and I worry that she will be fetishised by men when she's older.

I’ve watched enough kdramas to know those eommas are not to be messed with 😁

Indeed. Also, British men rarely ask me out anyway, I get loads and loads of attention from non British men and weirdly, not much from my own culture.

Now, is that my fault if the people most attracted to me tend not to be British, or that most of my exes have been non British? I didnt set out with a goal to only date non British men but thats how it has turned out in reality 🤷‍♀️

Read my post and the post I was replying to again please; I was only explaining my original comment that the poster took issue with.

1. You’re wrong, the specific people I was referring to all had the relevant testing and had NO LEARNING DIFFICULTIES; that’s why I specifically worked with them as opposed to another professional who specialised in SEN. As I said, it was an access to education issue as opposed to a capability issue and once given a standard education, they excelled. There is a reason why I clearly said what I said in my post and as I worked in this area, I know what I’m talking about thanks.
2. The post I was replying to said I HAD NOT met anyone who spoke English as a second language more proficiently than a native speaker so I was explaining that yes I had and why; I stated a fact - which you actually agree with - but that poster said wasn’t true.

As usual, context is everything and if you read my full posts, my comment will make more sense. My whole point is to not assume that because someone speaks English as a second language that they are easier prey than a native speaker.

Sounds like OP raised the topic and her DB replied in a light hearted way. Definitely didn't merit a mumsnet post

I don't live in the UK but I remember this topic being absolutely huge at one point among my various circles in Dublin. I think it was around 2010; guessing this was due to our age when people were in and out of relationships and figuring out what suited them. It also coincided with a huge number of Polish, British people and other nationalities moving here.

The (fairly offensive) rationale was simply that now they could pull much better looking women, there was lots of jokes about them 'punching' once they stepped outside the Irish dating pool. However there was more to it if you got past all the jokes. I remember some male friends explaining to me how intimidating and unapproachable Irish women were when they tried to speak to them on nights out, that many other nationalities would be friendly and chatty even if they weren't interested. Dublin women in particular were described as very standoffish.

Personally I think this last point I'm about to make is more exclusive to Irish people than British but I also think some nationalities are much more direct about their expectations. I think for many men that is a relief.

I haven't been rigid either- can't help what you find attractive though and blue eyes blond hair doesn't do it for me.

*sorry above message is supposed to say Brazilian not British