Now before the Europeans on this board get offended, I don’t mean that Europeans are unmanly or that somehow they lack testosterone. I’m simply pointing out the obviously greater importance to “manly” things and behavior in America, from clothes to cars. For example:
[ul]
[li]European men dress much more flamboyant and feminine. Something that would be considered stylish for a man to wear in Europe would often be considered “gay” in America. From capris for men to tighter shirts and pants and those girly Puma shoes, Europeans don’t look as manly as American in fashion. Americans prefer loose jeans and big shirts and big masculine looking shoes.[/li]
[li]Europeans drink wine and eat salads and healthy paninis in small portions. Americans drink beer and eat red meat and chilli in huge hearty and masculine portions.[/li]
[li]Europeans like soccer, which is considered a girls sport in America. Americans like masculine sports like football, baseball and basketball, which are not considered girls sport in Europe. Most soccer players would likely get beat up by the average NFL player in a fight, the average NFL player is 6’2 and 240lbs. The average soccer player is 5’10 and 170lbs.[/li]
[li]The prototypical European car is a small little cutesy car while a prototypical American car is a big masculine Ford F150.[/li]
[li]America respects the cowboys, the lone ranger, the rugged individualist who uses his guns to dominate the opposition and rule over his domain. Europe respects the socialite intellectual, who uses words and social connections to make his mark.[/li]
[li]American men love guns. Most European men don’t even know how to use guns.[/li]
…etc
[/ul]
Why did one place obtain such a more masculine culture?
Things that are “manly” are defined by the individual culture. They certainly aren’t universal.
Or else Spartans would consider Americans effeminate for now putting all our men into the military from birth. Or Americans consider Spartans effeminate for sexual relationships between men and boys. Or the Romans for being wine drinkers. Or Eastern Europeans should think Americans less masculine for not binging on tons of hard vodka.
Seems like you’re taking the current American notions of manliness and trying to claim they are in any way, shape, or form universal. Any reason for that?
There is no objective standard for “masculinity”. It doesn’t exist outside of cultural constructs. Those things are part of what American culture has coded as manly, and they arose for various reasons (Americans often have bigger cars because we have a lot of open space left to build giant parking lots, for example).
p.s. I think all the things listed by the OP would be considered childish and immature behavior by many Europeans. Yes, including American Football (“a real man wouldn’t use helmet and padding to play rugby”).
Because of the history and culture of the frontier ; rugged individualists carving out a life for themselves in a harsh, inhospitable place. Compare Americans to other colonial cultures, like Brazilians, Australians or Afrikaners, and you’ll see a pretty similar level of importance placed on manliness and machismo. Compare them to Europe’s frontiersmen (ie. the Cossacks), and Americans are suddenly the little girlymen in comparison.
No kidding. I’ve been to Italy a couple of times and nothing looks [rhymes with baggier] than a guy with dress slacks cranked up his ass. Many of them walked like they had a butt-plug jammed up there.
I’ll add that James Bond in his Aston Martin is probably considered a heck of a lot more masculine than most other men in big 60s American muscle cars. And he preferred his (quite frankly) rinky-dink Walther to a real gun. Also, I don’t recall 007 drinking much beer, wearing jeans, eating big steaks or chili, either, but somehow nobody questions his absolute masculinity.
Seems like you want to say that the stereotypical American notion of masculinity is based on boorishness and aggression, and this is somehow a good thing.
Your “facts” are unbelievably silly. They sound like a parody of American stereotypes about Americans and Europeans.
Every culture has tendency to think in stereotypes and exaggerations. That doesn’t mean that you can use them for comparisons in reality. Europe isn’t even a single culture. The inhabitants of the 50 countries in Europe would be part astonished and part disgusted that you could think of them as one single group.
Totally agree there. Most NFL players couldnt physically do what a soccer plater does. They would have to play both ways and eliminate commercial breaks and time outs. The fatties in the NFL would be cardiacing out after 10 minutes.