While there are, of course, endless exceptions to that generalization (You could argue that some of Hollywood’s manliest action heros are Brits like Jason Statham or Gerard Butler, while american Hollywood stars tend to be… Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise, for instance) it’s true that the cultural narratives of the 20th century were shaped differently.
Americans had the cowboy myths, Europeans brought unmanly, upper class heroes, like Sherlock Holmes. in a way, American culture flaunted its contempt for the perceived bourgeois values of the Europeans and the divide between classes it caused, a divide that we Euros have started getting over in relatively recent, post WWII times.
A dude from Madrid once asked me how come there are so many famous male Basque cooks. I said, because up there men are expected to cook; even my brother who by local standards “doesn’t cook” is perfectly able to feed a family properly for a week. He said “but cooking is woman’s work!”. I said “taking care of a family is adult person’s work. You think a man who can cook is a wimp; we think a man who cannot take care of his family is a wimp. And yes, I just called you a wimp.”
Like several others have said, it’s a matter of cultural standards, and those aren’t universal.
Compared to Aussie Rules, Soccer is a game for pussies and whimps. The staging for free kicks is horrible. Personally can’t stand the game. Good exercise for kids maybe.
However, the OP’s concept of masculinity seems rooted in the 1970’s. I like Chilli, I like Beer, I have owned guns…So?
The OP forgot to cite the song “Gay or European?” where the girls go on agonizing whether a guy they are seeing is a flamboyant gay man, or just European.
In fact, this joke shows up in a lot of American culture.
So, all the posters here who are trying to pretend like this isn’t actually a thing, stop it.
If you mean that USA culture has a very curious perception of sex and sexuality then…you are very right, that is a thing but I don’t think anyone would suggest otherwise.
I agree with the OP. All real men are American men. Like me, I have an F-150 and a little sports car, a Mustang GT. I eat rocks for breakfast, and I’ll shoot anyone who looks at me funny.
One of the earlier literary references to a game called “baseball” can be found in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.* The heroine, Catherine, is described as having been fond of playing baseball as a child. What could be more manly than a sport played by little girls in Jane Austen novels?
*Mostly written around 1799, although not published until after Austen’s death in 1817.
There is a difference between ‘baseball’, a game that women, girls, and children can enjoy playing, and ‘Baseball’, which is a manly profession for manly men.
“If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”
That’s terrible. As a gay man, I approve of that joke.