"American girls are possibly the most wound-up people on the planet."
September 3, 2002 8:28 PM Subscribe
"American girls are possibly the most wound-up people on the planet." Amen, brother! (more on Gwyneth v. English Men)
thank the Lord the women are mercifully healthy and entirely devoid of this wary disgust. ;)
Indeed. My brother is dating a woman from London, and if there are two things she absolutely cannot have if their relationship is going to last, it's wariness and disgust.
posted by Hildago at 11:41 PM on September 3, 2002
Indeed. My brother is dating a woman from London, and if there are two things she absolutely cannot have if their relationship is going to last, it's wariness and disgust.
posted by Hildago at 11:41 PM on September 3, 2002
As an english male, i would like to point out that i have no desire to bed gwynneth. i saw her oscar speech.
generally speaking i do find american women to be incredibly self obsessed and neurotic.
they're either on prozac or in therapy, or both.
posted by quarsan at 11:47 PM on September 3, 2002
generally speaking i do find american women to be incredibly self obsessed and neurotic.
they're either on prozac or in therapy, or both.
posted by quarsan at 11:47 PM on September 3, 2002
O mi gaaad!
Two different countries, despite speaking the same language, have different approaches to dating/courtship?!?!
Well call the police...
posted by i_cola at 12:07 AM on September 4, 2002
Two different countries, despite speaking the same language, have different approaches to dating/courtship?!?!
Well call the police...
posted by i_cola at 12:07 AM on September 4, 2002
Ah, stereotypes are great, aren't they?
Well, at least I can relate to the article. Where there's smoke, there's fire...
posted by Aikido at 12:23 AM on September 4, 2002
Well, at least I can relate to the article. Where there's smoke, there's fire...
posted by Aikido at 12:23 AM on September 4, 2002
I honestly don't see what was so offensive about her comment. I think she was just commenting on her observation that British men are more reserved. I really don't think that warrants all the snide remarks made in their defense. I think it's actually rather cruel to attack her for such a harmless comment. I recall watching an interview of Gwyneth Paltrow when Shallow Hal came out, and she was talking about what it was like to be obese (while wearing the costume) and how people treated her, etc. She spoke so carefully, so as not to use any sort degrading terms to describe overweight women. Once, she slipped and said the word "fat", and immediately stopped and corrected herself. Her obvious efforts not to offend anyone, and the articulate and thoughtful way in which she spoke impressed me. I think it's quite sad that the British press is trying to make her look like an airheaded prima donna.
I'm tempted to respond to quarsan's comments regarding his undoubtedly vast experience with American women and their alleged neuroses, but I just don't have it in me to once again defend this country and the people who inhabit it. To quote my friend in India (who offered these words after I expressed my frustration at constantly being called an stupid, evil American): "generalisations suck. generalisations exist."
*sigh* Coffee, anyone?
posted by Zulujines at 1:21 AM on September 4, 2002
I'm tempted to respond to quarsan's comments regarding his undoubtedly vast experience with American women and their alleged neuroses, but I just don't have it in me to once again defend this country and the people who inhabit it. To quote my friend in India (who offered these words after I expressed my frustration at constantly being called an stupid, evil American): "generalisations suck. generalisations exist."
*sigh* Coffee, anyone?
posted by Zulujines at 1:21 AM on September 4, 2002
Zulujines, I agree. If anything, it seems to me she was attempting to be slightly self-deprecating while expressing her interest in dating British men. Also, she was careful to say that British people don't seem to ask each other out. Well, for what it's worth, she has briefly responded.
posted by taz at 2:13 AM on September 4, 2002
posted by taz at 2:13 AM on September 4, 2002
and the articulate and thoughtful way in which she spoke impressed me
Mmmm - not a reader of celebrity magazines then Zulujines. Gwyneth is renowned for her unthinking snooty comments. I suggest you visit the Gwyneth forum on Fametracker and read their opinion of "fishstick".
I just don't have it in me to once again defend this country and the people who inhabit it. To quote my friend in India (who offered these words after I expressed my frustration at constantly being called an stupid, evil American): "generalisations suck. generalisations exist."
Quite. But just remember it's not only Americans who constantly get it. We all do.
posted by Summer at 2:15 AM on September 4, 2002
Mmmm - not a reader of celebrity magazines then Zulujines. Gwyneth is renowned for her unthinking snooty comments. I suggest you visit the Gwyneth forum on Fametracker and read their opinion of "fishstick".
I just don't have it in me to once again defend this country and the people who inhabit it. To quote my friend in India (who offered these words after I expressed my frustration at constantly being called an stupid, evil American): "generalisations suck. generalisations exist."
Quite. But just remember it's not only Americans who constantly get it. We all do.
posted by Summer at 2:15 AM on September 4, 2002
I, for one, would like to welcome our self obsessed, neurotic and wound up overlords
posted by ciderwoman at 2:55 AM on September 4, 2002
posted by ciderwoman at 2:55 AM on September 4, 2002
Oh and another thing - what's so bloody great about dating anyway? It's such a cheesy and embarrassing ritual. Isn't it better to get to know someone within a group of people and then decide you want to take it further than have to sit facing a stranger across a dinner table and pretend to flirt? It seems so mechanical and unromantic.
There's a programme on TV at the moment called 'Would Like to Meet' where ordinary individuals are taken in hand by stylists and experts and turned into simpering flirts. I remember one show had a 40ish single mother on. They botoxed her forehead, dressed her in clothes too young for her and taught her to play with her hair and her neckline. She sat opposite her date acting like a thirteen year old girl meeting NSync on an MTV special. *SCREAM* No doubt the format's been sold so expect to see it on a TV near you soon.
posted by Summer at 3:23 AM on September 4, 2002
There's a programme on TV at the moment called 'Would Like to Meet' where ordinary individuals are taken in hand by stylists and experts and turned into simpering flirts. I remember one show had a 40ish single mother on. They botoxed her forehead, dressed her in clothes too young for her and taught her to play with her hair and her neckline. She sat opposite her date acting like a thirteen year old girl meeting NSync on an MTV special. *SCREAM* No doubt the format's been sold so expect to see it on a TV near you soon.
posted by Summer at 3:23 AM on September 4, 2002
As an english male, i would like to point out that i have no desire to bed gwynneth. i saw her oscar speech.
generally speaking i do find american women to be incredibly self obsessed and neurotic.
they're either on prozac or in therapy, or both.
As an american male, I can't agree more! :)
posted by whirlwind29 at 3:26 AM on September 4, 2002
generally speaking i do find american women to be incredibly self obsessed and neurotic.
they're either on prozac or in therapy, or both.
As an american male, I can't agree more! :)
posted by whirlwind29 at 3:26 AM on September 4, 2002
Fametracker? Are you serious? Besides, I'm here so freakin' much everything I look at is tinted blue. I'm obsessed.
Anyway, I wanted to clarify what I said before: I was referring only to that specific interview I saw, and that was what impressed me. I haven't a clue what Gwyneth Paltrow says to reporters, and to be honest I don't really care. I mean, she's an actress, not a philosopher...I'm not expecting her to spew forth wisdom. My reasoning is that if she was cautious in how she referred to obese women, she wasn't going to intentionally attack all the men in England. But who the hell knows.
As far as stereotypes, I always tend to think of Brits in a positive way (i.e., intellectual), and I don't usually hear much bad stuff from other people. Then again, I don't get out much, either.
*sigh* Tea, anyone?
posted by Zulujines at 3:26 AM on September 4, 2002
Anyway, I wanted to clarify what I said before: I was referring only to that specific interview I saw, and that was what impressed me. I haven't a clue what Gwyneth Paltrow says to reporters, and to be honest I don't really care. I mean, she's an actress, not a philosopher...I'm not expecting her to spew forth wisdom. My reasoning is that if she was cautious in how she referred to obese women, she wasn't going to intentionally attack all the men in England. But who the hell knows.
As far as stereotypes, I always tend to think of Brits in a positive way (i.e., intellectual), and I don't usually hear much bad stuff from other people. Then again, I don't get out much, either.
*sigh* Tea, anyone?
posted by Zulujines at 3:26 AM on September 4, 2002
Brits are intellectual? Have you ever talked to a skin-head hooligan with his team colors tatooed on his inner lip? I remember hearing about a poll of Brit males where some ridiculous majority (something like 95%) would rather watch a world cup final than sleep with a super-model (England didn´t not have to be one of the finalists, by the way). No wonder they aren´t interested in Paltrow.
They don´t like women, so what? At least they suck it up every now and then to procreate. Good for them!
Oh and generally speaking women from anglo-based cultures (UK AND US) are more uptight than women from other cultures. This probably isn´t genetic, they are just stressed out about WORK!
posted by sic at 4:02 AM on September 4, 2002
They don´t like women, so what? At least they suck it up every now and then to procreate. Good for them!
Oh and generally speaking women from anglo-based cultures (UK AND US) are more uptight than women from other cultures. This probably isn´t genetic, they are just stressed out about WORK!
posted by sic at 4:02 AM on September 4, 2002
PS: I have an English friend (from Bath) he loves to tell me jokes. They usually have the same tone. Here´s one of his favorites (he can´t understand why I never laugh at his humour):
"what do you tell a woman with two black eyes?"
"nothing, she´s already been told twice"
Um, Paltrow should NOT date while in England.
posted by sic at 4:09 AM on September 4, 2002
"what do you tell a woman with two black eyes?"
"nothing, she´s already been told twice"
Um, Paltrow should NOT date while in England.
posted by sic at 4:09 AM on September 4, 2002
I remember hearing about a poll of Brit males where some ridiculous majority (something like 95%) would rather watch a world cup final than sleep with a super-model (England didn´t not have to be one of the finalists, by the way). No wonder they aren´t interested in Paltrow.
There might, of course, be other reasons.
posted by riviera at 4:13 AM on September 4, 2002
There might, of course, be other reasons.
posted by riviera at 4:13 AM on September 4, 2002
Oh, and sic, it's great of you extrapolate the long history of English jokes about wives, something that goes back at least as far as Chaucer, into a judgement on English culture. (Why do women have small feet? So they can get closer to the sink.) At least Paltrow based her comments on actual observation that no, we don't do scripted restaurant silliness. (I'm with Summer here.)
posted by riviera at 4:16 AM on September 4, 2002
posted by riviera at 4:16 AM on September 4, 2002
Sic, I think you need to find new friends.
posted by ciderwoman at 4:17 AM on September 4, 2002
posted by ciderwoman at 4:17 AM on September 4, 2002
Brits are intellectual? Have you ever talked to a skin-head hooligan.
Yes and yes.
posted by vbfg at 4:27 AM on September 4, 2002
Yes and yes.
posted by vbfg at 4:27 AM on September 4, 2002
I agree ciderwoman. I live in a non-english speaking country, so sometimes you find yourself thrown in with people whose only attraction is that they speak your mother-tongue....
It doesn´t last.
I'm not sure I understand Riviera's comments. Like Paltrow, I actually observed (heard) this and many other "funny" jokes from this guys and his mates when they came to visit. I don´t think that all of them beat their girlfriends or wives but they sure find misogynistic humor funny. I've also been to Champion's League matches where the english hooligans have attacked fans from the opposing side just because they are fans from the opposing side. These are real components of English culture.
But that´s not to say that they are the only aspects of English culture. I was responding to a perception that Brits are intellectuals. They aren´t any more intellectual than Americans, Australians, French, German etc. And I realize that it´s just as silly to say all brits are hooligans (which I didn´t say!). How many people live in the UK? 50 MILLION? They can´t all be bad (or good).
posted by sic at 4:46 AM on September 4, 2002
It doesn´t last.
I'm not sure I understand Riviera's comments. Like Paltrow, I actually observed (heard) this and many other "funny" jokes from this guys and his mates when they came to visit. I don´t think that all of them beat their girlfriends or wives but they sure find misogynistic humor funny. I've also been to Champion's League matches where the english hooligans have attacked fans from the opposing side just because they are fans from the opposing side. These are real components of English culture.
But that´s not to say that they are the only aspects of English culture. I was responding to a perception that Brits are intellectuals. They aren´t any more intellectual than Americans, Australians, French, German etc. And I realize that it´s just as silly to say all brits are hooligans (which I didn´t say!). How many people live in the UK? 50 MILLION? They can´t all be bad (or good).
posted by sic at 4:46 AM on September 4, 2002
I would say that about 1% of Brits are truly intellectual. 90% have their opinions formed by the likes of the Sun, the Mirror and the Daily Mail. The other 9% are simply acting intellectual.
Well, the numbers might not be accurate, but that's how I felt after spending 25 years in the UK.
posted by SpaceCadet at 4:51 AM on September 4, 2002
Well, the numbers might not be accurate, but that's how I felt after spending 25 years in the UK.
posted by SpaceCadet at 4:51 AM on September 4, 2002
Criminey! I said *I* tend to have positive feelings toward British people...ME! I didn't say every British person was an intellectual...I saw The Real World: London, believe me, I know you've got some flaming imbeciles over there. But despite that, I adore your accents and your bizarre humour...you amuse me! Of course, I'm on Prozac, so my whole world is skewed, and I have a hard time separating reality and fantasy...but whatever.
Now goddammit let's all have some tea and pretend we like each other.
posted by Zulujines at 5:15 AM on September 4, 2002
Now goddammit let's all have some tea and pretend we like each other.
posted by Zulujines at 5:15 AM on September 4, 2002
Welllll vbfg....that was certainly an enchanting experience. Wanna do a couple hits of Prozac with me? Ya know, just to take the edge off :-)
posted by Zulujines at 5:25 AM on September 4, 2002
posted by Zulujines at 5:25 AM on September 4, 2002
Sigh - Something like 60 million people live in the UK. From the tenor of this discussion one would assume that the male half is made up exclusively of Quiet, Reserved Intellectuals, who engage in football hooliganism on weekends and are bad at dating.
This is patently ridiculous. Football hooliganism, for example, was at very most engaged in by 10,000 people or 1/3000th of the UK's male population. I have friends who are extremely good at dating, in the american sense, I myself am less so.
Britain is as diverse a society as the US - generalisations really don't serve either culture well.
posted by prentiz at 5:38 AM on September 4, 2002
This is patently ridiculous. Football hooliganism, for example, was at very most engaged in by 10,000 people or 1/3000th of the UK's male population. I have friends who are extremely good at dating, in the american sense, I myself am less so.
Britain is as diverse a society as the US - generalisations really don't serve either culture well.
posted by prentiz at 5:38 AM on September 4, 2002
I don´t think that all of them beat their girlfriends or wives but they sure find misogynistic humor funny
sic, they say it to wind you up. People enjoy being non-PC.
posted by Summer at 6:28 AM on September 4, 2002
sic, they say it to wind you up. People enjoy being non-PC.
posted by Summer at 6:28 AM on September 4, 2002
You facking septic's wouldn't know a good night out from a hole in the road.
Seriously though, me and friend were chatting in the pub one night. He noted that if it wasn't for alcohol neither of us would have gone out with any women at all. We sat there for a minute nodding our heads in silence. Sad but true.
For what it's worth, I wouldn't go out with Gwyneth either. She seems like one of those neurotic, macrobiotic, idiotic hollywood types. Aparently she's a bit of a minger up close as well.
posted by dodgygeezer at 6:31 AM on September 4, 2002
Seriously though, me and friend were chatting in the pub one night. He noted that if it wasn't for alcohol neither of us would have gone out with any women at all. We sat there for a minute nodding our heads in silence. Sad but true.
For what it's worth, I wouldn't go out with Gwyneth either. She seems like one of those neurotic, macrobiotic, idiotic hollywood types. Aparently she's a bit of a minger up close as well.
posted by dodgygeezer at 6:31 AM on September 4, 2002
Sorry, but who the fuck are brits, its a misnomer. I'm english not sodding british. It also sounds to me like people take dating far too seriously, life's too short, go out, have a laugh and try not to analyse it too much.
posted by johnnyboy at 6:44 AM on September 4, 2002
posted by johnnyboy at 6:44 AM on September 4, 2002
Let's get to the real issue here. British chicks rock.
posted by quin at 12:26 PM on September 4, 2002
posted by quin at 12:26 PM on September 4, 2002
Now just a cotton-pickin' minute here -- Gwyneth Paltrow is an American? I don't believe I've ever seen her in a film, but I'd always assumed from her name she was in fact British.
Sheesh. You learn something new every day.
posted by kindall at 1:53 PM on September 4, 2002
Sheesh. You learn something new every day.
posted by kindall at 1:53 PM on September 4, 2002
Ah, Quin, good to see someone else remembers those heady Heavenly days...
posted by ciderwoman at 3:08 AM on September 5, 2002
posted by ciderwoman at 3:08 AM on September 5, 2002
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Btw, there are some funny and acute comments in this recent "silly season" thread..
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:37 PM on September 3, 2002