Mild rant about "(fill in the blank) is from another culture"

[Anonymous]

OK, I see this pop up a fair bit, especially in "MIL/DH is being a jerk" or "This is why I stay in a situation I don't really like" threads.

Why are these people holding back? It's an anonymous forum, and knowing which culture it is might allow randoms to post better, more targeted advice. Plus, people from that culture might be able to pipe in and say, "Yeah, that's normal, here's how we deal with it" or "Your DH/MIL is full of it."

It's like people who post in the RE forum saying "I want a house in a cool neighborhood" and then neglect to tell what their price range is or even where they are working!

Can someone explain/agree with me/ridicule me?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, why can't we just what we mean about race--never mind cultural sensitivity. It's so boring, amirite?

Go back under your bridge, troll.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps because MIL conflict is universal, or one's DH can be a bit of jerk no matter where he is from, and it's not particularly relevant that one's MIL is from Swaziland or Belize or one's DH is from Monaco or Japan or Chevy Chase.

[Anonymous]

OP again.

So why is it necessary or even useful for someone to post 'DH/whoever is from another culture'? If someone is expecting understanding based on that, then what purpose does vagueness serve?

[TheManWithAUsername]

You might consider that someone is from another culture by way of understanding why she isn't observing "our" customs. I.e., the issue might not be the particular culture of origin, but just ignorance of norms here. If the particular culture is identified, it might give the false impression that the poster was attributing something to that particular culture.

Also, many people here are very wary of giving away any unnecessary identifying details, to preserve anonymity.