How does somebody "look American"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Italy right now. A few thoughts. Plenty of Italians are overweight and slobs. A lot of bad dressers in Italy. In Naples a shocking percentage of people had a shocking amount of visible tattoos.

I'm also more aware of class and that in turn has made me more aware of class in America. Most American tourists I've seen on this trip are pleasant looking people, typically pleasantly dressed and pleasantly mannered. Then you realize it's because they are also pleasantly upper middle class. And the same is true back home. The juxtaposition between affluent Americans and working class Italians also exists in the US, except we live much more economically divided in the US, few of us have great city centers that bring out everyone.

You can probably say, par for par, Americans will be slightly heavier than their European counterparts, but not that much so. Because we're taking about the top 10-15% of Americans who can afford to travel overseas. Even if on a budget. Affluent America isn't overweight. Which is true when I'm home in a typical UMC suburb.

What makes Americans stand out in the way some of us are talking about on here is mainly body language, sense of automatic confidence, default assumption for personal space, some preferences for certain clothing styles, etc.

I don't think Naples is the best benchmark. It is one of the poorest cities in all of Europe and has a 30% unemployment rate. It is also one of the most heavily tattooed cities, the practice stemming from mafia affiliations. I think you might find it vastly different if you went north to Milan etc.

[Anonymous]

Americans wear shorts during the summer months when visiting international locations. Locals rarely wear shorts, especially men.

Also, American kids are easy to spot because they either have 1) braces or 2) perfectly straight teeth and always, always have a hoodie on.

Americans, even when they try to look chic, still end up looking sloppy for the most part because the clothing is cheap fast fashion type pieces. It's never tailored.

And finally, Americans love their sneakers! When walking along the streets, it's easy to spot who is a local going about their day in loafers or a nice pair of sandals versus an American tourist in their clunky bright sneakers.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Americans have a lot more clothes, but probably not as nice or tailored. If you only have a few things because tiny house, no closet, you may spend more on the few things you own.

And definitely straight teeth. Usually better complexions, clearer skin, and clean hair.

very true about the closet, but the rest is really white people focused. Have you seen how Asian's take care of their skin? Much better complexion than Americans.

Asians are not the only other people out there. Americans of all races are very aesthetically pleasing. I think the mutt nature mixed genes of so many people really brings out the best.

didn't say Asians were the only ones out there. The ^PP made it seem like Americans were the only tourists out there.

I think people are getting confused thinking everyone saying American means white. And that's not true at all. But in general when I travel abroad I come home and think how good everyone looks comparatively. Across the spectrum. And maybe its the more friendly open nature that makes people look better. But you also don't see a lot of bumps, moles, disfigurations, and other things. Americans tend to look well cared for and despite all the complaints about our healthcare system people seem healthier.

you live in a bubble.

Americans are definitely NOT healthier. Are you kidding? And they are not more better looking. Please.

DP but to me it's more of a cosmetic polish that americans have versus overall healthier body/mind

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. You can just tell an American because of it.

That's because by and large (pardon the pun) Americans who are well traveled tend to be wealthier and more cosmopolitan.

I went to MX, and not the Cancun part of MX. There was a bus load of Americans, and they were overweight and not "cosmetically" put together.

Go to any beach/lake in the south or midwest of the US. You will see what I mean.

The average American is overweight, size 16 to 18, and spends too much time in the sun without sunscreen or a hat.

The average American woman 20 years old and up weighs 170.6 pounds and stands at 63.7 inches (almost 5 feet, 4 inches) tall. And the average waist circumference? It's 38.6 inches. These numbers may or may not be surprising to you. (https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/average-height-for-women#:~:text=The%20average%20American%20woman%2020,not%20be%20surprising%20to%20you.)

The average German woman at 20 yrs old stands 64 inches and weighs 140 lbs. (Surprisingly short for Germany, but there has been a lot of immigration in the last 2 generations--the average height has decreased)

https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Society-Environment/Health/Health-Status-Behaviour-Relevant-Health/Tables/liste-height-weight-body-mass-index-population-sex-age-groups.html#50926[/quote
Healthline, normally useful, is off the money here. In order to provide meaningful information on height/weight — and esp weight — one would need to break down American women by race and ethnicity and age cohorts. It is simply meaningless with our country’s diverse demographics to make sweeping categorizations such as Ave American Woman.

[Anonymous]

When in European countries by myself ( middle aged white female), locals always speak to me in tHeir native language. When with the family they always speak English. And when together we do try for no leggings, college stuff or camera bags.

[Anonymous]

This thread should be retitled as "How does somebody white look American?" because most of these posts only center on the white American tourist stereotype, which is unfortunate for many reasons.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Americans have a lot more clothes, but probably not as nice or tailored. If you only have a few things because tiny house, no closet, you may spend more on the few things you own.

And definitely straight teeth. Usually better complexions, clearer skin, and clean hair.

very true about the closet, but the rest is really white people focused. Have you seen how Asian's take care of their skin? Much better complexion than Americans.

Asians are not the only other people out there. Americans of all races are very aesthetically pleasing. I think the mutt nature mixed genes of so many people really brings out the best.

didn't say Asians were the only ones out there. The ^PP made it seem like Americans were the only tourists out there.

I think people are getting confused thinking everyone saying American means white. And that's not true at all. But in general when I travel abroad I come home and think how good everyone looks comparatively. Across the spectrum. And maybe its the more friendly open nature that makes people look better. But you also don't see a lot of bumps, moles, disfigurations, and other things. Americans tend to look well cared for and despite all the complaints about our healthcare system people seem healthier.

you live in a bubble.

Americans are definitely NOT healthier. Are you kidding? And they are not more better looking. Please.

DP but to me it's more of a cosmetic polish that americans have versus overall healthier body/mind

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. You can just tell an American because of it.

That's because by and large (pardon the pun) Americans who are well traveled tend to be wealthier and more cosmopolitan.

I went to MX, and not the Cancun part of MX. There was a bus load of Americans, and they were overweight and not "cosmetically" put together.

Go to any beach/lake in the south or midwest of the US. You will see what I mean.

The average American is overweight, size 16 to 18, and spends too much time in the sun without sunscreen or a hat.

The same can be said of a lot of countries. Go to the Cornish coast and you’ll see the same type of Brit

The average weight for women in the UK is 154 lbs. Still less than the US.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=11+stone+to+lbs&form=ANNTH1&refig=aa7b7194a148478b863e12e39321dead&sp=1&lq=0&qs=AS&pq=11+stone+to+&sc=10-12&cvid=aa7b7194a148478b863e12e39321dead

Ave height of Brit woman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loud slobs who think they own the place and are oblivious to those around them.

Sounds like you need to work on yourself

[Anonymous]

Baseball hats
hoodies
tennis shoes

Especially if they have some "TEAM" logo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans have a lot more clothes, but probably not as nice or tailored. If you only have a few things because tiny house, no closet, you may spend more on the few things you own.

And definitely straight teeth. Usually better complexions, clearer skin, and clean hair.

very true about the closet, but the rest is really white people focused. Have you seen how Asian's take care of their skin? Much better complexion than Americans.

Asians are not the only other people out there. Americans of all races are very aesthetically pleasing. I think the mutt nature mixed genes of so many people really brings out the best.

that's quote a sweeping generalization, and I completely disagree. There are a lot of not so "aesthetically pleasing" Americans. I think you live in a bubble.

Just go to Scandinavia for a while and I promise you will not think Americans are the top of the attractive list. And while there are many attractive americans there are just as many or more that are overweight, and don't care about their outward apperance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Italy right now. A few thoughts. Plenty of Italians are overweight and slobs. A lot of bad dressers in Italy. In Naples a shocking percentage of people had a shocking amount of visible tattoos.

I'm also more aware of class and that in turn has made me more aware of class in America. Most American tourists I've seen on this trip are pleasant looking people, typically pleasantly dressed and pleasantly mannered. Then you realize it's because they are also pleasantly upper middle class. And the same is true back home. The juxtaposition between affluent Americans and working class Italians also exists in the US, except we live much more economically divided in the US, few of us have great city centers that bring out everyone.

You can probably say, par for par, Americans will be slightly heavier than their European counterparts, but not that much so. Because we're taking about the top 10-15% of Americans who can afford to travel overseas. Even if on a budget. Affluent America isn't overweight. Which is true when I'm home in a typical UMC suburb.

What makes Americans stand out in the way some of us are talking about on here is mainly body language, sense of automatic confidence, default assumption for personal space, some preferences for certain clothing styles, etc.

Yes. I don’t think we’re all talking abouythe same thing. Some are just talking about average Americans and some of us are talking about how abroad the Americans stand out, regardless of race. You can tell by their clothes, teeth, posture, disposition, and veneer. You just can. We’re not talking about the people of Walmart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans have a lot more clothes, but probably not as nice or tailored. If you only have a few things because tiny house, no closet, you may spend more on the few things you own.

And definitely straight teeth. Usually better complexions, clearer skin, and clean hair.

very true about the closet, but the rest is really white people focused. Have you seen how Asian's take care of their skin? Much better complexion than Americans.

Asians are not the only other people out there. Americans of all races are very aesthetically pleasing. I think the mutt nature mixed genes of so many people really brings out the best.

Gosh, I don’t think so. I went to high school in Germany in the 90s, and the kids in my school were all so good looking, I assumed due to their very un-mutt like blood lines. And I say this as a Jew.

One would assume Americans would be a lot more attractive given they are so mixed. I guess the British blood still comes through a lot (sorry Brits, I love you, but your offspring in the US are not the best looking bunch).

Lol. I do agree that Brits are not the most attractive…but they are polite and I love how they talk, so there’s that…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread should be retitled as "How does somebody white look American?" because most of these posts only center on the white American tourist stereotype, which is unfortunate for many reasons.

No…we are a mixed race couple and it still applies…nice smiles, straight white teeth, athletic clothing, gregarious…

[Anonymous]

When I travel in Asia, the most conspicuous travelers are the Chinese tourists. If you are worried about being stereotyped as an American, just travel in Asia.

[Anonymous]

As a Brit living here, for me the 3 biggest giveaways are: so much smiling (this is a thing I really like about Americans but it is very different to many other nationalities); very loud voices (not unique to Americans but very very common amongst Americans); and sportswear/leggings worn all the time (again not unique, just very common amongst Americans and less common in other places). Of course you can spot all of these on other people too but this combination will almost certainly be American.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread should be retitled as "How does somebody white look American?" because most of these posts only center on the white American tourist stereotype, which is unfortunate for many reasons.

So jump in.. add your observations about how Black, Hispanic or South Asian tourists are easily identifiable as Americans when traveling abroad