[atlarge-discuss] "Ugly American" Re: [atlarge-discuss] RE: [atlarge-panel] RE:[atlarge-discuss] Some Simple Facts...

[espresso@e-scape.net]

At 00:12 -0800 2003/01/16, Bruce Young wrote:
>However, I alluded to a weakness above, and this is it: from
>my many travels overseas, I realized that the concept of the
>"Ugly American" is based on a misunderstanding. This term is
>often used to describe a tourist from the US that is intolerant
>of another county's customs.  But in actual fact, his behavior
>is not driven by a disregard for the county's culture.
>
>Rather, the opposite is at work. The American, who has learned to
>tolerate and accomodate many other cultures all his life, can't
>understand why the people where he's at don't accommodate *his*
>differences: he is assuming a level of cultural tolerance that does
>not ofen exist outside of North America.

Unfortunately, I must beg to differ here. The "Ugly American"
doesn't necessarily "disregard" other cultures in the sense
of automatically disrepecting them (though many Americans
do that, too) but appears ignorant and provincial to others
because he/she is almost invariably unilingual, casual
in dress and manner even in circumstances where other nationals
would be dressed up and on their best behaviour (e.g., wearing
a polo shirt rather than jacket and tie to dinner with new
acquaintances, calling people by their first names after
5 minutes without noticing they address one another formally
after long acquaintance), and usually much less educated
about the history and culture of the place visited than the
people living there are about the U.S.

Without wanting to be indvidious about this, I think it's
largely a 20th-century phenomenon which should (I hope)
vanish over the next century. The classic instance that
springs to my mind is a certain U.S. ambassador to Greece
way back when, whose role was to meet on an equal footing
with people in diplomatic circles but behaved like the
abovementioned tourist; knew nothing about Greece at all
(neither modern nor classical culture); knew nothing about
art or literature or music and didn't want to hear about
them; showed up at formal receptions in a madras sportsjacket
(despite being briefed that this just wasn't done); and
generally lacked all the skills a European would expect
from an ambassador. Naturally, he had got the job as a
reward for service to a political party, and evidently the
government of the day didn't care enough about relations
with Greece to select somebody with at least some
qualifications for his post.

>In his world, culture is an *individual* choice, not a national
>imperative, and everyone is free to adopt, adhere to and practice
>the tenants of any culture they wish, even if they aren't born
>into it!

No doubt that is why Americans are so welcoming and tolerant
towards those from Latin American or African cultures and
why even white immigrant children get beaten up for being
different. :-\

No doubt it is also why Americans of this type have spent so
much money and effort ensuring that everyone in every nation
gets the message that Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Disney, and
U.S. laws and policies are infinitely superior to anything
they developed for themselves. The endless complaints of the
uncultured tourist (American or otherwise) that the food in
the country visited differs from what they get at home is
a cliché in any culture but only Americans think the solution
is to make everyone else eat like they do. When they succeed in
imposing their culinary habits on another culture, the results
are usually a decline in the health of the natives but any
country which tries to resist the influx of high-fat and
highly-processed foods is accused of protectionism and finds
itself spending a fortune defending itself at the WTO.

Anyway, a culture isn't something one puts on like a jacket
but the aggregate of all one learns from other people rather
than by heredity. The United States may expressly protect
freedom of religion, freedom of association and the rest
-- more than most other nations, at that -- but it also
expects people to adopt American consumer culture and
follow U.S. social practices as quickly as possible. The
pressure to conform is extremely strong and new immigrants
know the American ideal is the "melting pot" in which
cultural diversity is intended to disappear except for some
ethnic restaurants and maybe an annual parade.

>So while he respects the rights of the people he's visiting to
>be different, he feels no cultural imperative to conform to
>*their* norms himself!  This failure to conform is
>often perceived as arrogance or insensitivity, and maybe it is
>when viewed within the context of the culture he's moving through.

In what other context would you have us view it? People
elsewhere don't expect the "Ugly American" to instantly
adopt a new culture when he comes to visit but most of
them do think it's insensitive and impolite to expect
your hosts to adapt to you and not to notice when
this causes discomfort or even outright pain to others.
One of the first rules about dealing with other cultures
-- or even new acquaintances in your own country -- is to
observe them and what they're comfortable with so as not to
offend them inadvertently. That's not to say you're
expected to do everything exactly as they do but simply
that new relationships go better if you're alert to
the signs that you've inadvertently done something that's
a major faux pas in their circle and apologize when you
see that you've done something that appears rude to them.

>But from his point of view, *they* are being arrogant and
>intolerant for not being equally accepting of *his* ways, because
>that's how it works at home!

Sorry, Bruce, but when I go to the States that's certainly
not what I see. I was actually born there myself and have
been back quite often to visit family members. I rarely
escape the experience of having some boorish character
treat me to a lecture about why Canada should just discard
its own multicultural and political diversity and yield to
the inevitable, letting the U.S. take it over completely
and run it "right".

While most of the Americans I know are not yahoos, I've seen
*them* offended by a fellow-American who'd put his foot up on
the coffee-table or burp loudly on a first visit, blithely
assuming that since he can do it in his own home, he can do it
in a stranger's home even though the other visitors aren't doing
it and are shocked. It's doubly insensitive to behave like that
when you know you are visiting an unfamiliar culture.

I've seen little about U.S. policy since Eisenhower was
elected to indicate any great tolerance of or sensitivity to
peoples whose ways are different, at home or abroad.
Even in more cultured and better-educated circles, one finds
this odd assumption that we should all leap voluntarily into
one great big melting pot under U.S. hegemony, failing which
we'll be dragged into it kicking and screaming.

Not all Americans are the ugly kind but there are more
than enough of them and they give the rest a bad reputation.

Regards,

Judyth

##########################################################
Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
##########################################################
"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
"Un mot suffit aux sages; pour les autres, il en faut plus."
##########################################################



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