Typical American ?

Few of us like to be told that we are average, and Americans are no exceptions. Far worse, however, is to be told that we, or the things we do, are typical of our nation. “Oh, that’s so typically (or British, or French … etc)” is the kind of a statement most of us object to. Generalisations about nationalities (Americans are incurable optimists, Germans are professional pessimists, and Italians are amused by both) are usually not welcome, even when they’re basically accurate.

With Americans this reaction may even go deeper. One generalisation often made about Americans is that they value their individualism quite highly. They place great emphasis on their individual differences, on having a great number of choices and on doing things their own way. This is perhaps why general statements about American lifestyles are frequently resented by Americans. Part of being an American is not being and not wanting to be, typical.

The other difficulties with summarising American ways of life and attitudes. Whereas, for example, Italians or Germans form a largely homogeneous society, white, Christian, and speaking one language, Americans do not. And whereas a country like Britain exhibits considerable variation in climate and landscape, the differences across the continental US are extreme.

Largely since the Second World War, more and more American social and cultural habits have taken hold in Europe, from conflakes and televised news for breakfast to the evening barbecue or grill party.

In the early 60s, for instance, it was still possible for an American to quip that “in the US, we take a shower every day and go food shopping once a week – in Europe, they do it the other way around”. Today, of course, this is no longer the case. American habits have not changed that much, but European ones have, along with the increase of supermarkets and shoppingcenters, the number of cars, and the modernisation of housing. Such concerns are now as familiar to most Europeans as are, well, traffic jams and beer cans, pollution control or “walkman” radios.

For their part Americans are now buying smaller cars, and waking more. More and more of them are cooking “from scratch” instead of using prepared foods. Yet overall, trends in lifestyles have moved and still move across the Atlantic from west to east. Another generalisation, this one European, says it well “What they are doing in California today, we’ll probably be doing in Europe tomorrow”.

As a result, there are at least two generalisations that can be safely made. First, Americans tend to be trend-setters in lifestyles. And secondly, what is thought to be typically American today probably won’t be so far long. Most interesting, therefore, are those habits and attitudes, customs and conventions which have been consistently observed among Americans over time.