There’s nothing wrong with being weird.
Originally, weird used to mean ‘having the power to control destiny’ and later ‘unearthly’. In a sense, the term has a positive meaning and should be treated as such. After all, folks tend to gravitate towards unique things more than the same ol-same ol; being weird makes folks seem more authentic and empowering; above all else, it fuels creativity and leads to a more unorthodox approach to problem-solving.
But, somewhere along the way, the idea of being weird got skewed by humanity’s ignorance and so here we are—burning bridges and building walls when it should actually be the other way around. And so here we are, seeing yet another thread discussing the weird aspects of American culture.
This post may include affiliate links.
How they pretend to be Christian while doing the exact opposite of what Jesus would do in every situation.
Religiosity is dropping in every developed country except the USA. Jesus and guns baby!
Also we are so focused on women (people) getting pregnant and having babies that we take away their bodily autonomy and try to restrict birth control but then we don't provide maternity leave/pay (in some situations) or childcare benefits so mom has to go to work to pay for food and childcare but then when she can't afford the childcare and has to stay home we also don't want to give her snap benefits or free lunches for the kid because then she's leaching off the system , you guys I just can't with this backward a*s country and their hatred for women and mothers in particular. Sorry for the run on sentence but it irks the p**s out of me.
Republicans are not pro-life, they are anti-woman. All the laws to protect a fetus, but once it's born, no assistance for health care, education, childcare etc. The great George Carlin once said, "Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers".
Guilt is put on the consumer, not the corporations.
The customer has to tip because servers don’t make a livable wage. The customer has to recycle and watch their carbon footprint because the environment is deteriorating. The customer has to eat better because cows are being slaughtered and chickens are trapped in cages.
100% of the world’s problems are caused by giant corporations, not the average person.
Recently, the r/AskReddit community brought up (again) the question of the weirdest things about American culture. The post garnered 1,800 upvotes and generated a discussion consisting of 3,200 comments before being taken down by the moderators.
These days, it’s become quite a common question to discuss online. In fact, it’s so common that Bored Panda has covered it on a number of occasions, mostly from the perspective of what folks from outside the US find weird about the global superpower.
And that last term is key here—global superpower. Some speculate it to be the key as to why there are so many discussions revolving around America out there. And it doesn’t seem to matter what aspect of it is: culture, psychology, sociology, political or religious climate. Anything goes.
We're fine with whatever level of violence and gore you want to put on TV, as long as there aren't any female nipples showing!!
As an outsider (UK) I think all the right wing Christians are weird as f**k.
I’m from America but I think our pharmaceutical ads are really f*****g weird and annoying
USA and NZ are the only western countries that allow direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing.
General curiosity and human flaws aside, the idea behind America being a point of discussion in a lot of places can be traced back to just how influential its culture is on the rest of the world. Following World War II, the US promised “to build a new world,” one that functions as a huge global village of organizations that would unite nations and thus push back any ideas of conflict. This in turn meant that any idea of kicking your neighbor in the shins would essentially mean you’re shooting yourself in the foot. And nobody likes that.
A lot of the world thus agreed to it—who would be against things like freedom and free flow of information and culture? Soon after everything from news agencies to Hollywood studios to the rock and roll scene started seeping to the rest of the world. Some call it coca-colonization or Americanization.
Celebrating a holiday to give thanks for the things in life you already have, and then the next day fighting people over a new appliance for a 25% discount.
The number of people who are willing to blindly vote for a candidate that obviously does not have their best interests in mind.
To be fair, the whole US electoral system with it's heavy emphasis on the President rather than the party is weird.
But it came with a drawback of sorts. The US has led the world into creating a kind of Western culture on an economic, cultural, and even political level. However, while it exported so much, it imported very little, creating a one-way street without reciprocity. Think visa regulations, educational exchanges and the like. Becoming the center of the world naturally started drawing discussions about the elephant in the room.
The weirdness factor is another point of attraction. As mentioned previously, being weird ain’t a bad thing—being weird makes you unique, helps you stand out and, in the words of Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, “sameness is not worth following”. Weirdness brings out creativity and authenticity in humans, and it also triggers something in others that makes them come closer.
Gun culture and the Second Amendment
We already have restrictions on arms. You can't walk into a Walmart and buy an M60 machine gun because they are classified as a "weapon of mass destruction". All most of us want is for assault rifles to be classed the same way. It's not a huge thing to ask and it was done before in 1994 with the assault weapons ban.
For a country built off the backs of slaves and immigrants, there is so much hatred toward immigrants.
Funny thing though! Those who hate immigrants are, like it or not, known as 'anchor-children' of immigrants who fleed whatever country they left behind. Now, the only people who can express their discomfort are the Native American-Indians. Don't believe me? Look for the YT video: 'Native American confronts anti illegal protesters' Just look an listen
Health Insurance yet we still have crappy healthcare. 591$ a month WTF! That’s more then my car payment and insurance.
With stupid high deductibles that a healthy person will never reach so basically Americans are being forced to pay outrageously high rates for nothing more than major medical and if you're lucky, one wellness visit each year.
It’s akin to the allure of scary and disgusting things: disgusting things capture and retain people’s attention more effectively. It’s one of many of evolution’s tricks to help us stay away from harmful stuff. But it’s one that folks can enjoy, despite the very obvious deterrent that is ew, that’s disgusting, kill it with fire. But you’d watch that fire with awe. Humans are weird.
And so it all perpetuates itself: we talk about the elephant in the room and we talk about weird things because we can’t but talk about it. If anything, it provides insight into the other. And from an educational standpoint, understanding the other only increases our chances of understand the world. Oh, and surviving. Can’t forget about that.
Tipping. For everything. For the smallest things. For people simply doing their jobs.
Being puritanical about sexual themes but glorifying violence in media
Well, the Puritans were quite a sexually-repressed, violent group of people. They did not hesitate to use violence to "carry out God's plan", whatever they happened to think that was: assaulting and tormenting old women they thought were witches, burning Native Americans alive, persecuting Quakers, etc. They'd fit right in with today's GOP.
Being able to fight and die for your country before being allowed to purchase and drink a beer. I hate alcohol, and I didn't serve, but still, this is pretty silly, and I think it actually contributes to alcoholism by making it taboo (and therefore cool) in your teen years.
Yep! U can legally murder people for ur "country" and (supposedly) vote who will run it, but not capable of deciding if u should smoke or drink
From a foreign perspective - guns. Every country has them but it like seems like a religion in the US.
In other countries guns serve a purpose, from sport to guerrilla warfare, but it seems in the US they are owned to feed the fantasy of the owner one day getting into a shoot out like in the films.
Absurd costs for medications and even routine doctor visits.
Everyone just shrugs, like paying $600 for a 30 day supply of pills is normal.
Big pharma calls the shots and the government has never had the courage to stop them.
All the celebraty worship that we engage in by far.
You haven't seen kpop, cpop and jpop stans ( or stans of pretty much any asian celebs). Before anyone calls me out for 'racism', I'm asian.
People b***h about roads being bad, schools being bad, etc but then vote down levies to fund them.
Also wanting everyone to have decent healthcare coverage that doesn't cost a fortune somehow makes you an evil communist.
A 2% charge on our taxable income gives us 'Universal Healthcare' here... I didn't realise we were an 'Evil Communist Country' Doesn't feel like it, feels more like the freedom country Americans shout about but don't have.
The poor are obese. In most other countries when you see abject poverty you can see people starving with their ribs poking out
Poor folk in the US have to buy shelf-stable high calorie food. Lots of pasta, bread, canned food. Often theylive in food deserts where they have to travel long distances (not easy if you’re poor and there’s no public transport) to get to any kind of decent grocery store. Plus added sugar in everything. Please don’t judge too harshly. The stupids are drowning everyone who want to make things better.
Giant truck culture.
that showing blood and gore to children is simply entertainment but a women’s breast is taboo
Of course, because all children are exposed to death and bloody violence from the moment of birth and never, ever see a woman's breast. Obviously, I mean how could they? It's not like women's breasts feed babies, is it? (who, me, sarcastic? Never!)
The size of food portion given in restaurants.
I usually have to get to-go boxes, once at a restaurant I got a burger and a salad and I was already almost full by the time I finished my salad since it was so big and I had to take the burger home
They think the world revolves around what's going on in America
We shoot ourselves in the foot with who we elect, acting like were free when it's really just a corporate tyranny and not democracy.
"But I've never thought they would eat MY face!" cried the woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces party.
We banned most cigarette advertising decades ago. But I cannot watch a football game with out seeing every alcohol ad a million times.
Bragging about working ourselves to death
This isn't just endemic to the US. Doesn't Japan have the same issue?
Misunderstanding their own history.
Not necessarily just 'misunderstanding ' it, also being taught only certain aspects and having some parts being left out.
Making 14 year olds famous “actors” and “singers” and, if they’re girls, immediately sexualising them.
How we have such a stigma around sex and can't show nudity on TV, yet there's this total acceptance of brutal violence. My fiancé is Dutch and the relationship with sex in the Netherlands seems *so* much more open and healthy, whereas they aren't as desensitized to violence. Makes much more sense to me.
Countries where there is age appropriate sex and relationship education in schools and easy access to birth control have lower rates of sexually transmitted disease, lower rates of teen pregnancy, and older age at first intercourse. There's also data showing that in those countries, young people are more likely to report that they felt emotionally happier and content about their first sexual experience.
The fascination with college sports.
I feel like people care a little bit too much about sports anyway
Simultaneously over sensitive and violent.
I think we're talking news media here, not people. The news American media reacts violently to the smallest provocation.
Infant male circumcision. Only 30% of males are circumcised on the planet. The vast majority of that percentage is religious circumcision. Most of the rest is tribal practices. America is this sole weird country that on a large scale just randomly does it and no one can really say why.
I remember when I was a kid and learned that the penis naturally comes with a foreskin and all the penises I’ve seen in my life were operated on. It felt like my own country was this weird foreign place I no longer understood.
Let's just call it what it actually is: Infant Male Genital Mutilation.
Glorifying politicians. Apparently, we believe their lies every time.
Several years ago I watched a movie about a man who had the same name as a politician who was the incumbent but had died. The man ran for the same office and won because, in my opinion, people just vote for the names they recognize instead of taking the time to actually research the candidates. This is why, again, my opinion, we have politicians that are over 80 running this country with the majority of them completely out of touch with the struggles and hardships their constituents are constantly dealing with.
The commercialism of everything. Everything is an ad. Everything is to get you to buy something.
That's a picture of London - Piccadilly Circus to be precise. The red double decker bus is a bit of a hint that it's probably not the US. The aluminium statue (behind the camera) is of Anteros, not his more famous brother Eros.
Tipping. America is one of the only countries where tipping a large percentage of a bill at a restaurant is not only accepted but, if you don’t tip the waiter around 20% or whatever, you’ll get shamed for it. And even beyond that, tipping is now starting to creep into, for example, tip jars at pick-up counters where there’s no wait staff and tip jars at some retail outlets and such.
It’s a weird, uniquely American custom that as I recall started around the Great Depression with rich patrons tipping wait staff to get seats or food more quickly. Then the restaurant owners realized they could get away with paying the waiters next to nothing and letting them live primarily on tips, and ever since then there’s been a constant assumption in the US that whatever you get charged on the menu you just add the 20% or so to what you pay. It started as a total scam to underpay employees and employees to avoid paying taxes on cash tips and it just continues mainly due to social inertia to this day.
Cash tips ARE taxed. In fact the IRS (US tax authority) assumes a minimum amount of tips and servers have to pay it EVEN IF THEY DON'T RECEIVE THAT MUCH.
The "temporarily down on your luck millionaire" mindset that allows people to politically support millionaire and billionaire politicians who do not represent their interests. More like -we're all one hospital visit away by cause of a serious accident to being millions in debt.
Fry from Futurama said something like "One day, I may become rich - and then people like me better watch out."
14-16 to get a job, drive, and take college courses
18 to vote, buy certain legal drugs, and join the military
19 to buy tobacco and be exempt from most curfews
21 to buy alcohol
23 to rent a car and book a hotel room
What!? I didn’t even know that you had to be 23 to rent car or get a hotel room, that’s ridiculous
The fact Americans forget how freaking huge and populated America is. Which means living in different areas and states can mean a completely different lifestyle, cultures, priorities, and issues but no one wants to think about that when they can’t figure out why they have different viewpoints.
Also how they exaggerate opposing viewpoints instead of just being realistic. But I think that’s human nature, not USA.
The dichotomy between the love and hate for the rich/elite.
What you do as profession being a personality or making it a big deal. Our pride of self-independence (or faux self-independence, really - other cultures create “meaning” together, are more willing to help others. US Americans are highly competitive and believe in making your own meaning (probably, hence, acting like your job is a way bigger deal than it is or getting “lost in work” to not have to examine your life.) Our views on masculinity. There is a lot of research that guilt is largely US American. And finger pointing - probably both going back to our “independence.” Something either has to be our fault and burden or squarely aimed at someone else…vs accepting the totality of life and relationships and circumstances.
I feel like the classes don’t mix much in USA. I have very small sample to judge, but a few relatives who live there only make friends from the same middle class neighbourhood who all live in identical houses all doing similar jobs. It’s not exclusive to USA, I noticed this in many countries with huge disparity between the richest and the poorest and it’s sad. In my country people from all classes and backgrounds would be in same friends group, actually asking someone what they do for a living is way down the line when forming friendships.
We love getting our free refills and love the drive throughs for food and drink.
American here: Americans who despise everything about america.. Somehow we are the most racist, misogynist, terrible poverty hating nation in the world whose human rights have not improved since "bad thing example from 100 years ago". This opinion being largely held by middle class white people.
Being anti-American.
I'm not saying you need to tattoo the flag on your calf, or ride a bald eagle to work or anything. But a lot of Americans lately are so anti-American, they're basically foaming at the mouth for their own country to fail. I can't understand that viewpoint, I want the country to improve and I think it can. But I also acknowledge that currently, it's still a pretty damn good place to live despite its flaws.
Idk, I just dont understand that pessimistic view, it doesn't help anything or anyone to wish failure on a nation you're part of. Millions are trying to get here right now to make their lives better. Check your privilege.
I'm an American that moved abroad. Seeing how other countries live, especially work-life balance, more simple lifestyle, health insurance that doesn't cost an arm and a leg...I'm never moving back. I served in the military so I've been around and seen both sides. My humble opinion is that it's not the greatest place to live. People love what they know and most will never leave mainly because of friends/family and comfort. People that are clamouring to get to America are desperate and are sold the American dream. They still believe it's there....
The most American thing seems to be hating America.
That's a ridiculous comment. Disagreeing with issues or not liking certain aspects of life, your national culture, or your country's sociopolitical character does not equate to hating it. Debate, criticism and disagreements are part of life-blind worship without thought is cultish and ignorant.
They're just a bit boring to me. Literally nothing to to learn with these articles. Everyone knows about the 'weird parts' of American culture. I guess these are just made for US vs. the world debates in the comments. Too bad it's not about other parts of the USA culture (like Cajun tradition / American Creoles in Louisiana / Native Americans / what the f people do in Montana / Jewish orthodox in NY etc) For such a big and diverse country it's a bit boring that we are only talking about very well known facts like guns, healthcare, tips, christians extremists etc
Load More Replies...
I’ve lost track of how many times BP has done a post like this
I'm downvoting these from now on. I encourage anyone else who agrees to do the same.
I'm a Brit, and the title alone was enough for me to downvote, and I've no intention of reading the post.
Load More Replies...
They're just a bit boring to me. Literally nothing to to learn with these articles. Everyone knows about the 'weird parts' of American culture. I guess these are just made for US vs. the world debates in the comments. Too bad it's not about other parts of the USA culture (like Cajun tradition / American Creoles in Louisiana / Native Americans / what the f people do in Montana / Jewish orthodox in NY etc) For such a big and diverse country it's a bit boring that we are only talking about very well known facts like guns, healthcare, tips, christians extremists etc
Load More Replies... I’ve lost track of how many times BP has done a post like this
I'm downvoting these from now on. I encourage anyone else who agrees to do the same.
I'm a Brit, and the title alone was enough for me to downvote, and I've no intention of reading the post.
Load More Replies...