All the time it's said that European culture is alot more "liberated" than American culture. Do you think it's necessary or that it would be beneficial for US to be as "open-mided" as Europe?

Liberalism doesn't equal open-mindedness. Quite the contrary. So no, it would hurt the US to become more like Europe. We broke away from Europe hundreds of years ago and I have absolutely no desire to become more like them and their failed policies. America is much more liberated, IMO. The problem is that with liberation comes spoiling, hence this incessant desire to imitate other countries. If I wanted to be like Europe, I'd live in Europe. We're already too much like them.

Why do we have to be like Europe? You can do pretty much anything you want to do here, as long as you're not hurting anyone. We have our own culture and beliefs. I don't think its necessary to conform or "try" to be like others in that regard.

No. Let Europe be Europe and the US be US. I see no reason for the latter to try and be more like the former.

First of all Liberal DOES equal open mineded because in order for one to have a liberal attitude about ANYTHING they must first be open minded to it. Liberal is literally a synonym of "open-minded".

Unfortunately most people who discuss Europe in terms of being "liberal" are jaded in one way or another. They are either ignorant Americans who've never actually been to or experienced "Europe" in any reasonable measure before, or they are people who have developed a skewed concept of what either America or Europe actually represents. Contrary to popular myth, Europe is not a "country" comparable to the US in any way shape or form. It's a continent made up of very different cultures, some of which could be considered to be more liberal than ours and others not so much. Russia, Serbia and Vatican City are also part of "Europe" and I doubt you'd find too many people arguing that those countries are more "liberal" than the US is.

Take France for instance which could be seen as being more liberal than the US in some ways, however it's the only western democrasy in the world so far to ban a common form of religious expression. Burqas (part of traditional Islamic wear for certain muslim groups) are illegal in France! So that is a testament into just how "liberal" they really are! That would never fly in the more "conservative" US because despite the fact that Christianity dominates government and politics in the US, it is still more liberal than France when it comes to other religions.

Most countries in western Europe would be considered "liberal" by American standards, yes. Most of them enjoy the same freedoms that we have here in the US but with less restrictions when it comes to things like alcohol, drugs, sex, etc, but more restrictions on weapons. The US admonishes alcohol usage (especially amongst people under 21), recreational drug use and sexuality in almost every facet. Our age of consent laws are the highest of any western nation by far. In addition, religion is not as strong of an influence on government throughout most of Europe as it is in the US. As a result, people from the most propserous European countries with little religious influence and more liberal attitudes have more freedoms and are generally happier. This has been proven through numerous studies and statistics collected throughout the years.

But then there are other European countries (Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, various former Soviet republics) that are poor, war ravaged countries where people are generally more miserable and not as prosperous as the more conservative US. So it isn't "liberalism" persay that makes people happy, it's liberalism combined with wealth and national security. The US is conservative, but it has more wealth and national security than any other country so people can afford to be conservative here without degrading society too much in terms of general "happiness". People born and raised with conservative ideals are happiest when conservative ideal prevail in society. People that benefit from a conservative way of life (groups that shall remain nameless) DON'T WANT to be "open minded" and they certainly have no interest in being "liberated". They want to be conservative, and the vast majority of Americans consists of conservatives! So the answer to the question is NO, it would not benefit the majority of US citizens if the country was more like the more liberal European countries. It would no doubt benefit the rest of the world at large if the US was more liberal, but the US doesn't care about the rest of the world or the liberal minroity within the country, it cares about "itself" (ie: the majority).

My family is from Germany, and the first time I saw my female cousin in a tank top raising her arm, I nearly fainted!!! NO.. after seeing that bush under her arm pit---I have no desire to be like europeans???

most guys today want a woman to be neatly trimmed everywhere----so let us ladies go on a shaving strike and see what men think of european liberalism then! LOL

wants2laugh wrote:

My family is from Germany, and the first time I saw my female cousin in a tank top raising her arm, I nearly fainted!!! NO.. after seeing that bush under her arm pit---I have no desire to be like europeans???

most guys today want a woman to be neatly trimmed everywhere----so let us ladies go on a shaving strike and see what men think of european liberalism then! LOL

This man would love it. My wife didn't shave her pits (like a lot of black women). Shaving pits and pubes is infantalizing your adult bod - kinda kinky don't you think? Many ppl have forgotten that women even have hair in their pits, the same as men (maybe more). I just fantasize about girls with natural pits.

wants2laugh wrote:

My family is from Germany, and the first time I saw my female cousin in a tank top raising her arm, I nearly fainted!!! NO.. after seeing that bush under her arm pit---I have no desire to be like europeans???

most guys today want a woman to be neatly trimmed everywhere----so let us ladies go on a shaving strike and see what men think of european liberalism then! LOL

Just as long as we remember not to prepetuate stereotypes. I lived in Europe for 3 years and while women NOT shaving is more common in Europe than it is in the US, it is by no means representative of all European women. Many of them do in fact shave just like American women and much of the stereotype is rooted in urban legend. Not shaving just happens to be not as frowned upon there if they choose not to.

Obviously no statement, idea, concept etc. will ever apply to "ALL" of a group. but thanks for the reminder

captainbryce wrote:

Just as long as we remember not to prepetuate stereotypes. I lived in Europe for 3 years and while women NOT shaving is more common in Europe than it is in the US, it is by no means representative of all European women. Many of them do in fact shave just like American women and much of the stereotype is rooted in urban legend. Not shaving just happens to be not as frowned upon there if they choose not to.

Years ago I did an article on this subject of pit shaving. In this country, black women are more prone to go natural but again, that does not mean it is even the norm in that demographic. Lots of social pressure to adhere to the norm so women acquiesce. Luckily my wife was one of the exceptions (maybe a freek like me).

However, something I just discovered with Web pics of guys in the Czech army is that almost all of them shave their armpits. IDK if it is some kind of deodorant effort or for style but it looks strange for men with hairless pits (outside of body builders who shave everywhere)

Anyhow, here is my take of a decade ago about "Hair Acceptance."

http://home.earthlink.net/~robwrites/id31.html