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Comment by gbasp | Hacker News Reader

Tangentially related to the topic but I find American cultural attitudes towards sex very bizarre from the outside looking in. The view America projects of itself to the world through media is that it's the land of "Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll" and Americans love having fun, but internally America feels culturally like a deeply prudish country, much more than in Europe and Asia.

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For many americans, its hard to get actually drunk at the bar without having to drive home after. You might live well outside of walking distance and there might be really poor coverage of taxi or rideshare services. You might have to have someone be the designated driver. For some reason the standard price of a pint of beer that isn't bud light has creeped up to at least $10 practically everywhere, in the 'cheap' midwest too. It adds a ton of friction to these cultural things that are much more commonplace elsewhere that have a lot lower friction to engage with them.

For example, in southern europe, its pretty common to see people openly drinking on the streets and no one bats an eye, either beers or straight up taking pulls from vodka bottles as casually as if its a water bottle. A lot more people live walking distance to a bar or someplace that serves alcohol. The smallest village will have a bar before it has a pharmacy or any other services. I've even found it to be cheaper to order light beer than to order water in restaurants in certain countries (they don't give you water for free like in the U.S.). Getting drunk is a lot more convenient and cheaper in europe than it is in America, unless you live in a college town that has dirt cheap well drink deals or something like that, and those towns feel pretty european to me with their drinking culture as a result.

> they don't give you water for free like in the U.S.

Well, to be fair, what you typically get in Europe is a nice bottle of mineral water, while in the US they just give you tap water (which would be considered faux pas in Europe).

I mean I wouldn't say that's the image they project. their tv shows and films are shockingly prudish. push any violence you like, but heaven forbid you show a tit

they also have this thing where everything has to have a moral. even things that are seemingly immoral - it's always sunny, south park, etc - do in fact have a moral message. the message being "if you're doing the things our characters are doing, you're immoral"

Using sociopathic/immoral characters in situations where they should reflect, but dont (or take the "wrong" stance) is a trope that goes back to Seinfeld. They are not deliberately/exclusively trying to make a value judgement. Usually it's social/political commentary specifically designed to shed light on how awful Americans can be to each other. It's (subjectively) funny because we have encountered milder forms of such people in real life, perhaps.

I agree that we are prude as a culture, just dont see how this is evidenced by the average sitcom. South Park in particular is a very strange example of a "prude" show.

> Usually it's social/political commentary specifically designed to shed light on how awful Americans can be to each other

I’d say that’s the same thing as making a value judgment

> are not deliberately/*exclusively* trying to make a value judgement

It's the underlying prudishness at various layers (some of it is only historical, some of it lives in the present to varying degrees in various sub-populations) which makes the rebellious "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll" thing a thing at all. If there was no prudishness in the first place, there would be no space for it to be popular to revolt against it.

It's because American media exports are mostly produced by a small group of people in California, one of the more socially progressive parts of the country.

A significant portion of the country's 330 million people are indeed prudes.

There’s more nuance to it than that, however: consider how the standards of film ratings diverge from the people making films. “This film is not rated” dug into that at some length, and I think it’s worth considering how much that has skewed the entire public discourse. We’re missing out on a lot of great movies because everyone knows that you can get approval for violence much easier than a healthy relationship.

I’d also note the difference between the public moral image projected and what they practice in private. We have far more hypocrites than prudes.

That's definitely the stereotype and I wouldn't say it's wrong. There's both a puritanical streak and an out-of-controlness in US culture. Also, Americans are less comfortable with their bodies, sex or no: public nudity, greasy hair, uncorrected teeth, body odor are things American's find disturbing in Europe and perhaps other cultures.

That's because America is not uniform or homogenous. I live in the one state in the country where prostitution is legal, and one of the few where gambling (outside of tribal land) is legal - and yet, the state immediately to the east is the Mormon capital of the world.

In my experience Asia (I lived in Korea, so my experience is primarily indexed against that) is far more prudish than America when it comes to sex.

My question, is how did Europe develop its seeming openness to sex and nudity? 1950s and earlier Europe looked a lot like America, maybe in that time America even seemed more open with sex. Europe produced Victorian prudishness, it used to be the norm for women to cover their hair, etc. It's not like Europe was always seen as a place that has been really open with sexuality.

Prudishness and Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll are just two sides of the same coin. They both need the other side to exist to stay relevant.

Maybe Europe but I find it hard to take seriously the claim that the US is more prudish around sex than most of Asia.

> Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll

Maybe in old movies but this is not exactly the vibe America is giving off today.

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