How Americanised are you?

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I'm probably the least 'Americanized' person I know. From almost every standpoint. I refuse to go along with the times but instead embrace myself for being unique and a person who thinks outside the box. Many factors go along with why it is , but it's something that I'm proud of considering the state America is in today, compared to previous generations.

Americanization isn't recent. And it's more than just pop culture. It's Disney, fast food, chain restaurants, drinking coca-cola and pepsi [or their other products]. How we dress even.

Americanization isn't really frivolous consumption/commodity fetishism, although there may be some correlation.

Come to think of it, I think current pop culture, music/tv/film and such, has very little to do with Americanization.

I even think media friendly politicians are [arguably] a byproduct of the ubiquity of Americanization.

[Nonchalantly picking up my copy of "Seducing the French: The Dilemma of Americanization"... Needed it for a beast of a paper/thesis]

I'm not American at all. I can be anti-American at times, in fact. I really don't like this country. Everyone wastes everything and cares inward for themselves only. I know that many countries have people like this, but America has the most.

Americanised?

Well a definition would have helped, I will assume this means 'culturally american' for all intents and purposes.

I don't feel particularly 'americanised' however I do feel some affinity and find I can understand and relate to some 'american' cultural artifacts and values/perceptions this means that I have some level of cultural resonance with US culture. However I am probably mush more 'anglicised' as up until my teens the UK and my Irish familial cultural legacy were the greatest influence on me culturally, since the late 1970's however US cultural exports and political influence has steadily increased leading to my local culture becoming much more consumerist/individualist which are two key facets of US culture that are exported.

As for all the US citizens who claim to not be americanised I find this an odd statement?? Being seduced by another culture or rejecting aspects of your own does not instantly erase the foundation of american cultural values that have been imprinted on you from birth. I sympathise with your disgust, boredom or whatever has led to this rejection as I have aspects of my own culture which I reject however I don't deny the impression they have made in the clay of my persona.

How americanised am I?

Well I don't watch TV, I don't listen to commercial radio, I seldom go to the movies and much prefer non american films as I want a narrative I cannot predict and lower levels of violence and more subtle character realisation.
I read some books by US writers but my reading is dominated by English, Irish and Russian writers.
Music? well my collection of CD's is dominated by Jamaican music followed closely by music from the UK, however I own more CD's by US artists than New Zealand artists?

I don't feel particularly 'americanised' and I uterly reject much of what is insinuating itself into my national psyche, and resist the cultural imperialism that confronts me and the foreign policies that are imposed on the international community. This however is appartently because I am 'anti-american', I presume this is because total awe and compliance is electing to be against y'all and if G W Bush was actually right when he said there were two choices 'with us or agin us' well I guess I am forced by default to the later, a pity as I will forever feel confused when I read Ron Rash, Annie Proulx or F Scott Fitzgerald or listen to Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson or Bruce Springsteen - but then maybe not, Dubbya was a muppet and quite simply wrong.

peace j

I, for one, am quite aware of the American influences that have pervaded life since my earliest childhood, and I can see the humour in it and laugh/smile about it.

Yes, most foreign television drama/comedy we get here in the Netherlands, is American. Most movies we see are American. Most songs that pump out our stereos are American songs. We wear Nike and eat at McDonald's. I don't think it's a bad thing or a good thing. It just makes sense for a country that's one of the economically and politically most powerful in the world, to export its culture to other countries. I like the aesthetics of American pop culture. I liked the families, values, situations that appeared in Full House, Cosby Show, Who's The Boss and so on and so forth. I like how, when Usher comes up with new dance moves, suddenly performers around the globe from Germany to South Korea mimic it and try to integrate it into their own flavour. And having recently worked at a factory where people of many different nationalities worked, making English the obvious choice for communication... I found that my own English was heavily influenced by the SoCal variant of American English, right up to the overuse of the word 'like' and the high-rising terminal.

Is any of this bad? No, not as far as I know. Here in the Neth, everyone is aware of this American influence, yet at the same time, people are also aware that This Is Not America and we will never be Americans. We're Dutch. And Koreans are Koreans. And Ghanaians are Ghanaians. And Brazilians are Brazilians. We hold onto our own things that make us Dutch. I'm the furthest thing removed from a nationalist, especially now that in my country right-wing sympathies have been increasing in recent years and everything that doesn't 'look' Dutch (including me) is not considered to 'be' Dutch by SOME people... I am still infused by Dutch culture through every pore. First and foremost I consider myself a citizen of the world. Who just happened to have grown up in the Netherlands, with a lot of MTV and Hollywood on TV.

Perhaps it's noteworthy that I've recently turned my gaze to the East for my popcultural needs: I enjoy pop music from South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, and recently also the Philippines. As someone who has Chinese/Indonesian heritage on the maternal side, I find it an eye-opener to watch all those music videos and see all the Asian faces on my monitor. Before, all I had in that department were Mutya Buena from the Sugababes, and Billy Crawford. And yes, I realise that most of the Asian pop culture (especially the music) I am enjoying is Western/American-influenced, and many people have pointed this out to me when I came along with my latest purchase of Indo-Pop or J-Pop. But then, one can say Dutch pop music has been AS heavily influenced by American pop music (irony demands that the first wave of Dutch pop and rock 'n'roll artists had a high percentage of Asian/European mixed artists from Indonesia).

This made me smile - especially alongside your icon! Stan is indeed the man...

No. I don't know why, but although I've studied some, I've never shown a whole lot of interest in any other cultures.

I like my fat American food and guns.

I'm American born & raised. In my teens, I was an Anglophile too. I'm not sure about saying I was seduced by British culture...or if it was more just looking for something out side of my normal life. Kind of an escape in a way. Love British culture, music, history, literature, etc. In the 90s, I was heavily into Irish culture. Still enjoy the music & history of the country. In fact, I'd still love to visit some day. The closest I've come so far, was a fly over on my way home from Europe. Ireland was not part of the itinerary, sadly.

What's funny is that starting in the late 80s up til the present, some people I've spoken with have asked me if I'm Canadian. They say that I pronounce certain words like a Canadian. I don't hear it myself. But it's kind of funny.

I'd say I'm Americanised to a fair degree as I've always taken a keen interest in the country.It's partly because geography and history are 2 of my interests and although I've read up about most countries in the world,the prominence of America in the media means it's
always high on the agenda.
A lot of my favourite tv programmes have come from there -Frasier,Cheers,Taxi,Star Trek.It's the same with music - The Eagles,Fleetwood Mac,Alison Krauss,Bruce Springsteen.Historical figures - Martin Luther King,Benjamin Franklin etc.
It's not to say I'm unaware of some negative aspects.Foreign policy has sometimes been questionable and I never agreed with the invasion of Iraq,but our own government in Britain has usually been involved as well. I try not to generalise and I'm sure if we took a keen interest in any country we would always prefer to see its positive aspects.

Very Americanized. Born and raised in America, if anything I fit into the West Coast (California) sub type of American minus the hipster elements. From my taste in music, sports, my accent and the way I dress is American.... theres a little bit of Japanese influence from my mom but im American thru and thru......AMURIKAH!

I share a lot of the views here, from the OP's falling out of love with America through to the idea that to treat America, or more precisely the US, as one homogeneous mass is a little ridiculous. It is a vast country. There are many Americas even within each of those 50 states. The pat dismissal of American culture - or perceived lack of it - is too tiresome to bother with. From Twain to Tharp it has contributed much more than some like to admit.

But when we ape American culture, we never get it right, so I wonder why we bother. The idea of proms in English schools strikes me as tragic. Not only in the awkward way we go about the whole process, but to the quite sinister introduction of yet another excuse to socially isolate people, especially those from lower-income households who can seldom afford the expense. It would be much better to come up with our own ideas, but we seem incapable of the effort.

As for mainstream media culture, I no longer have a TV and I never go to the cinema. I use online catch-up services to plunder the best of the BBC and Channel 4 to suit my tastes. Those tastes are narrow, even if they do encompass Family Guy and Horizon (a BBC science programme). I have no interest at all in most popular culture whether it is America's or anyone else's. My cultural influences come from online. Be it non-Hollywood US movies or low-budget output from Algeria, songs from Brazil or newspapers from all over the English-speaking world and parts of Europe (even though my language skills are limited).

It is. Though the kids seem to enjoy it. Silly buggers spend months beforehand ogling prom dresses and tuxedos and all that shite. Whoever rents and sells the f*****g things out must be laughing all the way to the bank at the way they've become popular. They can take their place against the wall next to wedding photographers come the revolution.

I'm wearing a suit and tie, the same one I wear for interviews and funerals for my prom next week. If anyone asks I'll say I'm going for the Agent 47 look.
Back in my primary school, we had a cheesy disco and lots of flat "Brand X" cola. My brother, who left a year or two ago, went in a limousine and a suit...thing.

I'd rather have a disco. Cheaper, won't have to wear a bloody suit and you can sweet-talk the chaperones into giving you free sweets. I will not take a seat number, I am a free man.

'Though its nice to see girls that don't normally wear dresses (the stoners, the goths etc) wear them. In a non-creepy way.

Yes, very much. I've always admired the cultures of the British Isles, generally. I also think highly of Scandinavian cultures and those of the Indian subcontinent. I have never really liked American culture. I consider it the dregs of other more highly developed societies.

Well, I'm American. Outside of that, I don't have a list of cultural checkpoints, marking what's American and what's not. I don't consider rampant consumerism to be my culture, which probably excludes most marketed products, both here and abroad. I don't see most American food, movies, music, and fashion as having much to do with the U.S. It's about money.

I know it's said, it's hard to "see" the culture you're in, so maybe that's true of me. But, really, I don't see most of that stuff as having anything to do with me. I'm from the Midwest and those things seem to come from elsewhere.

As for other countries culturally seducing me, well, about half of my favorite bands and t.v. shows come from the U.K. But don't know if I'd say I've been culturally seduced any further than being entertained.