TWO SIDES OF THE ATLANTtiC -- TWO VIEWS ON LIFE?

[Robbin_Sinclair]

"...a fascination with leggings and stockings ... borders on fetishistic." This seems ironic seeing it posted on a CD website.

I'm a product of that school system. I have to discipline my mind to ignore the kids that I see walking around with short tartan skirts and leggings as a school uniform.

With an adult wearing something like that, however, I allow myself the freedom to act my age. So much the better if there is something interesting under that skirt.

Do I have thoughts that border on fetishistic because of a perverse school system? Yeah, probably.

r

[Lorileah]

Staying on thread. I think the majority of women believe men should be men, rough and troublesome, they seem to be attracted to that type.

rather a sexist view. Would you also say that men prefer "Feminine" women who cook and clean and drink tea? If what you said was true I have to wonder why so many people get married, the ideal mate is not what they got Maybe it's like eating at a buffet, you fill your plate and then see what someone else got and you want to go back?

If wanting a rough and tumble man was the norm, I would not have been married twice or had a girlfriend ... but maybe that's just settling. I will disagree that women "want" men who are "Men". Sure would shoot down Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and ...most actors. I will stick with the women wanting a man who cares for them and who doesn't hold secrets

I do see how it would be easy to think of everyone here still drinking sack, fagging for prefects and playing rugger in one's underwear on a frosty November morn,

First Georgia is in the southern part of the US silly ;P but the rest...you all talk funny don'tcha? It does ruin my plans to go to Oxford though, I don't know how to play rugger

[Teresa]

Leslie,
I think there's a great misconception about English public schools, I consider myself one of the lucky ones who won a scholarship place !
If you think it was all jolly hockey sticks think again ! We had all all day Saturday school , three two hour homework assignments each night and divinity homework on Sunday ! If you failed to hand in the prescribed homework on time you then had to complete it in detention on Saturday night ! As for time to to chase girls or get up to any other sexual exploits there wasn't time ! There were no beatings formally but the level of punishment was designed to keep us on the right path !
So who spent most of his time in detention for some pretty mischievous pranks, yours truly, and who didn't hand his homework in on time because of the distraction of his sister's dresses ?

As for the fascination with stockings , I think it must date back to the old music hall and the bawdy seaside postcards that were popular for years !
I find them more practical anyway and they are sexier , but there's no more connection with public schools than any other !
I guess we just like rigging as Katey says !

[Gillian Gigs]

One of the big differences between the two sides of the Atlantic has to do with humor. The Brits are cheeky and have lots of sexual hints, while the Americans have slap stick and laugh at obnoxious behavior. To me the Brits have a quirky side and are more prone to "wink" at others quirks rather than expect comformity. I love Brit humor, whether it was the Carry on gang, Monty Python, or Are you being served and the talk of someones pussy! Too many Brit transplant comedies failed in the America due to the cutting off of the humor as being too sexual for prime time TV. Many people see Brits as having a Victorian sexual restraint, but I think inside their hearts is a burning flame that comes out in the comedy. Hence there may be a greater acceptance of the sexual quirks within the population, like CDing. Possibily Americans may be more up tight about sex than they may realise.

[sometimes_miss]

I'd suggest UK women in general are more tolerant of what might be seen as eccentricity in their other-halves
And US women in general are probably more aware and accepting of alternate lifestyles than the UK
And quite honestly, anyone's opinion here in general is as good or bad as anyone else's on this subject...

^Katey has it about as close as you're going to get. Women in both areas 'in general' are more accepting of crossdressers,
AS LONG AS THOSE CROSSDRESSERS AREN'T HER HUSBAND.
As far as Americans being more religious, more and more churches are shutting down every day. The big one in the north east, Catholicism, in the past 20 years or so has seen huge numbers of people who don't show up to services or financially support the faith anymore; many have so few followers that they can't even afford the upkeep on their real estate, even when it's tax free. Want to buy a 'used' church? There are plenty to go around.

[Lynn Marie]

Although firmly planted on the "New World" side of the pond, I've always felt the English were more accepting of quirky behavior than we semi-uptight Americans! But, what do I know? I was raised on Westerns and Monty Python looked pretty darned weird to me! Oh I liked it, it was just pretty weird. Sort of like me.

[Helen_Highwater]

Ok Leslie, as no-one else has responded to this. There's a MASSIVE difference between tights and stockings+suspenders (S&S), just starting with "ease of access for intercourse/foreplay". I'm surprised this is limited to the UK, certainly the Moulin Rouge and Berlin lounges would suggest France and Germany are into suspenders, not also forgetting Amsterdam red-light districts. Personally, I feel many times more eroticised if my SO is wearing S&S (as opposed to tights=turnOFF), and likewise for myself. Both of us in S&S together, aaahh, awesomeness does not describe it. There's no shortage of US porn sites with ladies in S&S, so really I'm sure its universal to the occident.

OK this isn't very PC but when I was somewhat younger and just starting out in the work place the older guys would refer to the top of stockings as the "Giggle band"; get past that and you were laughing!

Getting back on subject I think there's a real danger of the grass always being greener on the other side of, in this case, the pond.

On the UK side I can't say that we have an equivalent of the bible belt and while we have rural areas, being such a small country those are relatively small in population terms with larger conurbations being within easy driving distance <1hr. The Police are very aware of what are now called Hate Crimes so attacks on the grounds of race or sexuality are taken seriously carrying possible prison sentences. Many TV soaps have carried serious story lines of same sex relationships and so I think in general it's become or is becoming a more accepting society.

However, that doesn't necessarily translate into partners being accepting of a CD'ing husband. Generation is likely to play a big part with the young showing greater tolerance. Also class and education will play their parts.

Having said that i can't see a major UK city electing an openly crossdressing mayor which would tend to indicate that the big cities of the US display greater tolerance than would be found over here.

[Sarah Louise]

Having said that i can't see a major UK city electing an openly crossdressing mayor which would tend to indicate that the big cities of the US display greater tolerance than would be found over here.

This could soon be tested. Eddie Izzard plans to run for London Mayor in 2020: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2...-into-politics

[Eryn]

Mimi and I have discussed this and one thing touched upon by other members is that, in the US, many of us are descendants of pioneers, people who considered independence and simplicity to be virtues. We see this in the concepts of the cowboy, both real and fictional. Men who violated this norm were considered "dandies" and "city slickers" who were beneath contempt. Both men and women were raised to consider this image of a "westerner" to be an ideal. You either were the Marlboro Man or you wanted to have him in your bed.

People from the other side of the Atlantic didn't have a recent pioneer era, so their society might be more tolerant of men who are a bit fancier than the norm.

That said, there seems to be so much individual varation among our SOs that any national generalizations are of interest only for statisticians. What really counts to me is that Mimi is wonderfully supportive, not that she fits into any nationalistic mold.

[Leslie Langford]

Hmmm...not all that far-fetched, Helen.

In 2000, Enza "Supermodel" Anderson ran for Mayor of Toronto, and came in at 3rd place with a respectable 14,000 votes.

http://www.mosuniverse.com/dragalicious/enza-anderson

Then again, there's Stu Rasmussen who actually did serve as Mayor of Silverton, Oregon in the U.S. for six years until stepping down earlier this year due to the toll that political office and the constant infighting among city council members finally took on him...

http://www.kgw.com/story/news/local/...fice/21415041/

It should be noted that the prolific use of the pronouns "he", "him" etc. in this article are not due to mean-spiritedness or political incorrectness. In fact, that designation is actually in accordance with Stu's own wishes, as he uses male pronouns and has kept his original name. According to him, he identifies as a transgender person but not fully as a woman. This candor and in-your-face attitude makes his election as Mayor of a small (and by all accounts - "un-hip") typical middle-America community all that more remarkable.

[LilSissyStevie]

My wife is very tolerant and she's from the deep South....of England.