Ugly American

Ugly American is an used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless and behavior of American citizens mainly abroad, but also at home. [Richards, Erin (2006). [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/10/31/cultural.etiquette/ "Are you the ugly American?"] CNN Travel. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Wederspahn, Gary (2008). [http://www.talesmag.com/tales/practical/ugly_american.shtml "Avoiding the "Ugly American" Stereotype"] Practical Planet. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Winter, Greg (2004). [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E2DE143EF930A1575BC0A9629C8B63 "Colleges Tell Students the Overseas Party's Over"] The New York Times. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Clark, Jayne (2006). [http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-04-27-ugly-americans_x.htm "That 'ugly American' image is getting a makeover guide"] . USA Today. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Sherwell, Phillip (2007). [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/18/wus18.xml "Straight-talking McCain vows to fix world's view of the ugly American"] . The Telegraph. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Moriarty, Erina (2001). Time Travellers. [http://www.time-travellers.org/Historian/UglyAmerican.html "How to Avoid Ugly American Syndrome"] . Retrieved on 2 May 2008.] Although the term is usually associated with or applied to travellers and tourists, it also applies to US corporate businesses in the international arena. [Holstein, William (2005). [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/business/yourmoney/23advi.html "Erasing the Image of the Ugly American"] . The New York Times. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Gross, Daniel (2007). [http://www.newsweek.com/id/80912 "Are You an Ugly American?"] Newsweek. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Clark, Hannah (2006). [http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/19/keith-reinhard-diplomatic-action-cx_hc_0519reinhard.html "Are You An Ugly American?"] Forbes. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] [Alban, Debra (2006). CNN. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/ADVISOR/08/22/business.etiquette/index.html "How not to be the ugly American"] . Retrieved on 2 May 2008.] [Rosenbaum, Andrew (2002). Harvard Business School, Boston, Mass. [http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3250.html How to Avoid Being the "Ugly American" When Doing Business Abroad] . ISBN: 1591393485. [http://worldcat.org/oclc/52962937 OCLC: 52962937] .]

Definition

The "Encarta" dictionary defines "Ugly American" as: stereotypical offensive American: a loud, boorish, nationalistic American, especially one traveling abroad, who is regarded as conforming to a stereotype that gives Americans a bad reputation. [Encarta Dictionary (2007). [http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861707375_561509100/prevpage.html "Ugly American definition"] Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] In contrast, "Dictionary.com" defines "the Ugly American" as: Pejorative term for Americans traveling or living abroad who remain ignorant of local culture and judge everything by American standards. [Dictionary (2008). [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/the%20Ugly%20American?r=14 "Result for: the Ugly American"] Retrieved online March 16, 2008.]

Other use

The term has also been used in the international sporting arena. At the 33rd Ryder Cup held in September 1999, the United States over-zealously celebrated after Justin Leonard holed a 45-foot putt on the 17th green; resulting in extensive and adverse media coverage. [Sports Illustrated (1999). [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/golf/1999/ryder_cup/news/1999/09/27/british_media_ap/ "United Slobs of America' British media rips 'ugly Americans' for celebration"] . Retrieved on 1 May 2008.] [BBC News (1999). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/464752.stm "The arrival of the golf hooligan"] . Retrieved on 1 May 2008.]

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the term was widely used after members of the US 4 x 100 relay team pranced around the stadium, flexing their muscles and making poses with the American flag, after winning a gold medal. [Ulfelder, Jay (2001). City Paper Online. [http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=3534 Game Face: Is Sportsmanship in the Eye--or the Color--of the Beholder?] Retrieved on 11 May 2008.] One foreign journalist called the incident "one of the most cringe-making exhibitions that the Olympics has seen". [Sappenfield, Mark (2004). [http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0805/p01s04-ussc.html "Task for Olympicians: How Not to be the Ugly American"] . Retrieved on 2 May 2008.] This event was very heavily criticized by the American press and public. The members of the relay team were contrite and apologized for the incident the same day.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, the term was regularly used after the skiing superstar Bode Miller, who bragged about skiing drunk before the Olympics, was adversely compared to the term "Miller time," and went home medal-less. [NBC Sports (2006). [http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/10727859/ "Skiing drunk 'not easy,' Bode says"] . Retrieved online 1 May 2008.] A lesser-known teammate was sent home for fighting in a bar. [Raasch, Chuck (2006). USA Today. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/raasch/2006-03-02-raasch_x.htm "Sports, politics tied in Olympic moments"] . Retrieved on 1 May 2008.]

In the scientific fields, the term has been widely used by the international community for the failure by the US to adopt the metric system. [Steffensen, Jen (2004). [http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2005 "The Ugly American in a Metric World"] . The DoG Street Journal. Retrieved on 18 August 2008.] [Metrication US (2008). [http://www.metrication.us/content/metric-system-rears-ugly-head-us-election "Metric system reas ugly head in US Election"] . Retrieved on 18 August 2008.]

In Philadelphia, a businessman opened a bar and restaurant called the 'Ugly American', stating it was a funny and provocative name. [LaBan, Craig (2008). Philadelphia Inquirer. [http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20080427_The_Ugly_American.html "The Ugly American"] . Retrieved online 2 May 2008.] In May 2008, the US House sub-committee passed a Bill (House Resolution 4080) that would allow more foreign fashion models to work in the United States, and was subsequently dubbed the "ugly American bill". [Russ, Dick (2008). [http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=89177 "Ugly American' bill passes committee; allows more foreign models to work in U.S."] WKYC Cleveland. Retrieved on 25 September 2008.]

Origin

The term originated as the title of a 1958 book by authors William Lederer and Eugene Burdick, "The Ugly American". [Lederer, William & Burdick, Eugene (1958). "The Ugly American". New York, Norton. OCLC: [http://worldcat.org/oclc/287560 287560] .] The film adaptation of the novel came out in 1963, directed by George Englund and starring Marlon Brando. [Internet Movie database (2008). [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056632/ "The Ugly American (1963)".] Retrieved online March 16, 2008.] Englund was nominated for a Golden Globe award as director of the film.

In the context of this novel, the title alludes to both positive and negative attributes of its characters. The authors state that one of the "good" characters is "ugly" looking to create a contrast with the "bad" characters who were "handsome". In the book, the authors' "good" characters used their skills and resources to make a positive change in the lives of villagers in Southeast Asia and the "bad" characters used their skills and resources for other purposes. For example, there is an "ugly" engineer who helps villagers with an irrigation system, and a "handsome" Ambassador who does not care about what happens to the people on the village level. The novel weaves many separate stories with these kinds of counterpoints of an "ugly American". [MacArthur, John, R. (2001). [http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1106-01.htm "The Ugly American Mindset".] Toronto Globe. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.]

The best-selling, loosely fictional account included descriptions of blundering, corrupt, and incompetent behaviors of Americans in Southeast Asia that were involved with American foreign aid. The book led to a move by President Dwight Eisenhower to study and reform American aid programs in the region. [Mutual Security Program (1956-57). [http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/listofholdingshtml/listofholdingsU/USPRESIDENTSCITIZENADVISORSONTHEMUTUALSECURITYPROGRAMFAIRLESSCOMMITTEERECORDS195657.PDF Dwight D. Eisenhower Library Abilene] , Kansas. Retrived online March 16, 2008.]

In the book, a fictional Burmese journalist wrote, "For some reason, the people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously. They're loud and ostentatious. Perhaps they're frightened and defensive, or maybe they're not properly trained and make mistakes out of ignorance." [Stesney, Julie (2005). [http://www.failuremag.com/arch_arts_uglyamerican_pollyanna_uncletom.html "The Ugly American".] Failure Magazine. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.]

The idea of the ignorant or badly behaving American traveller long predates this book. Mark Twain wrote about "The Innocents Abroad" in the nineteenth century, and Algonquin Round Table member Donald Ogden Stewart wrote "Mr and Mrs Haddock Abroad" in 1924. [Twain, Mark & Cardwell, Guy. [1927] (1984). "The innocents abroad ; Roughing it". New York, NY. OCLC: [http://worldcat.org/oclc/10799668 10799668] . ISBN: 0940450259. Retrieved online March 16, 2008.]

ee also

* American exceptionalism
* Anti-American sentiment
* The Quiet American
*Plastic Paddy

References

External links

* [http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/america Washington Post's How the World Sees America]
* [http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/ugly.html Ugly American: Common Errors in English ]