• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • Amsterdam
    • Bar and Restaurant Reviews
    • Learn Dutch
    • Dentists In Amsterdam
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact the Shallow Man
  • Dating
  • Recommended Sites and Services For Expats
    • The Easiest Way to Find A Good Cleaner
  • The Netherlands
    • Dutch Tolerance
    • Dutch Television
    • Fashion
    • Healthcare in the Netherlands
    • Property in the Netherlands
    • Zwarte Piet
The Amsterdam Confessions of a Shallow Man

The Amsterdam Confessions of a Shallow Man

Life in the Netherlands Through the Eyes of a Sarcastic Expat

5 Differences Between Dutch and American Girls

By Simon Woolcot 35 Comments

4.3k
SHARES
ShareWhatsappPinterestLinkedinTweet
RedditMail

Dutch and American Girls, 5 Differences

The Shallow Man was in Paris recently, and while sat outside one of my favorite cafes, was sat next to a table of American girls, one of whom spent most of the time discussing very loudly about whether or not some guy she’d been out with a couple of times was interested in her or not. Now if that had been a Dutch girl, she’d have jumped that poor mans bones or got rid of him in no time at all, which brings me to the subject of today’s post, 5 differences between Dutch and American girls.

For the purposes of this post, I will, of course, generalise (somewhat) and I’ll focus on the middle classes ladies of both countries of whom I know well. This post might be upsetting to some, and if as a result I’m rounded up by a group of American girls, and dragged handcuffed and blindfolded to Starbucks and am forced to drink overpriced Chai Tea, followed by a skinny latte and then made to sit through every episode of Modern Family, with an icy demeanour I’ll shout at my detractors “Fat is NOT a feminist issue, eat less and get some exercise.”

The things I do for my readers!

Disclaimer: All the observations about Dutch and American girls made below are based on people I’ve known personally or know.

 

1. Feminism Dutch and American girls

Dutch Girls

Dutch girls believe that feminism involves the following:

  1. Shouting
  2. Eliminating as many outwards signs that might lead one to conclude that they could possibly be female.
  3. Telling every poor sucker that has the misfortune to get into a conversation with them that they are feminists.

differences between dutch and american girls

American Girls

American girls believe that feminism involves the following:

  1. Blaming every misfortune, mishap and lack of career progression on sexism.
  2. Hating men
  3. Looking for proof of sexism everywhere. The subway is late? The driver was probably too busy looking at pictures of semi-naked women on the Internet. The Taxi driver asks you where you’re from? “I feel so sexually harassed”. A man holds a door open for you? “How patronising of him, it’s benevolent sexism, how dare he?”
  4. Whining about the fact that they can’t sunbathe topless legally in the US, this, of course, is a far more important issue than child poverty, high mortality rates amongst the poor, lack of health coverage etc, etc.
American feminism is different to that practiced in the Netherlands
American style feminism

2. Political Correctness

Dutch and American girls approach political correctness in fundamentally different ways.

Dutch PC means:

  1. Making comments about Moroccans, people from the former Dutch colonies, Muslims, Bulgarians, Romanians etc that in most countries would be considered outrageous. However, the Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalise gay marriage, this makes all Dutch people super tolerant because they love gay people.
Zwarte Piet Dutch blind spot
No PC nonsense for us

American girls believe that being politically correct means:

  1. Referring to their fellow citizens using labels. For example, African American, Indian American, Latin American, African, Jamaican, British American. Martian American. Illegal Alien American etc. If you’re really unlucky you’ll meet an American girl who when you ask her where she’s from will say  “well actually, I’m a quarter Latino, quarter African American, quarter caucasian and a quarter Japanese American.
  2. Telling everyone that they voted for Obama. However, many of these same women would still walk across a busy highway rather than risk being on the same side of the road as a black man on a dark night. “Did I say black? Call the PC police immediately, I meant of course African American”.

 

3. Marriage

There are major differences in how Dutch and American girls approach the question of marriage.

Dutch girls tend to view marriage as:

  1. An optional next phase in a successful relationship

When the Dutch marry, they’ll often marry during the week to keep the costs down and make it a small affair with close friends and family. Providing presents is usually optional but not expected.

American girls tend to view marriage as:

  1. The objective of being in a serious relationship. Marrying the right man is as important as choosing the right University, the correct profession and living in the right neighbourhood. It’s also a great way of furnishing your new home.

When an American girl is going to marry, she’ll invite five hundred close friends and will spend weeks deciding who should sit where and next to whom. The wedding has to be the biggest and the best of all time, and she’ll happily go into debt to tell the world, “I’ve got the right man” Americans, in general, have the bloody cheek to create a wedding list of overpriced household appliances and other goodies, even being kind enough to list the shops where you can buy the items. Depending on which item on the list you choose will determine if you get ringside seats at the reception, or end up being seated close to the toilet on a table with their great uncle who emigrated to the USA from Germany in July 1945.

4. Dutch and American girls and smoking

Dutch girls view smoking as:

  1. A human right
  2. The closest relationship they tend to have in their lives
  3. Something to do before, after and during sex

American girls view smoking as:

  1. A crime against humanity
  2. As something that shouldn’t even be allowed in a public park, what if a passing bird inhales some of the smoke? The Irony that Americans tend to drive the shortest possible distances instead of walking, thus polluting the atmosphere with exhaust fumes is often lost on them
  3. Something that people working in advertising agencies used to do in the sixties

5. Dating

While on a first date with a Dutch girl they’ll usually:

  1. Ask lots of questions (similar to a terrorist being interrogated by intelligence officers)
  2. Will pretty much make it clear if you’ll end up in bed together at some point or not

While on a first date with an American girl they’ll usually:

  1. Talk about themselves as if they are the star of their own reality TV show and are explaining to an audience of the unemployed, hungover students and lazy housewives every possible excruciatingly tedious detail of their lives
  2. Tell you their views on politics, even if you went out of your way to avoid such a discussion. This can be particularly annoying if she happens to be a Republican, or even worse a tea party supporter.
  3. Will give off hundreds of conflicting signals, including telling you all you never wanted to know about their previous relationships

In closing, I guess it’s a matter of what you’re used to, but like a Dutch man on a second date, I think I’d still prefer to go Dutch.

No housewives were hurt during the writing of this article.

For the differences between Dutch and American men, click here

For more Shallow Man wisdom subscribe to my channel on Youtube

 

 

 

4.3k
SHARES
ShareWhatsappPinterestLinkedinTweet
RedditMail

Filed Under: The Netherlands Tagged With: American and Dutch feminism, dutch girls vs american girls, dutch vs american

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. John says

    October 24, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    I can already tell a man wrote this…. who has no understanding of women other than his hatred of them and the bitterness that they won’t sleep with him. Hahahaha

    Reply
  2. Słucham? says

    July 27, 2020 at 6:37 pm

    This is really a load of bull from an immature confised man – on all front. This From a dual National German American living in The Hague (that’s ah, The Netherlands.)
    I mean – he assumes he understands „feminism” in order to analyze 2 different Nationalities…ha ha ha.

    Reply
  3. Speak_Truth_to_Power says

    October 24, 2017 at 11:53 pm

    I just met a very attractive, intelligent, energetic woman whose paternal family is from Denmark, and whose mother is Colombian. Man is she cold. No overt sexuality, sensuality, playfulness or glimmer of affection. Is this the Dutch persona. Or is there a warm heart in there waiting for the thaw to bring out the romance, passion and wild Latin sex lying dormant beneath the ice.

    Reply
  4. Steele Dutchess says

    September 14, 2017 at 3:43 am

    … and British guys live off the government and think working and marriage of any kind is too old fashioned (meaning they can’t get anyone and are too broke or just plain selfish enough to not want to contribute ) they are also rude and very condescending .

    Reply
  5. Frater Tencinbaulm says

    May 5, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    Being a guy from Connecticut, USA and having traveled to Amsterdam in my earlier 20’s each for about 2 weeks at a time, or a bit longer, I agree with most of what you put here. You didn’t really cover the physical attribute differences much but that’s cool. I like the honesty of Dutch people in general, often perceived as rudeness by people from the anglosphere.. and as far as physically I think Dutch girls (not the ones who aren’t so much ‘Native’ I guess depending though) are big boned, which is also nice. 🙂 Friendship wise I’ve found they make loyal friends but if you cross them once that’s it, they might completely abandon you and get much more angry than an American might.. in my case it was some mistake I made by disclosing something I didn’t know was private I think, but yeah..

    Reply
  6. Gail says

    May 5, 2017 at 12:37 am

    It’s interesting that you described, pretty much, a typical LIBERAL American woman in almost every aspect of the article…yet you then turned around and derided conservative women who, in most aspects, are generally the opposite of what you were complaining about. Therefore, I have to look at your entire article with a jaundiced eye….being a conservative American female with Dutch-Swedish-German-French ancestry.

    Reply
    • Shelly says

      April 27, 2020 at 4:26 pm

      You think he was describing a LIBERAL woman from the US? I didn’t even think along those lines. But, if you’re going to go there….these women sound more like typical superficial, social climbing, stay at home conservative women to me. But I’m just a well educated, career oriented, first-generation college grad (now physician) from a lower middle class, blue collar family. Having been raised on “deer meat” and now spending some time with people who eat venison, I think I have a unique perspective.

      Reply
      • Simone de Leeuw says

        June 7, 2020 at 3:52 am

        Amen!

        Reply
  7. Blueman says

    May 4, 2017 at 2:01 am

    LOL, this is just plain bullshit nonsense.

    Reply
  8. Kim says

    January 30, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    I’m an American woman with Dutch ancestry. The way you described American women seems accurate IF you’re describing a liberal American woman. Those of us that are conservative American women are not described here.

    Reply
    • Steele Dutchess says

      September 14, 2017 at 3:21 am

      Wrong , I am a liberal and in no way did he describe me .

      Reply
    • Diana says

      October 15, 2020 at 12:18 pm

      I’m a Dutch woman who’s lived in the States most of my life. I’m also a liberal who has nothing in common with anything described about US women. Way to lift your sisters up by tossing those old conservative card.

      Reply
  9. Alex Roozeberg (Blikje) says

    August 22, 2016 at 1:59 pm

    I live in the Netherlands, and this is absolutely not true for me, and almost all the people (girls) I know. We know feminism mean equal rights between women and men, we see marriage as something you do once a lifetime, sometimes twice, but only if it really doesn’t work out. We see smoking as something that is very unhealthy, and you should never start with. And dating is for us pretty much how the american way is described.
    And besides everything, we don’t wear panty’s as pants.

    Reply
    • The Shallow Man says

      August 22, 2016 at 2:10 pm

      hahahaha 😀 Well thanks for the clarifications. As I said at the beginning of the article, it’s based on women I’ve met in both the Netherlands and the USA. Doei!

      Reply
  10. Heavenly Troopers says

    August 3, 2016 at 6:09 am

    Murican any day! Love the post though, witty and elating 🙂

    Reply
  11. jr023 says

    April 15, 2016 at 4:10 am

    reading number 4 then look up the cancer rate of the Netherlands explains the high lung cancer rates of women

    Reply
  12. cagonker says

    April 14, 2016 at 12:05 am

    500 friends, holy…shitus.

    Reply
  13. Angela says

    March 26, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    Funny! Of course in general! !!

    Reply
  14. shara neiman says

    September 18, 2015 at 11:21 pm

    Whatever, sounds like a lot of bitter grapes from someone who didn’t have success with either.

    Reply
  15. Angélique says

    July 28, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    LOL the picture of the woman kicking the man is BDSM.

    Reply
  16. BG says

    June 3, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    American girls are so annoying! Just the worst! Can they ever, like, say “like” only, like, maybe every, like, four words instead of, like, every two words? And can they finish, like, sentences… and stuff… with a normal intonation and not, like, a question-like intonation? 😀
    Seriously, so hard to listen to high-pitched LIKEs and question-sounding statements on the streets!

    Reply
    • Rachel says

      June 23, 2015 at 3:14 am

      What a ridiculous stereotype. I’m an American girl and do not fit any of these labels. People need to stop generalizing about each others cultures and putting all girls in one category. Get to know a few American girls, you might be pleasantly surprised.

      Reply
      • shara neiman says

        September 18, 2015 at 11:16 pm

        It depends on where in America you live too. And considering America is a multi-cultural country who exactly are the “American” girls he’s referring to? I don’t fit into any of these labels either lol.

        Reply
    • xXTitaniumArcherXx says

      December 30, 2016 at 1:59 am

      Have you heard my voice? I can’t even sing as high as Shawn Mendes, where the hell did you get “high-pitched” from?

      Reply
    • kelleth says

      June 23, 2017 at 10:40 pm

      Dutch girls are the same, except they have an extremely annoying giggle. Its like walking past a chicken coop.

      Reply
      • Steele Dutchess says

        September 14, 2017 at 3:37 am

        and eat like hogs at a trough . I watched a chick on New Years Day on the train from Vlissingen back to Amsterdam WOLF down 2 McRibs. ZERO manners- just horked the things down . I do not know what you mean by in moderation unless it also includes the inhalation of an entire flounder in less than 10 minutes , that would be my Dutch sister in law who thinks I am too thin @118.

        Reply
  17. paleontologist says

    January 6, 2015 at 7:07 am

    Whether your wish was to make a deep joke or whatever it was, what you are using here are three spesific country names and much more importantly a religion name which consist of around every one of six people in the world with a truly unpleasant way. This kind of “being light-hearted” is too unutterable and disgusting. I am sure you guys even act like good people in your real lives as if you have ever thought about how to be.

    Reply
  18. trumpetsandtulips says

    September 4, 2014 at 6:12 pm

    I’m a Dutch and American dual citizen (born in Holland to American parents, lived here for most of my life but spent the last 8 years in the USA. Wait am I sounding too much like the American girls described in 2.1?), so as someone who embodies both the best and worst of all of the above, I still found this hilarious!!
    Pretty much lost it at:
    “if as a result I’m rounded up by a group of American girls, and dragged handcuffed and blindfolded to Starbucks and am forced to drink overpriced Chai Tea, followed by a skinny latte and then made to sit through every episode of modern family, with an icy demeanour I’ll shout at my detractors “Fat is NOT a feminist issue, eat less and get some exercise.”
    How do you not like Modern Family though that show is gold!

    Reply
    • Simon Woolcot says

      September 4, 2014 at 6:21 pm

      To be perfectly honest, I just used Modern Family as it’s quite trendy. I’ve never watched an episode 😉

      Reply
  19. TheGuy says

    August 12, 2014 at 10:04 am

    Hmm are they still talking bad about the Romanians? Probably the ignorant Dutch. I am a Romanian and never felt mistreated by anyone in NL. Maybe I don’t look like “some” people that are coming from Romania, numbering about one million 😀

    Anyway, back to the subject, I agree with it mostly, but I am not sure I like it. American girls might say a lot of things, but actually they might change their mind immediately or they would avoid to tell really important things about them, so you have to discover – things which make them interesting.
    Dutch girls ask a lot of questions (as you said, like being interrogated) then they say about them, likes and don’t likes. Their answers are a bit too straight forward, too honest,if you ask me, and then they expect exactly the same from you…For me this is not so interesting, it’s hard to call them for a second date; but of course it depends on the taste. Probably on the long run, we have to go Dutch 😉

    Reply
  20. twentysomething says

    August 11, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    you choose Dutch but the question is, would you marry them

    Reply
    • Simon Woolcot says

      August 11, 2014 at 3:46 pm

      Well it would be a lot cheaper than marrying an American 😉

      Reply
    • Sugarsail1 says

      June 13, 2015 at 12:51 pm

      that’s not the objective, you must be an American female: See 3.1

      Reply
    • Seek says

      November 14, 2017 at 10:51 pm

      As an American, I definitely would consider it. Am I wrong to have this fantasy? (Yes, I would become fluent in their language).

      Reply
Newer Comments »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

More to See

Five differences between Dutch and British girls

June 15, 2015 By Simon Woolcot

Dating Dutch women

5 Differences Between Dutch and American Girls

August 10, 2014 By Simon Woolcot

Dutch tightness

Dating a Dutch Man, Seven Deadly Mistakes to Avoid

January 16, 2014 By Simon Woolcot

Bitterballen popular Dutch deep fried snack

Essential Tips on How to Date Dutch Men

September 21, 2013 By Simon Woolcot

angry Dutch shooting tourists on bikes in Amsterdam

Stuff Dutch people hate

August 26, 2014 By Simon Woolcot

They are not black, they have been through a Chimney

September 24, 2013 By Simon Woolcot

political correctness and the Dutch

Dutch Tolerance Political Correctness and Racism in the Netherlands

May 31, 2016 By Simon Woolcot

Archives

Tags

amsterdam amsterdam cyclists blackface black pete brexit coronavirus Cycling in Amsterdam cycling in the Netherlands dating advice Dating dutch girls Dating Dutch men dating dutch women discrimination in dutch society discrimination in the dutch jobs market doe maar gewoon Dutch culture dutch fashion dutch normen en waarden dutch service dutch society dutch stereotypes dutch tolerance dutch tolerantie Dutch TV expat dating tips expat life in Amsterdam expat life in the netherlands expats in Amsterdam expats in the netherlands Koentact learn Dutch learn Dutch with the shallow man life in the netherlands mice netherlands pvv Racism renting in amsterdam renting or buying in the Netherlands? Sinterklaas sinterklaas zwarte piet the butcher tinder dating working in the Netherlands zwarte piet

Copyright © 2021 Simon Woolcot Amsterdam Shallow Man ​

SEO Services and Site Design
​ SEO Help Amsterdam ​

Close
Do you want to read more similar stories?

if you like our Facebook fanpage, you can read everyday such amazing stories.


Do you already like us on Facebook?
Do not ask me again for Facebook

Continue to the article »
4.3k
SHARES
FacebookTwitterGoogleWhatsappPinterestDiggLinkedinRedditMailTelegram