British Comedians: Harry Enfield

Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield (born 30 May 1961 in Horsham, West Sussex, England) is a British comedian, actor and writer, and occasionally director.

Enfield writes and appears in his own television programmes, and has invented many humorous characters that are stereotypes of people in British society. His characters include
Loadsamoney, Kevin the teenager. who is always unhappy and says "I hate you" to his parents, and Wayne and Waynetta Slob.

British & American Stereotypes: Real Men

A quiche is a flat open pastry case filled with a mixture of eggs and cream and such things as cheese, bacon and vegetables.
In Britain and and the US there is an association of quiche with weakness, especially in men, as in the saying “Real men don’t eat quiche”, used in a humorous way. There is even a guide to all that is truly masculine called Real Men Don't Eat Quiche by Bruce Feirstein, which was a bestselling book on stereotypes about masculinity.


I'd Rather Be with a Real Man(TM) Any Day!
by 3rd WWWave
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Real Men

Real men read books and like foreign movies better than Hollywood ones.

Real men stroke me lightly all up and down my body, tickle my feet, and massage my back, without assuming it's foreplay.

Real men love exotic food, and aren't afraid to try new dishes.

Real men aren't afraid to touch other men, and are comfortable around gay men even if they're straight.

Real men like to watch me play sports. (And maybe even play with me on a coed team).

Real men like colored underwear.

Real men practice at least one kind of expressive art (music, painting, writing, etc). Working on cars does not count.

Real men like getting flowers as much as giving them.

Real men like to play, and know that it has nothing to do with foreplay and everything to do with being young at heart.

A real man likes to lean against a tree and watch the sunset fade.

Real men like furry and cuddly baby animals as much as women do.

A real man knows how to train an animal with patience and a calm attitude, rather than by force of will.

Real men throw away the can that they opened and ate from, instead of leaving it on the kitchen counter.

Real men clean bathrooms. Including scrubbing the toilet. And the bathtub.

Real men clean up after the pet that just hacked all over the carpet, instead of waiting 12 hours for the woman to come home from work and clean it up.

Real men buy thier wives seasons tickets to plays and theatres instead of sporting events.

Real men remember anniversaries and birthdays and other sentimental events.

Real men listen.

Real men kneel to me gracefully.

Real men clean the kitchen.

Real men eat quiche.

Real men change diapers.

Real men wear latex boots and perfume and NOTHING ELSE, and grow their hair down to their kneecaps.

Real men get me white wine and ice cream whenever I ask, and think nothing of driving 125 miles to a Japanese restaurant to pick me up some sushi when I feel like it.

Real men do not leave the seat up.

Real men give me footrubs and backrubs.

Real men respond to all demands with, "Yes, Milady."

Real men do laundry. My laundry.

Real men get my car tuned up when I'm too lazy to pry my ass out of bed and drop it off. They also feed my cats and clean the catbox.

Real men cook. REAL real men also wash the dishes.

Real men read Shakespeare aloud to their lovers.

Real men read.

Real men actually like going to musicals and the ballet and aren't just humoring their wives.

Real men cry at sad movies.

Real men kill the ants and then fucking clean them up plus removing what attracted them in the first place.

Real men buy sexy underwear for themselves. (And model it proudly for me.)

Real men have no fear of pink.

Real men don't shrivel when someone calls them gay.

...Real men are people, not wind-up dolls.

Stereotypes: Green Brigades

The green-ink brigade is a collective term for people who write abusive or threatening letters to people in the public eye.
[from the idea that only the eccentric would write in green ink]

Cool Link:
The green-ink brigade


The Green Wellie Brigade is a humorous or insulting name for rich people who live in the country and enjoy country life, especially hunting and horseriding. The name comes from the green Wellingtons (= rubber boots) that some of them wear. They are also distinguishable by their wax jackets.

American Colleges: Fraternities and Sororities

At some American universities, a fraternity is a club of male students usually living in the same house. A club of women students usually living in the same house is a sorority.
In order to join a sorority or a fraternity, you must be invited to rush, which is a period when there are lots of parties for new students and members to meet. To be invited to rush you must usually be the daughter or the son of someone who was in these sororities or fraternities, or somebody who is already a member has to suggest that you are suitable. At the end of rush, you have to pledge, which means you choose the sorority or fraternity you want to join, and must prove you will do anything to be a member of it. You are often expected to do things such as study for a specific amount of time, clean the sorority or fraternity's house, or learn all their rules and beliefs. They also sometimes demand that you do strange things such as wear the same shirt every day for a week. Once you are accepted by a sorority or fraternity, there is a special ceremony in which you officially become a sorority sister or fraternity brother.
Each sorority and fraternity is expected to do some form of useful work, such as collecting money for charity organizations. The names of sororities and fraternities are based on Greek letters, and so members are sometimes called Greeks.
Although sororities and fraternities are popular at most large US universities, some people do not like these types of clubs. The stereotype of a sorority sister is an attractive young woman who is not very intelligent, but who thinks she is impressive because she belongs to a sorority. The stereotype of a sorority brother is a young man who plays a lot of sport, plays stupid tricks, and drinks too much beer.

Stereotypes: Policemen in US & UK

In the US there is a stereotype that police officers sit in places that sell doughnuts all night, and eat too much while they are waiting for a police job to do. In the UK the old-fashioned stereotype of a policeman is of a friendly man who walks along the street
and helps people, for example by telling them how to get to a place, or by telling them the time.

Did you know?

The term bobby is used to refer to a London policeman, from Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), Home Secretary of England, who introduced the new Police Act in 1828.

British Stereotypes: Rab C. Nesbitt

Rab C. Nesbitt is a humorous character in a British television programme. He is a stereotype of a working class Scottish man who likes to swear, fight, eat unhealthy food, and drink too much alcohol.

British Stereotypes: Hyancinth Bucket

Hyacinth Bucket is a female character in a humorous British television programme called Keeping Up Appearances. She always keeps her house very clean and tidy, and is a typical example of an English snob (= someone who thinks social class is very important and is eager to be accepted by people of a higher social class). She pronounces her name to sound like "bouquet" (= an arrangement of flowers) instead of like "bucket".

Racial Stereotypes: Golliwogs

A golliwog (also known as a golly) is an old-fashioned child's doll, made of soft material, dressed like a little man, with a black face and with big white eyes and black hair, standing out round its face.
Many people who are against racism find golliwogs offensive because they show an old-fashioned stereotype of black people, but many other people think that golliwogs are just toys and their appearance is not important.

Dame Edna, An Australian Lady

Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books and hosted various television shows (on which Humphries has also appeared as himself).
Although Humphries freely states that Dame Edna is a character he plays, Dame Edna consistently denies being a fictional character or drag performer, and refers to Humphries as her "entrepreneur" or manager. Indeed, Dame Edna has frequently said that the thought of a man dressing up as a woman for entertainment purposes is repulsive.
Dame Edna is easily recognisable for her lilac-coloured hair (which she claims is an entirely natural wisteria hue) and over-the-top cat eye glasses. She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Switzerland and Martha's Vineyard. She is a friend and confidante of the Queen.
Dame Edna is praised for her insights into her homeland. When asked why Australians are so good at sport she commented "Good food and diet; open air life; juicy steaks; sunshine — and the total absence of any kind of intellectual distraction."
On 7 March 2007 her home town, Melbourne, re-named a city street in her honour: Dame Edna Place, formerly Brown Alley off Little Collins Street, was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So. Dame Edna was not at the renaming ceremony but was represented by ten look-alike Dames.
In MAC Cosmetics 2008 Winter Line-Up, a Dame Edna collection of cosmetics were released including eye shadow, lipstick, powder, and nail polish.

Dame Edna speaks with a strong Australian accent and often makes fun of people in the audience.

British Stereotypes: The City Gent

A city gent is a man who wears a dark or pinstripe suit to his job in the business or government institutions of central London. When people think of city gents they have in their minds a picture of a man wearing a bowler hat and carrying a black umbrella, even though few people look like this today.

No Women Allowed: Gentlemen's Clubs

A gentleman's club is a club which does not usually allow women members. It is often old, well-established, and in a pleasant part of the city. Gentlemen's clubs usually have a library, a bar and a restaurant. Gentlemen's clubs are associated especially with upper-class men.
The three most famous in Regency times being Whites (established in 1693), Brooks's (1764), and Boodles (1762). There was also Watiers, which was started by the Prince Regent and named for his chef, who ran it, and the Cocoa Tree Club, (whose chocolate house origin is obvious) and many others. Whites' was so exclusive that it was claimed that when an heir to a great family was born, the child's name was put down for membership at Whites before his birth was even was registered. Its members have included Beau Brummel and Baron Alvanley, Horace Walpole Edward VII, David Niven and the current Prince of Wales.
In the United States the term "gentlemen's club" is frequently used as a euphemism for strip clubs — a trend also increasingly common in the United Kingdom, with chains such as Stringfellows and Spearmint Rhino using the term in this way.
The Sherlock Holmes series featured the following fictional gentlemen's clubs which were the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle:
* The Bagatelle Card Club - One of Colonel Sebastian Moran's clubs in a Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Empty House
* Diogenes Club – Mycroft Holmes's club in the Sherlock Holmes stories.
* The Tankerville Club - Featured in two Sherlock Holmes stories.
There are amny other examples of fictional gentlemen's clubs in literature: P.G. Wodehouse invented the Drones Club, where Bertie Wooster popped in to avoid Aunts and other undesirables, and the Junior Ganymede Club which was for gentlemen's gentlemen (valets). Dorothy Sayers invented the Egotists Club and Evelyn Waugh created Brats Club, featured in A Handful of Dust.
An increasing number of clubs were characterised by their members' interest in politics, literature, sport, art, automobiles, travel, particular countries, or some other pursuit. In practice many gentlemen would be members of a number of clubs, and it was not simply for gambling that men gathered there. A man's club was a home away from home, a place where he could escape his wife, his mistress, and his creditors, where he could while away the evening in convivial company, and get a good plain dinner and a comfortable bed for the night. Many of the early clubs began life as coffee and chocolate-drinking houses in the 17th century, over time becoming meeting places for people of similar political ideas, and at various times were regarded as hotbed of political sedition; indeed the Cocoa Tree was once considered the headquarters of the Jacobite Party.
In the early years of the 20th century women's clubs were established and many still exist today. Membership is restricted to women graduates and other women who have distinguished themselves in art, music, literature, philanthropy or public service.

British Stereotypes: Andy Capp

Andy Capp is the main character in a British cartoon strip in newspapers. Andy Capp is supposed to be a typical example of a working class British man who is lazy, enjoys drinking beer in the pub, and is always annoying his wife. He always has a cigarette in his mouth and wears a cloth cap. Most people now see Andy Capp as a rather old-fashioned character.