Rod Collins

102 Comments »

1. Little Brother said,

   January 2, 2009 @ 3:41 pm

   Rod,
   It is dreadful. You should see the faces of some of my French and German chefs when they tell me what they have seen in English pubs and nightclubs, you need more than one example to be a stereotype and we’ve got plenty of examples!

   LB

2. Rod said,

   January 2, 2009 @ 7:41 pm

   LB
   indeed - what will be interesting will be to see if that does become the national stereotyped image.
   Best
   Rod

3. juli said,

   January 2, 2009 @ 10:45 pm

   Warning: I could rant about this for ages - it’s a real bugbear of mine.

   Unfortunately I think you’re right - this has become the increasingly seen stereotypical image of young women in the UK. Personally I don’t understand the point in all this binge drinking, throwing up in the gutter, hungover at work the next day, stuff - maybe I’m old before my time! It would be the stereotype assumed by many foreigners if they were told a little about me for instance - I’m 25 years old (eek, maybe I’m starting to get past the ‘young woman’ stage?!), single, fairly reasonable job, was born and grew up in North East England where I still live. And while we’re on the subject of stereotypes, it’s a long time since I’ve seen an old man in a flat cap, and no-one I know owns a whippet!

   But back to the subject - I don’t know if it’s just because I don’t drink (I don’t like the taste of alcohol, and certainly don’t like a hangover), but by many of my peers I’m seen as boring. I’d much rather spend my free time with friends and family, perhaps having a nice meal, going to the pictures or a gig or something rather than trailing around pub after pub after club, and I have a number of fairly sensible pastimes (riding, craft activities, music, volunteer work, etc) and through all this and the people I meet I know that many of the young women out there think and act like me, but because it’s the binge drinking, getting themselves arrested, throwing up in the street, women who get shown on the news and talked about in the papers, people assume we’re all like that! It’s always interesting to see people’s reaction when I tell them I don’t drink - more often than not they accuse me of lying (what, not at all? You must drink on a weekend at least?) or assume I’m ill!

   It’s like most stereotypes though - the vast majority of teenagers are not actually granny-mugging, knife-wielding, hoody-wearing members of a gang, but because that’s what’s publicised they’re all tarred with the same brush. What I don’t know is how we are ever going to move away from the binge-drinking, skirt too tight image, as the problem just seems to get worse, not better.

4. Rod said,

   January 3, 2009 @ 9:40 am

   Juli
   great comment , many thanks. I certainly agree with you in seeing the binge drinking as pointless. Personally I like a drink but I never get drunk - I fail to see how it’s enjoyable to be ill and goodness knows what else.

   I would also agree that the vast majority are not like this but increasing numbers are which willl fuel the stereotype I suspect.
   Thanks again for a great contribution Juli
   All the best
   Rod

5. Lucy said,

   January 5, 2009 @ 8:03 pm

   Juli,

   I couldn’t agree with you more! You sound exactly like me - I’m 22, and am often met with surprise or suspicion when I say that I don’t like to drink a lot, or that I don’t like clubs, and that my favourite thing to do in a pub is to have a nice Sunday lunch with my fella! (One glass of wine at most, of course, unless I’m driving!)

   I do drink a little, but never to the point of making myself ill or having a hangover. If I have a night out with the girls, we go to the cinema, have a nice meal, then finish the night playing cards - no-one will be drunk. My friends are mainly single, well educated, and around my own age.

   I spend a lot of time abroad, in France, Germany and Holland, and my friends there all tell me how they expected me to be when they first met me - pretty much as you describe, Rod: drunk, tartily dressed, overweight and loud. They say the thing that most people will say, if asked about English girls, is that they’ll sleep with you if only you’ll give them a straw to help them drink. They tease me about it, but steadfastly believe it’s truth about most English girls!

   Like Juli, I could rant forever, but I will leave it there!

   Best wishes all

6. Rod said,

   January 6, 2009 @ 11:08 am

   Hi Lucy
   very interesting comment, it certainly looks as though the theory could be holding true , unfortunately !
   I also just heard that there have beeen TV documentaries in Germany about this same thing - cameras on the streets filming the girls etc.

   We know this is not everybody but it looks like enough for a stereotype !
   Thanks again Lucy
   All the best
   Rod

7. Rod said,

   April 24, 2009 @ 6:43 pm

   Update:
   Another statistic to be proud of . . .
   Revealed today, British women are the fattest in Europe
   The top the league table with an average BMI of 26.2 !

8. Josie said,

   May 2, 2009 @ 7:09 pm

   I think sayin that is well unfair.
   Could you possibly give me the name of this journalist?
   Thnx

9. Rod said,

   May 2, 2009 @ 7:25 pm

   Hi josie,
   I don’t recall his name I’m afraid but I think the paper was either The Timees or The Daily Telegraph.
   All the best
   Rod

10. Andrew Tudor said,

    June 21, 2009 @ 9:32 pm

    As a Canadian student who just spent 6 months in Hong Kong with a bunch of British girls studying in university there, I must admit that the majority of them were fat, ugly and binge-drinkers. It was quite appalling and this blog post is devastatingly accurate.

11. Rod said,

    June 22, 2009 @ 8:02 am

    Hi Andrew,
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
    I was talking to a policeman a while ago and he says the changes in the last few years are beyond belief !
    He also said the reality is even worse than the statistics (there’s been a huge rise in drink an dviolence related incidents involving women) because, and I quote, “give women more latitude than men”

    All the best
    Rod

12. Elle said,

    July 28, 2009 @ 1:35 pm

    ‘I think the image described in the article is 100% true and I’m very sorry to say it. I don’t think every british girl is like this but definitely the majority, especially girls in my age range. Im seventeen, I was born in aus but now live in the south of britain, I practice nichiren buddhism (out of my own free will) and I am staying abstinent till marriage.

    I enjoy lifeguarding down the beach, drinking coffee, surfing, hanging out with friends. I believe in peace and love and I live a relaxed lifestyle although I have aspirations to become a doctor. However, I am one of the very few that think this way and its difficult to be different!

    A lot of my peers have no morals, go out drinking, smoke/take drugs, have sex with random boys, get hungover, don’t bother at college etc. Its sad because I don’t think most girls that are like this want to be, I think they get pushed into the mainstream and do what everyone else is doing to fit in. I think its because we are young and still trying to discover who we are so we are vunerable and just want to be ‘normal’.

    I’m proud to be myself, I have good friends who don’t need to drink copious amounts of alcohol just to have a good time. I get the same high off riding a wave than the chicks smoking joints and downing vodka in the clubs.

    I wish girls wouldnt be afraid to just be themselves instead of following the crowd, its such a better way to live - healthier, happier and more enjoyable! Peace

13. Rod said,

    July 28, 2009 @ 1:48 pm

    Hi Elle,
    thanks for the outstanding comment - welcome to the site and I hope you’ll return.
    It sounds to me as though you’ve got it cracked !
    Being happy and comfortable with yourself is surely the building block for a future life - and hopefully a life that is going somewhere.

    So many seem to be on the road to nowhere and as you quite rightly say, I’m sure a lot of these girls don’t really want to be the person they’ve become.

    I make to moral judgements as to lifestyle choices and I believe it’s possible to do an awful lot of things and have an awful lot of fun in one’s youth without ending up in this sort of state.

    I wish girls wouldnt be afraid to just be themselves instead of following the crowd, its such a better way to live - healthier, happier and more enjoyable! Peace

    Bingo Elle ! Nail on the head !

    I personally have never found as much pleasure as I get now from the pleasures of a healthy and simple life - hugely satisfying and it makes me a more rounded person I think

    All the best
    Rod

14. Bebe said,

    October 27, 2009 @ 6:49 am

    these girls aren’t fat, maybe overweight but not fat, so your saying it’s ok to be skinny and drunk in a mini skirt
    thats shocking. Btw I am not overweight, I’m in the normal weight range for my height. But yeah you should find some pictures of actual fat girls

15. Rod said,

    October 27, 2009 @ 8:25 am

    Hi Bebe
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
    You seem to have missed the point if I may so so - the article is about perception. In fact the picture used last of the three girls is one of the more flattering !
    If you don’t think they’re fat then here’s one with even fatter girls in !

    
    
    
    
    BMI Challenged English Girls on a Night Out

    It’s certainly notabout size either, once again that is the perceptionpeople have of us here.
    But just to show you, and the world, slim English girls not only exist but that they too can pass out in public . . .
    How safe is she now ? It’s terrifying really !

    
    
    
    
    The Classic English Rose

    Hope this helps Bebe - though it’s hard to see it helping the cause
    All the best
    Rod

16. Zoe said,

    December 4, 2009 @ 3:51 am

    I think this article was written for me! I too do not drink and if there is one thing that does not tempt me, it is alcohol! You can have so much more fun without it and best of all, you will be in control! I have drunk alcohol in the past and as alright as some drinks may taste, I would opt for the healthier option everytime and I’m not exactly the healthiest person out there. And yes people do look at me funny but I couldn’t care less, everyone loves me for who I am anyway =] and if you look hard enough, you will find other - eventually.
    It pains me too see people ruin themselves like that and if you’re gonna get fat, don’t do it because you’re drinking too much and not exercising enough! And just think about the awe-inducing amount of benefits there are to not drinking and how beneficial these will be to your body, how you feel how you look how you will feel and look in 10 years time! And you get such a buzz from knowing how well you’re going to preserve yourself whilst the drinkers will just deterioate further and further.
    So if you’re not gonna do it to be healthy at least do it for vanity it will pay off and you’ll be able to indulge yourself in other things which make you fat (oh my God chocolate!!!) without ballooning into a dangerously quickly-expanding stretch-marked about-to-burst-out-of-your-own-increasinglty-shrinking-oversized clothes typical British girl!
    Talking from experience and not exactly being perfect myself… you can trust me when I say that you will want to be careful. Right now you may have age on your side (so all the more why you should be making the most of your body’s natural health) but beauty, and I’m talking about the natural kind here, is not so easily presereved…you’d be surprised.
    You’re only young once, make it last. (If only I could be so diligent myself!)

17. Zoe said,

    December 4, 2009 @ 4:17 am

    *preserved

    so do it while you still can! I wish I’d know this when I was younger (and I’m only 19 :S)

18. Rod said,

    December 4, 2009 @ 8:10 am

    Zoe,
    fantastic comment many thanks - welcome to the site and hope you’ll return.

    Whatever some people may think you’ll get the respect from those worth having it from.
    The big thing here is you’re doing what you want not simply following the herd - I suspect I know who’ll be the winner in a few years as well.

    Thanks again for a great insight, much appreciated.
    All the best
    Rod

19. Zoe said,

    December 4, 2009 @ 1:19 pm

    :)

20. Archibald said,

    December 10, 2009 @ 7:32 am

    I respect Elle that had choose to stay abstinent till marriage.
    I practice sport and meditation myself.
    We always [sometimes] tend to approach the problems from a shallow point of view.
    This is not about drinking, like or dislike things. Its far deeper than that. Its about greed and desire for things, cravings, its about desperate need for attention, We have to blame ourselves for having these poor victims in our society, because they are victims, and they are like this because “we” that call ourselves healthy are too bussy with our own cravings for other things…and have you ever thought that those “skinny and drunk in a mini skirt” as Bebe said are far greedy than those fat ladettes because their desire for attention is so much so that they choose to starve themselves just to be chosen-like packets of products in every supermarket that scream “pick me”.
    Welcome to consuming society.
    Night. Love each other.
    Archibald-certainly not bald

21. Rod said,

    December 10, 2009 @ 7:57 am

    Archibald,
    it is a problem of greater depth than just drink which is why I always deride the shallow politicians who feel the pub opening hours or the price of alcohol are the major part of the problem.

    The problem is two-fold as I see it, lies at the doorstep on the individual and issues of self-worth and respect etc.
    Secondly it lies in culture, most people lack the imagination to go their own way so simply follow the herd, the herd tends to be what they see around them hence the self-perpetuating spiral downward in many areas

    Cheers
    Rod

22. Zeus said,

    December 10, 2009 @ 11:21 pm

    Firstly can I just say Zoe, Elle, Luci and Juli I commend you for having the self respect, individuality and heart to live your own lives as you are and not give in to peer pressure. Also to Rod for writing a brilliant, factual article. I think it’s now a huge problem that thus country has, we talk about culture yes it is a culture now, but it’s also to do with the poor parenting these days and the lack of discipline. I’m 21 and studying engineering at Uni, neither me nor my housemates get drunk, we have the odd drink when we feel like, but we live our lives the way we want and we have so much fun without the headache and soiled clothes in the morning. I was on the tube the other day, according to one of the adverts, britains drunkards are costing the nhs over £4million a year; personally I think it is disgraceful, and I think the culture is so boring. Me and my colleagues HAVE a bit of culture; we go to jazz clubs to hear music, we bake together, we visit the Tate and other museums; our Friday night is a cinema trip or a fun game of bowling. Girls have over taken the lads in the drinking game, and that’s what it is now, a game.. They are like sheep… If a few do it, they all have to. Otherwise they are not ‘cool’. Disgraceful. All I can say is thanks to the girls on this sight for showing me there are girls out there who can survive without alcohol! And let’s hope the government starts paying more attention to this disasterous issue…

23. T said,

    December 23, 2009 @ 8:45 pm

    I don’t get why people can’t find a happy medium. It’s funny that I take pride in saying this but I do drink and I have been drunk but I have never thrown up, passed out, slept with someone I don’t even remember meeting, etc. There are ways to enjoy a good drink or two or three without being a sad pathetic sloppy drunk.

    As for the weight thing to eachhis own on that one but I will say that no matter what your size puking in public is very unattractive and anti-sexy.

24. sarah said,

    January 5, 2010 @ 1:48 pm

    drunken, overwieght, tarts and all the binge drinking, junk food bad lifestyle has probably contributed to women from the uk having the biggest boobs in europe which no doubt please many of them

25. Rod said,

    January 5, 2010 @ 6:02 pm

    Hi sarah,
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
    I must say when I read in the papers that British women breasts were getting bigger (needless to say the British press heralded this like they would a cure for cancer) I thought to myself
    OK, yes . . . but then so is the rest of them.
    If the average British woman has managed to put 7 inches on her waist size in the last few years then it’s easy to see why their cups runneth over
    All the best
    Rod

26. iggy said,

    March 1, 2010 @ 11:45 am

    Hi,
    I’m 35 from Spain, lived in Australia for 12 years, back in Spain and have worked on and off in England for the last 10 years. Seen the English drunk here (Ibiza, Pamplona in San Fermines, Madrid and Barcelona) and there (England).

    It has always surprised me how in Spain you can have 50 bars in one neighbourhood all full of people drinking, smoking hash, doing coke and amphetamines on the pavement or the WC and there are hardly any fights (if any).

    When I see groups of Poms drinking anywhere in the world it scares the hell out of me. I don’t think the problem is the drinking or the unflattering clothes (from the outside England looks like Fashion-victim-land) women wear, it’s the violence that comes out of what seems to be most of you when you do drink.

    I’ll emphasize that the problem is not the drugs (including alcohol) although they are by no means a healthy alternative but the violence intrinsic in your current society.

    Iggy

27. Rod said,

    March 1, 2010 @ 6:48 pm

    Hi Iggy,
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site.
    It’s a great comment and sadly very telling. It’s something we hear as a general opinion but clearly here you see it first hand - Brits Abroad !

    I think your last statement really hiots the nail on the head - I personally believe drink usually reveals the real you, your inhibitions are down so you simply do what it is you really want to do.
    It’s a terrible sham and something which I doubt can ever be reversed
    Best
    Rod

28. Faye said,

    May 16, 2010 @ 12:17 pm

    I can totally understand how people outside Britain would build up this stereotype - the media report the unusual and shocking stories, “And on Saturday night, Sarah and her friends stayed in and watched a DVD and all went home safe” just isn’t a “story” is it?! What’s frustrating is that people then pick up on the stereotype and think that all people in a particular group are such-and-such a way, whether it be British girls or Australian men. I wouldn’t even say that “most but not all” British girls are binge drinkers, which I think previous commenters have been conceding, to my mind it’s atypical to find girls like that. Just like the media tend to portray all teenagers as knife-wielding hoodie-wearing thugs, which to me, as a teenager at the time when that particular image was going around, was completely weird because I didn’t know anyone like that (even amongst friends who were from areas that were stereotypically the “bad areas” where the media portrayed you’d find kids like that, or friends who weren’t particularly erudite or eloquent… they still weren’t thugs).

    I’ve just turned 22, and I’m also at university in London (yet another stereotype! The impression that all university students are drunkards, lazy, and sleep with anyone in sight). I don’t drink alcohol. I gave it up when I was 19. My reasons for giving it up completely were simply that prior to that, I really didn’t drink much at all. I didn’t even like the taste of most alcoholic drinks. I’d have an alcoholic drink about three times a year maybe, tops, and when those few occasions came round I never drank heavily, in fact you’d be pressed to get me beyond a single glass. There was no occasion when I did drink alcohol that I wasn’t in total control. So I just sat down one day and said to myself “you know, alcohol’s just not that big a part of my life. I’m not that interested in alcohol, I don’t need alcohol. Why not just give it up completely?”. And I don’t see myself as unusual or an exception for doing that. I have other friends and acquaintances both male and female who are also tee-total by personal choice, who prefer evenings in with friends, or going out and doing other activities than going to nightclubs, such as seeing a film, playing sports, going to uni activity clubs like martial arts and literature and study clubs, even (GASP! This will shock the media stereotypes) doing volunteer work with charities. Other friends and acquaintances do drink alcohol, but it’s not a problem. Like me before I became tee-total, they never drink to excess and are always in control, and they remain friendly, interesting, intelligent people who I’m happy to be around and to call my friends. None of them frequent nightclubs, and would much rather be elsewhere doing other things. I’ve only ever been inside a nightclub once in my entire life.

    I frequently look at the people around me of my age group, and think to myself how proud I am to be part of a generation of such fine young men and women. And what prompts that thought is actually more to do with how they are interesting, intelligent, thoughtful, decent, generous people, than about drinking alcohol.

    That said about stereotypes, I was in France recently, in a very small restaurant in a village for the evening, and two Australian guys walked in, obviously drunk but not completely senseless. They didn’t speak French and the poor teenaged boy waiter couldn’t understand what they wanted, and they tried shouting loudly and slowly at him as if that would get the message across. In the end the boy looked over desperately at me and I had to tell him in French what they were trying to order. They then proceeded to be rather loud and one guy was giggling and trying to wind up the other, and the other was growling “I’m gonna thump you, didn’t I tell you not to do that?” Fortunately it didn’t go beyond that. But I don’t think all Australian men are drunkards just from encountering those two bozos. And I don’t think the locals took against British girls, at least from my friend and I being there - I met and spoke to many of the locals there, they were very generous and they all commented on how lovely and polite I was. I didn’t go to any bars or nightclubs either, or fall into bed with any local men!

29. Rod said,

    May 16, 2010 @ 5:31 pm

    Faye,
    thank you for a superb comment and welcome to the site - I do hope you’ll return.
    I think you’re right, by definition it cannot be ‘most people’ if so numerically it would be carnage out there (no Carnage pun intended)

    I suppose the biggest problem is once a stereotype gets embedded it takes some shifting, it’s certainly harder to get rid of than it is to attain.
    It’s also a shame that people such as yourself may get prejudged by others when abroad based on the way others carry on

    Thanks again Faye for the eloquently put other side of the coin, very much appreciated
    All the best
    Rod

30. Faye said,

    May 18, 2010 @ 9:36 am

    Thanks, Rod. You’re right - it would be utter carnage out there if it really were the majority of people who were like this. The frustrating thing for stereotyped groups - be it teens, or British girls, uni students, Australian guys, anybody - is that the media portray that everyone in the group is like the stereotype when in truth it’s the exception to the rule. News discussion segments for example, you’ll hear things said like “The problem with young people today…” or “Teenagers are terrorising our streets…”. How idiotic! As if people were all the same and part of some communal gang! Have they ever been out of the streets to see for themselves?! Round here there is no such problem! Even in the heart of London, say at the dead of night, if I encounter or observe people who are truly drunk, perhaps they are students from my own university, they might be drunk but more often than not they remain amiable and attempt to be polite and “do the right thing” like help people with directions or give up their seats on the train.

    I feel pretty certain that even people who are drunk, in the main, attempt to continue being decent people. The incidence of teens throwing up as a result of being drunk is probably slightly higher simply because they haven’t got enough experience with alcohol and recognising their limits, and education about alcohol could be better. I think a tv programme recently had some doctors observing a group of teens on a night out, and then afterwards running medical tests on their livers and explaining the dangers of liver damage to the teens. The teens then sweated it out as they waited for their results and one of them had a narrow margin of escape in his result - many of them then went on to say that they had never known the information before and that they intended to regulate their alcohol intake much more carefully in future.

31. Rod said,

    May 18, 2010 @ 7:42 pm

    Faye,
    the media have a lot to answer for. The need for ‘content’ as so overwhelming nowadays, add to that tighter squeezes on money, they just go for anything without a care a to the consequences or images they create.

    I’d agree with you, things are nothing like as bad as they are portrayed. This country has had a drink problem pretty much days after drink was invented - certainly historically it goes a long way back.

    I think we’d all do well to consider things from what we actually see and experience rather than what we are told.
    It could lead to parents letting their children play outside and older people not being terrified to go to the shops because they see a young lad in a hoodie - like as not he’ll hold the shop door open for you.

    Regards
    Rod

32. LoveLondon said,

    July 21, 2010 @ 7:47 pm

    Sadly true, except for a few trendy neighbourhoods in London.

    Where are the REAL women?

33. Steve-o said,

    July 24, 2010 @ 2:11 pm

    I much prefer foreigner girls to English girls. They seem more woman like and most english girls think it’s normal to drink yourself to death to the point they are nusing huge hangover, and on the verge of nearly dying. I am a british born english guy and I do think there are some very nice attractive English girls about, but when they drink themselves silly and have the need to shout and act like idiots then for me that’s a huge turn off.

34. James Ward said,

    July 29, 2010 @ 10:51 pm

    I lived within a luscious Swiss canton for over two years, working with alcohol and encountered many, many British people. 100% of those who consumed alcohol, consumed within the confides of sensibility, and ran with an agenda that contained zero aggression and zero detriment.

    With hindsight, its clear to me that the media-driven hypocrisy of the UK creates tension between alcohol and youth association and to tarnish a particular section of society, in order to appease the majority, is at best unfair; but i suspect it has and will always be this way.

35. Rod said,

    July 30, 2010 @ 7:46 am

    James,
    thanks for the coment and welcome to the site. I’ve been to Switzerland myself and it’s absolutely fabulous, quite the best holiday I’ve ever had.

    I wonder how much of your experience has to do with who goes to Switzerland for a holiday ?
    I think we are living in a polarized society, we always have of course, but now I think increasingly so.
    I think this issue is not a blanket one and as you say it’s not right to tar all with the same brush

    All the best
    Rod

36. James Ward said,

    July 30, 2010 @ 1:37 pm

    Kudos Rod.
    Valid point about living in a polarized society.
    No matter how bad it is out there, at least we aint shoving kids up chimney’s anymore…

37. Rod said,

    July 30, 2010 @ 5:02 pm

    James,
    I reasd in the papers today about Newquay being hugely popular again with young girls and the like. One told the paper she went because:
    “She wanted to absolutely plastered for a week and sleep with as many boys as possible”

    When she booked the holiday I don’t suppose the Swiss Air brochure was one of the ones she picked up

    at least we aint shoving kids up chimney’s anymore
    Only because most of them are too fat to get up

    All the best
    Rod

38. Chelcie said,

    August 31, 2010 @ 7:23 pm

    It’s incredibly embarrassing to be in this generation of teenagers. I’m seventeen and a college student in the South East, and most of the people I know are binge drinkers. They always brag about how they’re going out this weekend and are going to ‘get completely hammered’. They do this every weekend, and I really wonder if it’s really as fun as they make out. I have plenty of fun just going outside with friends and having a laugh - no alcohol included.
    I don’t drink. I have never found it to sound appealing. The whole idea of just going out, getting drunk and walking the streets making a total fool of myself just sounds so boring. I’ve been out with my friends when they’re getting drunk, and believe me, I had an awful time. I was spending the late night to the early hours of the morning looking after them. One even decided to walk out into the road whilst a car was coming by, and I had to stop them. People were being sick, and one even had a fit. I was so scared and stressed that night that I didn’t go out with them again after that.

    I think one of the reasons that teenagers drink is because there is nothing else for them to do. And when they do want to do something, it costs money and most of the time, involves them sitting down for long periods of time.
    The government had tried giving us something to do, but the whole idea of ‘Youth Clubs’ sound extremely boring. I used to be in one and I just got so bored that I left. I don’t blame teenagers not wanting to go into Youth Clubs.

    And the whole overweight thing is ridiculous. The amount of people getting fatter is disgusting. I can’t believe how lazy the UK is getting and how all these fast food places keep on popping up everywhere. Honestly, it’s cheaper to start a meal from scratch. But of course you need the time to cook it all, which can get tiresome. So I do see why people hardly cook anymore.

    I do really wonder what this country is coming to.

39. Rod said,

    August 31, 2010 @ 7:38 pm

    Chelcie,
    thanks for an outstanding comment and welcome to the site.
    I must say I agree totally with you. I don’t think you need alcohol to enjoy yourself, likewise if you do drink then I don’t think you need to drink till you collapse to enjoy yourself - quite the reverse in fact.

    You make a good point in a very lucid way Chelcie and thanks for taking the time to participate in the site - it is appreciated
    All the best
    Rod

40. Chelcie said,

    August 31, 2010 @ 10:04 pm

    Exactly. You don’t need to drink until you collapse to have a good time. I don’t see the whole point in getting a hangover and having part of your memories for the night before erased. Wouldn’t a lot of your memories be blank spaces?

    A lot of the people I know answer my questions about drinking heavily or smoking with - ‘Oh well, we’re gonna die anyway.’ What a waste of a life though. Don’t you think? It not only affects you, but the people around you as well. That’s not what they understand. And I find it to be very selfish of them.

41. Rod said,

    September 1, 2010 @ 8:38 am

    Chelcie,
    What a waste of a life though. Don’t you think?

    My personal opinion is that anything done, or taken, to real excess on a regular basis suggests a life with a major hole in it - something is missing.
    It’s that failure to find something that interests or intrigues you in this world packed full of amazing possibilities that suggests a lack of interest or motivation - ‘can’t be bovvered’ type of attitude personified so well be that vacuous quote you gave . . . ‘Oh well, we’re gonna die anyway.’

    Regards
    Rod

42. Mr Bojangles said,

    September 19, 2010 @ 3:25 pm

    Hello Everyone,

    I stumbled upon this website and it does seem very topical for me especially as last night I went to a 2st birthday paryt. The girl throwing the party and her friends were absolutely legless, ALL of them wore short skirts and very high heels - regardless of their figures.

    It is such a turn off for guys to see them like this - who would want to have a girl friend that gets legless every saturday night and ends up legs akimbo on the floor - giggling along with her mates that her knickers are showing.

    Many of these girls when challenged will reply “blokes do it - why the hell should the girls not ” the funny thing is when these girls grow up and become mothers would they want their sons to bring home a girl like this? I think not!!

    It lacks class, it looks slutty what more can I say.

43. Rod said,

    September 19, 2010 @ 3:40 pm

    Mr Bojangles,
    thanks for the comment and welocme to the site.
    In my opinion you’re right in what you say, I take p[articular note of
    Many of these girls when challenged will reply “blokes do it

    As if that’s a reason then - it’s also the response you expect from a 5 year old child whose being told off !
    Cheers
    rod

44. Marine said,

    September 20, 2010 @ 12:08 am

    I’ve been in the UK for a few years and I can confirm that a picture of British women (and men) portrayed in this article is true (there are exceptions, though).
    Just a though with regards to students’ bad reputation for binge drinking. It might surprise but a lot of encouragement to drink (and get drunk) comes from the actual universities , which are supposed to be educational institutions. I am a university student at the moment and my university sometimes reminds me of a advertising spot for bars and clubs. sometimes the only notices found on notice boards are about so called “events” (aka drinking and fuss-making sessions). The most social activities that student societies organise are also about going out for drinks instead of doing something creative. All this with the university’s blessing.
    In my previous course ( I switched as I could not stand it) our lecturers would help organise (binge) drinking parties. They would talk about it during the lessons, sometimes they even mentioned it as a first priority (before the academic issues were discussed).
    Is there any wonder that students drink so much over here? Well, as for me I am not in the least surprised by it. Sorry to say this, but I now feel very lucky that I was not born in the British culture because you do struggle with morals and values.

45. Rod said,

    September 20, 2010 @ 8:09 am

    Marine,
    you make some great points - many thanks and welcome to the site.
    We hear much of student debt in this country - I wonder how much of that debt is accrued in the name of education and how much of it is spent on drink and general entertainment ?

    Your last statement speaks volumes Marine and goes to the very heart of what I thought may be the case when I wrote the original article
    Thanks for the insight and perspective Marine
    All the best
    Rod

46. Telboy said,

    September 23, 2010 @ 12:47 am

    Hi Rod
    This is one of the most accurate forum dialogs I have ever read! Whether on holiday or just on a night out in the UK, the majority of english girls in the bars and clubs are a total disgrace (I apologise to the 10% or so of genuine girls just out to enjoy themselves without feeling the bizarre need to get totally parallyetic!). Stereotypical? well may be? But when on holiday in a foreign country I can spot a croud of english girls before I even get close enough to here them talk. The obesity and totally inappropriate clothing are a dead give away!

47. Rod said,

    September 23, 2010 @ 9:56 am

    Telboy,
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site - I’m sad to say it appears to be ringing true, more so than ever it seems. You’ve hit the nail on the head - we’ve not got a very good image abroad - or indeed here for that matter.
    Terrible shame
    Cheers
    Rod

48. Louisa said,

    October 18, 2010 @ 8:58 am

    Dear Rod

    I feel like i should leave a quick comment in defence of the “young typical british girls”. I am 22, well educated, a size 12, and would like to think i have never worn totally inappropriate and ill-fitting clothing. In fact i havn’t, ever. However, on a weekend or a girls holiday away, i do enjoy having a few drinks, perhaps the odd one too many and having a laugh, dancing the night away. And yes perhaps once or twice i have had three drinks too many and fallen over in the street. I understand it is unhealthy and un-ladylike, but i have never managed to lose my class or my manners. I do not go out and drink to get into fights, or get arrested, or have total memory loss the next day. I have a few drinks to have fun with my friends.
    Those girls of similar age to me, flashing their pants in the street and drinking pints of beer who argue that “boys can, so why can’t we” are simply CHAVS. They are not, in my opinion, a typical representative of young women in Britain today!

    Rant over!

49. Rod said,

    October 18, 2010 @ 6:40 pm

    Louisa,
    well said and welcome to the site !
    I heartily agree and thanks for redressing the balance. I would never suggest that it reflects all young British Women or indeed even a particularly large percentage - my concern is the cliched view of those looking in from the outside - a lot of people do now hold this stereotypical view now which is a real shame

    Thanks again Louisa
    Regards
    Rod

50. Francisco Sosa said,

    November 24, 2010 @ 8:19 am

    Rod,
    I’m from Mexico, and sadly things seem to be not so different regardless of the distance between UK and Mexico.
    “Bad if you do it, bad if you don’t”, I am not a big drinker, never been, since I am predisposed to diabetes I have to keep an eye of how much alcohol I drink, it’s funny how people gets critized weather you choose “healthy” or choose “to party hard”, time has teached me to be a little selfish and simply do what I want without expecting being aproved, our #1 priority should be our hapiness. Things are pretty much the same here in Mexico, clubs packed up every weekned with guys getting sick drunk, then bragging about how drunk they got the monday after…I do agree in some point with the comment that stated that there’s nothing else to do, but on the other hand nobody’s forcing you to get drunk, I think guys this times try to be popular no matter what, even if it means being popular for all the wrong reasons. There’s so many things to do on a weekend night, watch a movie, walk your dog, read a book, take a long bath, relax, call and catch up with your relatives…maybe I am too cheap XD but I see no point on spending a lot of money on something that’s gonna make me sick the dayafter and that is slowly killing me (liver disease, diabetes, high blood pressure,etc)….

    BTW I’m not that old…27 I just think there better things in life…..

    PS: Kinda dating a british girl from Widness XD that’s why I looked for an article about “typical british girl”
    Keep up the good work amigo!

51. Rod said,

    November 24, 2010 @ 8:36 am

    Franciso,
    thanks for the comment and wecome to the site - heavy drinking has gone on all over the world forever I suspect - probably started the day after someone invented alcohol !
    What’s different here is the change in female behaviour - very marked and undeniable both statistically and anecdotally.

    Best of luck with the British girl - hope it all goes well for you
    All the best
    Rod

52. Rod said,

    November 30, 2010 @ 10:55 am

    Unavoidable Update:
    this is a very popular article and still gets a great deal of serious traffic based on stereotypical search results.
    It’s now an opinion and image largely accepted throughout the world and frankly is it any wonder when you see this.
    I had to bring you this picture . . . I mean really . . . is it any wonder . . . unbelievable

    
    
    
    
    Geordie Girls on a Night Out in the Snow !

    In case anyone from abroad is wondering, it’s not a fancy dress night either !

    To think, people still ask me why I’m single
    Best
    Rod

53. Little Brother said,

    November 30, 2010 @ 11:18 am

    Rod,
    Lush!!!

    LB

54. CushieButterfield said,

    December 22, 2010 @ 8:53 am

    Really… is it any wonder… unbelievable… ?

    How rude & judgemental. Leave Geordie girls alone!

55. David Anson said,

    December 22, 2010 @ 1:59 pm

    This subject is nearly as serious as Brunanburgh. Our Saxon and Danish ancestry seems to predispose us to consuming huge amounts of alcohol in our cold and more frequently damp northern climate. We unfortunately take our bad habits with us when we go abroad. In fact we are nearly as bad as the Russians and the Finns, although we tend not to have it for breakfast like they do (believe me I have seen it).
    However, I have some ancestry from Geordieland and they have always liked their beer, especially the Cushie Butterfields. Grannie liked a drop of it but was rarely bladdered as I recall but they didn’t have the FridaySaturday night competition culture in her day (early 1900s) and also not a lot of money to spare.

    Just remember not to look back, girls, in case you don’t like the person you used to be.

56. Kate said,

    December 22, 2010 @ 3:05 pm

    To back up David, we have some historical evidence (well, at least written by someone who’d been to the area we now call Germany, back in the first century CE)

    Tacitus, Germania, Bk I, 22 Talking of the habits and lifestyle of the Germanic tribes. Here’s an excerpt…
    “To pass an entire day and night in drinking disgraces no one. Their quarrels, as might be expected with intoxicated people, are seldom fought out with mere abuse, but commonly with wounds and bloodshed.”

    Bk I, 23 (my comments in brackets)
    “A liquor for drinking is made out of barley or other grain, and fermented into a certain resemblance to wine (i.e. very strong beer). The dwellers on the river-bank (along the Rhine and the Moselle) also buy wine (modern archaeology has shown this to also have been imported to Denmark and other areas of Germany…) . Their food is of a simple kind, consisting of wild-fruit, fresh game, and curdled milk (this would be a type of yoghurt!). They satisfy their hunger without elaborate preparation and without delicacies. In quenching their thirst they are not equally moderate. If you indulge their love of drinking by supplying them with as much as they desire, they will be overcome by their own vices as easily as by the arms of an enemy.”

    Tacitus is not talking here about the weak, watery low alcohol stuff that you’re lead to believe was drunk by all on a daily basis because it was supposedly safer than water! - the Romans thought that most Celts and Germanic tribes were crazy (and rather uncivilised) because they drank unwatered wine…

    I do find it curious that Julius Caesar, writing some years earlier in The Gallic Wars, believed that the Germanic tribes did not drink, or only rarely and in moderation - talk about pulling the wool over his eyes!!

    Kate

57. David Anson said,

    December 23, 2010 @ 8:00 am

    Like Kate I have read something similar. The Romans tended to rubbish the Celts whether they were the Gallic ones, the British Isle ones or the Rhineland and adjoining territories ones. Anyone would have thought that they and their ladies were the images of goodness. Whatever else we did historically, we didn’t stage mass murder for entertainment and get lagged up during it and after, unless you can call a night out in Doncaster our modern substitute.

    Seriously, as one of the bus pass generation, I am not inclined to be censorious of the young ladies in those pictures. Its generally only themselves and the health service budget which are suffering. But don’t do it past 30 girls, people laugh at you not with you then.

    And, ladies, like the original Cushie Butterfield, the falling down water makes you a big lass and a bonnie lass and all the Water of Tyne will never wash that away easily. Your nights will move from Wetherspoons to Slimming World.

58. Simon Daniels said,

    December 28, 2010 @ 8:58 am

    Well I am an Englishman in his early thirties and I can tell you that you have hit the nail square on the head! It would seem that the majority of British woman are fat, ugly, rude and drunk! I have just spent a delightful Christmas in Manchester watching fat drunken woman puking and fighting in the streets! After that they all waddled off to a kebab shop to further increase the lard on their thighs, a***s and guts! I have been living in Europe for the past number of years and I was genuinely shocked at the total lack of self respect these coke snorting lumps have for themselves! I for one can not wait for Christmas to finish so that I can catch the first plane out of this country!

59. Rod said,

    December 28, 2010 @ 9:16 am

    Simon,
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site - it’s a view shared by many I’m afraid.
    Check out this article I wrote about Google search suggestions which shows basically what most people are searching for - it’s hugely interesting and very telling

    http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/interesting-google-searches-a-window-into-human-psyche

    Regards
    Rod

60. Irrelevant said,

    February 13, 2011 @ 6:52 pm

    Rod - I agree in part, although we do have our share of classy beauties to be found amongst the likes of this lot.

    PS: What’s with the spaces between your exclamation marks? This is a grammatically incorrect trend that I am seeing more and more of and wish it wasn’t the case.

61. Rod said,

    February 13, 2011 @ 7:26 pm

    Irrelevant,
    thanks for taking the time to comment and a warm welcome to the site.
    We do indeed have some fabulous beauties, though they’re sadly outweighed (pun intended).

    As to the exclamation marks, I write for search engines as well as people and it’s difficult sometimes to do so in an unnoticed way. Google used to understand the word ‘exclamation’ but when you put exclamation! it effectively became another word. Things are better now but there are still these quirks.

    I’ve also found, in over a decade of writing on the internet, that layout is very important, hence I use numerous paragraph breaks and other things which you wouldn’t see if it were a book for example.

    All the best
    Rod

62. Pascal said,

    February 17, 2011 @ 5:27 pm

    Hi Rod,

    Just had to add my thoughts here. I’m an Englishman in my early thirties and I have to say that I despair of English women. I don’t really like drinking myself but I can do so and have a good time without getting completely legless.
    The point is I know when to stop, I have some self-respect.

    These two points seem to be lost on the majority of English women, that acting the fool is not attractive and is indeed detrimental to you. The worst thing is when you find one that appears to not be so typical, and then you’re cruelly disabused of that notion!

    I think I need to move away from this country, it is a depressing place filled with boors.

    Pascal

63. Rod said,

    February 17, 2011 @ 6:42 pm

    Pascal,
    I certainly commiserate and it’s interesting that I’ve heard of several single men just recently who are saying they are just not bothering with women now - it’s a sad state of affairs really but I have to say when I walk round the town centre of my home town it’s easy to see why !

    Best of luck Pascal
    Rod

64. Andy p said,

    March 1, 2011 @ 11:04 am

    I can easily understand your frustrations Rod. I live in a small town in the middle of Staffordshire and while there are some nice, attractive girls around, the vast majority are unfortunately of the stereotype you have mentioned.

    There are many problems behind this, more so than just alcohol as has been discussed, a lot of the problems are social and also based around a perception of alcohol. See alcohol does reduce inhibitions, but there is a prevailing mindset in England that drinking gives you the excuse to do whatever you want and often people become just as inhibited from the idea of being drunk and out and about. Now I dont see anything wrong with people going out and having a good time and letting off some steam, but it’s about moderation. As many others have said I too go out for an occasional drink but I never get in the state of the people that I see around me.

    Also I remember when I was younger being labelled as not very social and boring to be around by most of the people who enjoyed doing this. I always used to ask what was social about going to a club where you cant speak, you cant hear anyone else speak and then you drink so much your stomach turns upsidedown and empties it’s contents, like an old lady’s spare change purse, onto the lap of the nearest person or floor, before collapsing in a heap?
    The usual answer was something inane like: “because you are with your mates and its fun”. Which isnt really an answer. Of course im not one to tell others how to live their lives, in fact as far as im concerned they can just do whatever they want as long as it doesnt infinge on my lifestyle or those of my loved ones. However id be lying if I said I hadnt noticed the increase in this behaviour over the last 20 years, especially among young girls.

    To finish here is an anecdote from a local pub when I went to meet my dad and watch a rugby game: I had just sat down for a few minutes when my dad, in jest, started joking about how I used the computer so much and that I had a special implement that kept me awake because every time I dozed off it would shock me awake again, I laughed because I knew he was joking and I did find it funny, but one of his friends said: “That’s not normal” to which I replied, jokingly: “As opposed to my brother who gets into our fridge and drinks till he passes out on his bed in a pool of yesterdays pasta bake?” to which he replied: “Yeah, but that IS normal Andy”.

    Now isnt that just the whole problem?

65. Rod said,

    March 1, 2011 @ 11:22 am

    Andy,
    that’s a great comment, many thanks and welcome to the site.

    I suspect the problem, which is undeniable, is also self-perpetuating.
    As a society we are governed not just by law but also convention - I believe the more you see of something the more it becomes acceptable until eventually nobody bats an eyelid at something they once would have found shocking to see or indeed to have done !

    Quite how society gets out of the downward spiral I’m not sure.
    All the best
    Rod

66. Rene said,

    March 16, 2011 @ 11:30 pm

    Being Dutch and so being used to some things:) But living here atm, I am appalled and shocked at the sights on the street in this country at a mere 11 am. In the fancier parts of London I bumped into passed out girls in micro skirts in McD, guys intimidating you for not handing them a Smint, some goes for a ” town” as Reading, which is basically even worse. Lucky me I know decent “English” women, surprisingly always opf half Asian decent that can hold ther act together.

67. Kate said,

    April 19, 2011 @ 11:18 am

    I came across this whilst looking for images of drunk young people for an assignment I am doing at university and it really interested me. I will start by saying I drink about once a week and generally I have about 10 vodkas and usually a few shots of tequila (but being from Yorkshire I can handle my drink extremely well

68. Kate said,

    April 20, 2011 @ 2:49 am

    Hi Rod,

    well, either I have a doppelganger or ??? At the risk of sounding like I’m talking to (about?) myself, can I just defend my reputation by pointing out to the regulars here that the above commenter called Kate isn’t me - I’m the Kate who normally goes on about historical subjects ad infinitum. It appears that the message has been truncated, Rod, I hate to think what the rest of it might have said

    I would hazard an educated guess (especially as I once managed a pub) that whilst one may appear normal (?) and able to handle oneself well to one’s peers (regardless of where you hail from), to the rest of society you will appear as drunk, obnoxious, boring and loud as any of the young lovelies in the photos above after ten vodkas and a few shots…

    I’m more than glad I no longer work in the trade as over the seven years I was in it, I observed the increase of binge drinking, especially as during this time the breweries developed much stronger lagers, ciders and beers, then alcopops and they really stepped up the advertising of alcohol to appeal to not only a wider market, but a younger market, bringing in special promotions to encourage more drinking. It ceased to be a fun career anymore as I and my staff had to deal with more and more drunks and the trouble they caused as the years passed - as the pub was in the town centre of a holiday resort, you can imagine we got allsorts walking through the doors. Very worryingly in the UK, regular binges now seem to be considered quite normal by people from all walks of society - not just the province of students. No consideration is given by them to the problems they cause other members of the public, their families and friends, and especially the time and costs to the emergency services who very often are called out at the end of a night.

    You may binge drink and still hold down a job or undertake an education… You can style yourself a “functional alcoholic” if you like, but it doesn’t hide the fact that you are still an alcoholic - and that you have a serious medical and social problem. Drinking the amount stated above, if in single pub measures, is approximately the recommended 14 units maximum per week for women; however, taken over the period of one evening this seen medically as borderline alcohol abuse; if you continue and can’t, or don’t wish to stop, then you run the risk of alcohol dependency. You might not do it every week, but have a blowout once a month - this is still seen as problem drinking. Many drinkers are horrified at the idea of the addiction to or use of illegal drugs, but they seem to be unable to understand that they are also dependent on a drug that is far more addictive and antisocial, simply because it’s legal and easily available.

    Sadly it’s not uncommon to find both drugs and alcohol being mixed nowadays, often with disastrous results - witness the two lads from my village in North Lincs who died last year: they were initially thought to have died from drug use after a night out (I knew them both as they had attended the youth club I helped to run - to all intents and purposes they were normal, pleasant, well liked and hardworking young men). Whilst the inquest later ruled out the cause of death by drugs alone, the use of alcohol with illegal highs is now endemic in the area’s youth (a far higher proportion use them now than their parents’ age group ever did in their youth and I think several parents would be shocked and suprised to know their child was taking drugs): the deaths of these boys didn’t lessen local drug and alcohol misuse by their peer group; besides the fact that their mates did it, looking for greater and more dangerous thrills and highs either to deal with emotional problems or to stem the sense of boredom they seemed to feel were usually the reasons I was given by local kids for their own drink & drug use…

    From talking to locals on my travels round Europe, it seems that drunken Brits, especially young drunken Brits, of both sexes are disliked more than any other nation’s drunks wherever they are in the world because they cause so much trouble. My comment on 22/12/10 about the natives of these isles having a historical provenance to the prediliction of the (over-)use of alcohol would show that not a lot has changed… Is it really that difficult for a large percentage of the population to enjoy themselves without getting out of their skulls?

    Whilst working as a pub landlord, I remember reading in the brewery handbook that it is actually illegal to serve alcoholic drinks to anyone who is drinking with the purpose of becoming inebriated - it could rather confuse the issue as to why a pub may be there in the first place, couldn’t it?! However, the main designation of a pub was given as that of a social meeting place and somewhere for customers to relax and have a drink or two in ambient surroundings. Talking to friends who use the local pubs and clubs, it’s not the smoking ban which puts them off going out, it’s the fact that more and more often there will be groups of paralytic troublemakers everywhere who will not make it an enjoyable night out…

    Best wishes,
    Kate

    P.S. I was a bit of a wildchild in my teens, but I cannot remember anyone from my age-group drinking as much or behaving as dreadfully as the girls you see now. I had my oldest child in my early 20s and since then I’ve very rarely drunk anything but tea or fruit juice. I’ve never liked the taste of alcohol much, or the feeling of being drunk - somewhat unusual for a pub landlord maybe, but there’s a difference between taking a sip to test a new cask to make sure it’s not off, to drinking it nonstop - sadly I saw many colleagues in the trade fall by the wayside because it was just too easy to keep on testing it out…

69. Rod said,

    April 20, 2011 @ 7:35 am

    Kate,
    thanks for that and very interesting to hear how as a landlord, is it sexist to say landlady now ?, a few years agoo you actually noticed a change.
    I suspect a lot is down to this business of drinking ’shots’ - something which very few people used to do to any great extent.

    This page gets 1,000s of visitors a month all via search engines and they can only be finding it by searching for the cliches mentioned in the OP - the fact people search for these phrases in large numbers show they have now become widely held.
    Regards
    Rod

70. Kate said,

    April 20, 2011 @ 1:32 pm

    Apologies if I sounded like I was having a rant Rod, I realise that the name is pretty popular these days, especially with the upcoming Royal/’sleb’ nuptials (groan)!

    Meanwhile, can anyone offer any solutions to binge drinking? And just how many of the opinions above have been cut’n'pasted into student assignments?! (a plague on all plagiarists!) To add to the historical provenance, the streets of most UK towns on a weekend night now look like a modern version Hogarth’s Gin Lane… Maybe that engraving, and its companion, Beer Street could be on one of your future art pages?

    What’s more embarrassing is that as the parent of young women, I have had to on occasion tell them exactly what I (and the rest of society) think about them when they have been drunk (why do kids all seem to put photos or brag about it on facebook? don’t they realise how stupid it makes them seem? I can only guess that to their peers it really is quite normal and acceptable ): “everybody does it, you’re so old fashioned”, is one of the pathetic excuses they give - I hang my head in shame, as I did everything in my power to educate them about sensible drinking whilst they were young and am at a loss to know quite what else I can do. If I’d had boys, would their (probably similar) lary behaviour at this age be considered acceptable? - the only way that the lads seem to differ from the girls is that they don’t dress like “slappers”. That may be a perjorative term, but consensus says that most would think that these females appeared to be “up for it”, regardless of whether they actually were or not - hardly a good look at any age.

    As for the term landlord being used instead of landlady, it’s probably a matter of choice rather than political correctness. I jointly managed the place with a male colleague who I was not in a personal relationship with, so we were both termed landlords on our contracts - naturally I still ended up doing all of the roles of traditional landlady such as food prep, cleaning and putting up with male customers talking to my bust…

    Kate

71. Rod said,

    April 20, 2011 @ 5:49 pm

    Kate,
    people started drinking to excess the day after alcohol was invented many 1,000s of years ago - I don’t suppose it’s about to change.
    I think what has changed is how some people carry on - men are, of course, a lost cause in this area as they always have been but in general ladies tended to behave like ladies.
    I remember going out with girls who wouldn’t smoke in the street for example - I know it sounds old fashioned and even sexist but I don’t mean it like that.

    I believe that for many people it’s ‘Monkey See - Monkey Do’ our behaviour is gleaned and influenced by our environment - if enough people do something then it’s seen as generally OK - which is pretty much the case with everything I guess

    Regards
    Rod
    PS: Feel free to rant away whenever you want Kate

72. M said,

    April 22, 2011 @ 5:55 pm

    Hi,

    First off, I’ll admit I found this page by searching for similar keywords to the stereotype. I was actually watching Come Dine With Me and was shocked how insulted some of the guests were that they were not provided with alcohol with their meal, but Alcohol free drinks instead. I understand, and sometimes indulge myself, that there’s nothing wrong with drinking one or two glasses of good wine with a meal, but to mark somebody’s company down because there was no alcohol was really appalling. So that’s how I came to this page.

    Secondly, a bit about me first - I’m 20, 21 in a few months, and a Student in Bristol (SW England), so I feel I should defend some of us students . Regarding the earlier comments about where student debts come from, there’s a massive split down the middle evident at every university I’ve been to; some students are at University for the party-life, get lower grades, waste all their money on booze, true. But the other half are invested in their courses, have part-time jobs to cover any money loss, and are just beginning to realise how much money it costs to live away from home. And unfortunately, a night out with cheap booze is cheaper than going cinema/bowling with a meal.
    Bristol has two Universities, the University of Bristol, and the University of the West of England: Bristol, so we definitely count as a student city. On a night out, you *do* often see the stereotypical fat-drunk-slutty-chav-girls which have been described in the article. You also see thin ones, short ones, tall ones, so to say that the majority are fat and drunk is probably true, but unfairly attributed. A lot of students do “go out on the lash” at the start of term, but the majority of those students stop drinking so heavily by the end of the first year. From my personal experience, most of the heavy drinkers who continue drinking are those whose parents were either too strict at home (no lessons about moderation, simply refusing to let them drink- causing rebellion drinking now they’re away from parents), those who really do like the party atmosphere, and those who are insecure about their appearance/confidence (for guys this is approaching girls, in girls’ cases they’r!
    e insecure about their weight, their breasts, etc).

    I think the problem with the culture is that its cheaper (and more socially accepted) to go out and get bungalowed and pass out on the streets than it is to do healthier activities. A lot of the overweight girls I know are very conscious of the fact they are overweight- they’re so conscious of it that they’re afraid of what people will say if they *do* try to diet, or if they do start doing exercise to lose weight. Stupid, I know, and I completely agree with anyone who says that makes no sense, but its easier for them to get the confidence on a cheap night out than it is for them to take the healthy option and lose weight.

    There’s an awful lot of stigma attached to exercising and weight loss, by doing that you’re admitting you have a problem, by going out on the lash you’re just doing what everyone else does. If there’s to be a change in the culture, as people have pointed out earlier, you need to provide healthier options, and move the stigma from getting healthy to being unhealthy. As it stands, there’s less stigma (generalising, and within student culture down here) in being a total alcoholic and drunk than there is in being a overweight/obese girl and doing something about it. While I’m a guy so don’t have to put up with that crap (it’s “manly” to go to the gym), I can see how it hits the confidence of girls I know. Surely if the arguments “well guys do it so we can too” holds true then the same can be said for healthy living? Its easy for me to say (on the sidelines) but the message needs to be given out that it’s not okay to be fat, it’s not okay to take drugs, its not cool, and it’ll sh!
    orten your life. Maybe then us “young people” or “youths” will want to do something about it. Maybe not.

    Apologies if I’ve been a bit rambling, and just wanted to finish with a final point:
    Some figures (this is local to Bristol mind):

    Student Day-rider (Bus ticket): £3.50
    Student Cinema Ticket: £5.40
    Drink/Popcorn at cinema: ~£8
    Pizza Hut/ Nandos etc: Meal + Drink: £10
    Total: £25

    Value 700ml bottle of Vodka: £8.83
    Value cola: £0.17
    Taxis in/out of town: £6
    Some drinks in town: ~£10
    Total: £25

    While my friends and I prefer the first option, the second option is the same price (and tbh not that many students can predrink a whole 700ml bottle of vodka, no matter what you read in the papers, so it’s cheaper) and just as socially acceptable.

    As it stands, this stereotype simply isn’t going away any time soon.

73. Cherryred said,

    April 22, 2011 @ 7:33 pm

    1, The use of ill, highly underweight models in the media put strain and pressure on English girls, any girl in fact. So whatever they wear is their choice if they feel comfortable with it.
    2, Unfortunately this generation has had to live with the likes of big brother and The only way is Essex - big hits worldwide. (people clearly can’t get enough of us)
    3, Everybody in this country works so damn hard, so who’s to judge if they want to go out and get ‘plastered’ at the end of their hard working week?
    4, Men, again can get away with what they like, where they like, however they like and with no matter of what they look like.
    5, This post misses out the best qualities of an English girl; we’re funny, have a strong sense of pride, smart, kind, insightful and boy do we know how to have a good time!

    British and PROUD.

74. Josh said,

    April 27, 2011 @ 6:54 pm

    to Cherryred,

    So I’m assuming from your bigoted post above that you fall into the category of girls this discussion is talking about?
    My advice to you is grow some self confidence. all you’ve managed to do is make a list of excuses as to why women in Britain are like this. This blog isn’t and wasn’t about the “BEST QUALITIES” of an “English Girl” its about the stereotypical type of girls you’ve become.

    Know one is having an individual pick at your scabs. But you and the rest of the world have to understand that a stereotype would not be a stereotype if it wasn’t true majority of the time. Ive been in the UK for 2 weeks almost. And Every girl I’ve met seen, walked past, whether on the street, during the day, at a pub or club fall into this loud obnoxious fat lack their of self disciplined borderline alcoholic women.

75. Rod said,

    April 27, 2011 @ 7:07 pm

    Josh,
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site
    This blog isn’t and wasn’t about the “BEST QUALITIES” of an “English Girl” its about the stereotypical type of girls you’ve become.
    Many thanks for pointing that out, there is no suggestion that all girls are like this, it’s discussing the issue of the stereotype and also the fact that it’s something real and on the increase.
    Regards
    Rod

76. RButhnot said,

    April 28, 2011 @ 1:18 pm

    Hogarthian and present day images both show the effects of plentiful supplies of cheap alcohol. The difference between then and now is that Georgian brewers provided the means for people to forget poverty and disenfranchisement, whereas the current situation has been entirely driven by breweries flooding the market in a cynical move to enebriate a youthful customer base.
    How about this. Perhaps it’s time to realise that the planners of any marketing campaign generally have no social conscience. It’s an interesting exercise to look at modern life and see just how much of it is actually the result of various marketing campaigns over the years. I’d like to suggest that the feminist movement was hijacked a while ago in a long-term campaign to relieve women of their hard-earned cash. You do after all need your target market to have an independent income before you take it from them. I also look on the current ‘60 is the new 15 or whatever’ slogans with suspicion and would suggest that anyone looking to retire should be aware that pickpockets are about.

77. Adam said,

    May 1, 2011 @ 10:19 pm

    I have to say, this thread has been very interesting reading. I am a 22 year old male who finished his degree last year, and although I enjoyed going out socially and drinking with friends, it was always shocking for me to see the depths that some English women sank to.

    It would be a very regular occurence for me to see English women totally drunk, shouting and being totally obscene in the street. Many of my friends at university were Europeans, generally Spanish and Germans. Although those countries indeed have certain stereotypes related to alcohol, my time travelling throughout Europe has demonstrated that by far, the English, and in particular, English women are the worst offenders. I cannot think of any particular reason for this trend other than perhaps cultural values - a whole culture of no morals or self respect, and perhaps aggressive feminism. Although I don’t deny that men can be rowdy, this is not a UK or English specific phenomenon, in my experience. However, perhaps desire for women to be on the same level as the men has led to the creation of this entire culture of flagrant debauchery.

    Having travelled throughout Spain in particular, I have seen people from time to time worse for alcohol, but it has been the exeption to the rule rather than the rule itself in the overwhelming majority of instances. When I speak to my European male friends, they sometimes joke about how easy English women are. It makes me feel personally ashamed of my country when I see things have got to this and I am counting down the days until I emigrate for good.

78. Rod said,

    May 2, 2011 @ 7:53 am

    Adam,
    many thanks for the quality comment and welcome to the site.
    Your experience, related intelligently, rationally and lucidly if I may say so, really does highlight the point.

    The perception is definitely out there, it is also underlined by the 1,000s of people who visit this page every month - they all come here via search engines with queries based on this subject !
    Thanks again Adam
    Regards,
    Rod

79. Nel said,

    May 14, 2011 @ 7:07 pm

    Hello Rod

    What an interesting topic with a raw (yet somehow respectful) point of view! I’ll give you my opinion and hope I can bring some foreign insight to the stereotype creation process.

    So, I’m 23 yo, from Venezuela: a country with a conservative sexist culture putting a HUGE emphasis on it’s women’s ways and beauty yet expecting the exact opposite from it’s men. Basically, there, many men can be rude, hideous, unfaithful and still get the girl (and a great looking one!) I guess like in many other cultures.

    2 years ago I spent 9 months in London and, before that, the image in my head of the British girl was pretty much a blank page. This is the 3 stages on how that image evolved:

    When I got there I thought they were quite pretty overall, look, style, lovely accent, weight could be overlooked and I saw the heavy drinking as a funny cultural difference. I thought it was a bit of a shame how many of these girls/guys travel abroad so often yet most of their Facebook profile pictures depict them in a pub holding a bear.

    When I left London for Paris I started to see the difference, girls are way thinner and seem to pay more attention to their party outfits. My friends (particularly from France and Spain as well as British friends abroad) seemed amused by how good of an image I had of Brit Girls and would tell me their opinions and experiences about it. Yes, the exact same stereotype the article talks about.

    By the time I returned for some days, not long ago to the UK I went to London and Manchester and (perhaps because now I’ve travelled more, or just caused by that stereotype) All I could see was that type of girls everywhere!! Lol Some even being practically worshipped by great looking guys! (Something you won’t see happening where I come from any time soon!)

    Anyway, hope my opinion/experience works for something and I’d like to tell Adam that he is wrong; there is nothing to be ashamed about one’s country (unless it’s causing a war or a genocide anyway). And the UK is a wonderful country with some less flattering nuances like anywhere else.

80. Rod said,

    May 14, 2011 @ 7:14 pm

    Nel,
    that’s an outstanding comment - many thanks for sharing your opinion and experiences and a warm welcome to the site.
    What makes your comment so interesting to me is that it’s clearly erudite and reasoned but that it comes from a different perspective.

    From what you say it does look like the stereotype is getting entrenched, it’s a real shame as plenty of women in this country are not like that at all but once these things take hold you end up with a national stereotype and then it’s Game Over !

    Thanks for bringing a very interesting and different perspective to the debate Nel
    All the best from England
    Rod

81. Adam said,

    May 15, 2011 @ 3:59 pm

    Hi Nel,

    Thanks for the feedback - I enjoyed reading your post and thought you brought a really educated view to the topic and it was certainly very interesting for me to read.

    I know it’s wrong to make sweeping generalisations but I do feel that stereotypes generally must have some basis in fact, however limited, to exist. Having said that, it really isn’t fair to tar everyone with the same brush and we must give everyone an equal chance. It’s good to hear that you haven’t returned to Venezuela with a negative view of Britain.

    Espero que tengas un muy buen día!

    Saludos,

    Adam

82. Elena said,

    May 16, 2011 @ 7:51 am

    Dear All,

    With no intention to take either side in the debate I just would like to share my personal impressions. I work for an international law firm in Russia and we have several British young ladies in the office. They have been an embodiment of grace and good manners all the time. I have never been to the UK and the image of the British people I had was pretty much drawn from books and some movies - “gentlemen” and true “ladies” and I have always thought of “the British” as of something highly conservative, respectable, exquisite, even prim.

    I have just returned from a holiday at the Canary islands. I was SHOCKED - at 6am a creature sneaked out from the “bushes” barefoot, with the unzipped pants, make up all over her face, dirty “clothes-to-be”, hiccuping… it was the first but by far not the last encounter of this kind. At the bars they would jump on the broken glass with their underwear slipping down, scream as hell, and then throw up at a neighbour’s table. I understand that one should avoid generalisation by all means, and I realise perhaps the specific “layer” of the society would go to the Canaries and then go out into this specific bars’s area so I just sort of saw only 1 angle of the multifaceted “crystal”. Every society and nation has its own various representatives, etc. But geez, I was so angry like “you guys say the Russians drink a lot, vodka and bears, and the Russian girls are sluts and greedy bitches trying to get married to a foreigner!” well, this stereotype apparently has its own roots, but y!
    ou know, at least the majority of the Russian girls know how to manage themselves and do not behave like animals.

    I do not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. Please accept my apologies if I still have done so and for my English far from being correct.

83. Rod said,

    May 16, 2011 @ 8:56 am

    Elena,
    many thanks for taking the time to share your balanced and very fair experiences, your English is excellent by the way.
    Regards from England
    Rod

84. Elwyn said,

    May 16, 2011 @ 5:04 pm

    Hi.
    Just a short back ground about my past.I am 50 years old,born and grew up in South Africa,years of business trips to the UK,now live in the USA.
    Growing up in South Africa I played soccer so UK families were part of those years.As boys we always tried to go out with girls with UK parents because they were the first to drink at a young age,party young and most of our first sexual experiences were with those girls.Most South African girls did not even consider doing anything like that until they were married.UK parents also had no problem with us drinking in front of them.The reason I bring this up is sadly stereotyping of UK girls is nothing new.
    Later in life when doing business trips to the UK and nights out to the pub did not change that perception.
    Now married and living in the USA I go to a lot of British pubs here to watch sport and sadly the woman from the UK who are my age and younger have not changed.
    I know as a youngster I did things I was not proud of and not all woman are the same but until the UK parents stop this pub culture and set better examples I am afraid it will just continue.
    PS: Young girls from the USA look and do the same as UK girls.Sad for the future.

85. Siuzi said,

    May 29, 2011 @ 7:29 am

    I’ve been living in UK for two years now (doing my phd) and yes, this is all true. I consider myself as very well traveled girl but I have never ever experienced anything similar like this outside UK (Except drunk English girls visiting European cities for hen parties…)
    I also learned to avoid city centers on Friday and Saturday nights but sometimes they find me! Once I was heading home from a concert with friends and literally got attacked by two very very overweighed „lady” of my own mother’s age!! Luckily they weren’t sober enough to walk or stand on their heels so we just walked away - but girls, where is your dignity??
    The clothes and being overweighed – These are different issues.
    Once a friend of me and his wife from London visited me in my hometown and I just didn’t know how to ask the girl to change clothes as she dressed up for the evening as a cheap prostitute of Budapest…It’s just lack of taste, I guess. And the size of the girls? Hm, maybe the food, maybe something genetically inherited? Still trying to figure it out. But this three things together (drunk fat and unclothed girl) definitely gives a world wide recognized stereotype.

86. Rod said,

    May 29, 2011 @ 7:36 am

    Suzi,
    thanks for sharing your experiences and adding to the debate - very much appreciated.
    It’s clearly something that is well and truly embedded now, it’s such a shame that we’re becoming known for this throughout the world
    Regards,
    Rod

87. jimbo said,

    June 2, 2011 @ 3:49 pm

    I’m 64 years old and all I can say is that it is good to see youngsters enjoying themselves - we are far too quick to condemn young people and it’s so easy to jump on the Daily Mail bandwagon.

88. 5_years_in_uk said,

    June 12, 2011 @ 7:56 am

    Hello,
    I welcome myself to join here to drop my humble and honest opinion,
    I am from Cuba in the Caribbean, I have never ever heard the term of binge-drinking and seen women so drunk and the dutch-courage profile to the level i see in the Uk, It is gross, totally revolting.
    yeap fat girlz with horrible attitude on weekends, it seems that the drink doesnt fit well in their brain, lots of cursing in the streets and horrible manners, in my case, i got questioned about my sexuality very often by the fact that i amnot that hyper and talkin load as british men do, so i just say, well u arenot used to men like me, i was brought up in another way or environment and this issue is going from bad to worse, the gov is trying to tackle this , i dunno what and how they will resolve this matter in this uk, how to educate them? and abroad they have such a bad reputation, it is just horrible,
    women here curse alot and very rude when drinking, it is kind of a second personality, then u see them during the week all serious and polite, it is so unbelievable what i see in this country, am glad that amnot one of them in any way. i wouldnot like to have kids in this country, i hope to have them in another place.
    greetings

89. Sarah said,

    June 24, 2011 @ 12:14 pm

    Hey there,
    as I am good friends with my former pen friend from school, I have been to England several times and visited different cities. Because of this fact, I feel like I have to take up the cudgels for most of the English women ( at least all the ones I know ).
    I mean, yes, some defiitely buy their clothing 2 or 3 sizes too small ( what in fact makes even slightly overweight people look bulky) and , yes, some young women drink far too much and are behaveing worse and (even more) agressive as men, BUT that is not a typical English phenomenon.
    There are binge drinking young women and of course men from Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, and of course all the Scandinavian countries to be seen wherever you get the opportunity to compare ( holidays, universities,…). If you do not belive me come to the Wiesn in October, you might eet some badly drunken Australians there. They come to a certain camping lot every year, keep being drunk for one week and do several really ugly drinking contests there. No dignity at all!!!!
    You see, binge drinking is not just an English problem and as far as I am concerned, there are some binge drinking overwight and badly dressed girls everywhere and far more other ones. ( We have hen does here aswell…). English women allways seemed very polite, funny and nice to me.
    Don’t worry, stereotypes can be worse.

90. Lucy said,

    July 8, 2011 @ 6:03 pm

    I am a proud british girl of 16 years old and I do know what you are saying is factually right, but it’s rather upsetting knowing that some people regard all brits like this. I dont drink, I have never smoked, I have never tried any kind of drug and I’m a virgin. When I tell people of this, it’s like there peception of me changes? Like you actually need to be some overweight tart who sleeps with the whole town to gain peoples respect.

    In regards to your post, I feel you have raised a very important issue, but I do sometimes think that some of the British girls may feel very insecure going out like this, but they feel a need to get into the shortest, most unflattering outfit they can so that they can rival that of there other drunken overweight friend.

    You see in clubs its all about the scouting for boys thing isn’t it? well as a 16 year old I can tell you it is. And lets say there are 1000’s of girls wearing short skirts grinding and batting there eyelashes. people will feel a need to compete with that. But that also says something about the boy..

    Not all british girls are tarts.
    Thanks, Lucy x

91. Rod said,

    July 8, 2011 @ 7:02 pm

    Lucy,
    firstly thanks for an outstanding comment and secondly welcome to the site.
    A first-hand account such as yours is both very interesting and in your case very refreshing as well.
    It’s not only great to hear about the other side of things but also valuable in balancing the debate.

    I never suggested all, or even the majority, of British girls conformed to the stereotype, my concern is that as it has crystallized then young ladies such as yourself can get tarred with the same brush.

    I think, if you’ll allow me to say Lucy, you should be very proud of being your own woman and tackling life on your terms and not the agenda of others.
    1,000s of people a month read this page I suspect there will be quite a few young women out there who read your comment Lucy and suddenly don’t feel quite so alone in their approach to life.
    It’s very refreshing to hear.
    Best wishes,
    Rod

92. kaloyan said,

    July 21, 2011 @ 7:21 pm

    Unfortunately couldn’t agree more with the article above. First let me say that I’m Bulgarian (originally born and have lived my whole life there). Chances are you picture, of course if you indeed have heard of Bulgaria, a typical poor Eastern European country and all the negative notion surrounding this. Reality is I when I came to England one year ago to study and live here I was really surprised with the manners and attitude of young English people. Especially girls. And how acutally the whole image of England being a royal place just collapses.

    Not only that big part of Eng girls are obese (sorry ladies) and drunk but they are ignorant and worst swear like a drunken truck driver. Numerous times I had to “enjoy” their drunken speech. Last one was a 22 years old girl swearing and proudly bragging she is a mother of two.Really ugly and dissapointing. Im really sorry for English girls and sorry for me, glad there are a lot of international women.

93. Rod said,

    July 21, 2011 @ 7:35 pm

    Kaloyan,
    thanks for the comment and welcome to the site - it’s a shame that once again we’re spreading this stereotypical image not only in Beritain but around the world . . .
    Regards,
    Rod

94. Karl said,

    August 5, 2011 @ 10:52 am

    It is a bit rich and hypercritical for an American to criticise British women,when American ones are often the fattest in the world,not to mention stupid,but it is true that working class women are often out of their heads and dressed very slutty when out at night,it does my head in and has for years,because they hang it all out,then shout abuse at you for looking at what they are showing,but there are many girls that aren’t like this,and where does he get fat from,you don’t see many fat girls,some are a little chubby,but most that I see are very pretty on the outside at least,but they are usually sexist and very narrow minded,and I am English by the way.

95. Manuela said,

    August 7, 2011 @ 5:45 pm

    I’ve been living in the UK for a few years now, but I’m originaly from Portugal. Last year a few of my friends came over to visit me for a long weekend. I took them out in a few different places and towns/cities… Anyway, they were very excited to start with, although when they left they seemed slightly disappointed… When I asked them what was wrong? Or if they didn’t enjoy it? Their answers were: The only girls they actually met that weren’t fat/ extremely drunk/ swearing and behaving like blokes/ and that were dressed with a bit “of sense” where in fact from other countries (Poland and Germany).. They said that what shocked them the most was the fact that nightclubs closed at 2/3 a.m. In the morning… And the English girls were already completely wasted! Had they been out all night until 7/8 in the morning like in Portugal or Spain, most of them wouldn’t even survive! I had to laugh obviously, and I did defend that many girls that I know in this country are nothing like that.. But again, two of my mates said that even though they enjoyed going out, they didn’t want to “get involved” with anyone because they have their own girlfriends back home; These two friends said that they left the nightclub a bit earlier to go back to the hotel because they were being “arrassed” by a group of girls.. My friend said that one of the girls even grabbed his “package” on the dancefloor.. I thought that it was funny but to be honest I was a bit shocked with their stories too.. But yeah, i do agree with most of these things.. Sadly!

96. lorrie said,

    August 22, 2011 @ 7:14 am

    I’m so sick of this stereotype of British girls!
    I’m English, 21 and married to an Australian. I am just over 5 foot, my BMI is 21, my stomach is completely FLAT as i work out basically every single day, i have clear skin and white teeth. I am not a fat, drunken ugly lazy chav/lay-about, and none of the women I know are. One is a red head who is stunning, another of my good friends is Mary-Jess Leaverland, look her up on youtube, she is British and when I lived in the UK I attended an all girls sixth form and alot of the girls were slim/thin, nice looking to absolutely gorgeous and knew how to behave.

    I feel sorry for people who have encountered drunken, loud, obsese women in clubs ( i have too and know it’s far from pleasant) but in an atmosphere that practically pushes alcohol on you and plays music at the same volume as an airoplane engine taking off, your going to bump into the drunks and scumbags. Also many British clubs do not discriminate like European ones, we let anyone in, not just stunning people so you are going to get all kinds in British bars. If you want to meet good English girls why not visit the classy wine bars in Kent? Or the cheltenham races? Where yes, some of the bad ones do show up, but many of the good, well brought up English girls prefer to go rather then to some sleezy pub in the East End or Newcastle?

    I’m not saying well mannered girls don’t drink and never forget their manners. I’ve been out with friends and have become a little giggly and lost my cool with some drunken lout whos been trying it on for an hour after i’ve asked him to go away nicely 100 times. Are you telling me Swedish, Russian, Polish girls don’t drink and or loose control? Because i have seen more then one of them chucking back the vodka like tomorrow will never come and flashing their breasts. ( Personally I don’t touch Vodka as it tastes like paint stripper) I went to a party and spotted a European girl making out with a man we all knew was married and old enough to be her dad because he had a pocket full of cash.

    So all my friends and I should stereotype women of other nations as Vodka-swilling, gold diggers who drop
    their undies for anyone with a rolex and a grand? No, because that wouldn’t be fair as we understand it’s only the few bad apples who act this way.

    I understand where the image comes from, the media who are not going to show my friends and I drinking tea and baking apple pies on a Sunday or in Mass at christmas, but please don’t tar all English girls with the same brush and when you do meet a gorgeous, fun english girl (and i say when not if) please don’t tell her you once believed in this awful stereotype as ,trust me, she’ll think your an ignorant imbicile.

97. Madelaine said,

    September 16, 2011 @ 3:35 pm

    when first reading this I was appalled and found myself slowly shaking my head trying to disagree ( as I myself am a 18 year old university student) then I began to realise that infact I may have been bordering this stereotype , I am a size 10 and I infact do drink rather alot on nights out ( minus the mini skirt …I like my tights and flowing dresses) and although I dont get to the point where I am throwing my guts up I do get terrible hangovers.
    To be very honest the reason why I drink is becuase the male sex become more attractive and I find myself being given alot of attention ( so therfore I guess it is a self-confidence issue).It is a very sad and dispicable way to go about things I know , but I beleive there is somthing conected to way men treat us ( possibly the media ect. aswell ) and our reasoning behind drinking alot, when I am drunk I can feel attractive that is the main reason. When I go to other countries I feel as if suddenly I am reasonably attractive again and I do not feel the need to drink or for that matter dress up at all. men in england ( my personal opnion anyway) are rather …constipated with thier feelings . And I think as british women we are often pressured to look like a size 2 and have features of a model. I could go on for a while but I think you get the story

98. ieva said,

    October 24, 2011 @ 8:13 am

    What appalled me the most when I first came to live in the UK a year ago, and what I still can’t, nay, refuse to get used to, is this pathetic lack of self-respect that seems to be dominating amongst British women.. It is my opinion, that this binge-drinking is not where the roots of the genuine problem lie. Binge-drinking is just one of the consequences of this overwhelming and all-inclusive sex cult.. Don’t get me wrong, sex is an awesome thing, but when it comes to the stage of a cult, I think it’s just unhealthy for any society. Morally, I mean. Cult is wrong, whatever is its object or subject. People simply begin to lose their wits and in this particular case, obviously, their morals.

    I am a girl of 25, and I am young and I love a good party, I love feeling beautiful, being flirty and getting attention. I love men and if we already came to this point - a good shag:) In short, I love life and all the joys it has to offer - be it a good book, an amazing movie, yoga, travels, socialising or drinking to rock’n’roll:) I come from Lithuania, a country where almost every teen goes through this phase of binge-drinking, sometimes even to the extreme - we drink and smoke excessively, we vomit, we find ourselves in the ERs, we want to feel sexy and get loose once in a while, enjoy some extra attention, have a mad night on the dance floor, and yes, we hook up for an occasional one night stand from time to time, why not, we’re young and we have our urges:) It is no news, everybody does that. But the difference is that we are not exactly THAT desperate.. We don’t feel the need to dress like prostitutes, take off our knickers in the middle of the street, shove our boobs into every single face we meet, not to mention wobble our bare thighs all over the place whilst trying to balance on the sky-high heels, looking like an actual cow ice-skating. I might sound a bit harsh, but my word, sometimes you just wish you could come up to one of those over-exposed individuals, grab them by their.. boobs perhaps, because they usually don’t wear enough clothes to grab them by anything else, and shake them for the sweet mother of god, and ask WHY on earth they think they look sexy, when all they look is cheap, tacky, tasteless and quite ridiculous, really, WHY on earth do they feel the need to so obviously offer their bodies like lumps of meat.. why, at least prostitutes have their price, when you think of it.. WHY would they want to expose and emphasize their physical imperfections when trying to conceal them would obviously be a decision much wiser? WHY do they think this is the only way to attract THE MAN when in fact he will most probably be repulsed rather than attracted (if he is worth anything at all as a man, as a brain carrier, of course).. too many times have I seen guys sneering at them, laughing at them, making hurtful remarks while watching them trying to walk away ‘gracefully’ on those ridiculous stripper heels.. it’s just.. very weird and quite sad, to be honest.

    It sometimes seems to me that it is not women that are at risk to be aggressively raped, but men:)I have never seen such desperate neediness before. Where does it come from, can anyone tell me? Why such an outrageous brain-washing sex, or rather, naked female body cult? Since when ’sexy’ became so crude and straightforward? I bet half of them don’t even enjoy sex that much at all:).. As if they merely were all trying to prove some point. As if they were trying to break some social-moral standards just to show how independent and strong and daring they are. And then I guess it all simply became a fashion that everybody feels obliged to follow, just jumping on the bandwagon. And then the fashion industry follows the popular demand for slutty outfits, as if every night was Halloween, when all the bewitched slutty pumpkins get loose:)

    Of course I know perfectly well (as does everyone who is in his/her right mind) that by no means all British girls/women are like that:) Of course not! But the tendencies are quite clear, and I’m afraid that the nightlife in Britain does have quite a distinct face, and a grotesque one it is.. The only thing I don’t really understand - WHY on earth??..

99. Rod said,

    October 24, 2011 @ 8:25 am

    Ieva,
    thanks for the outstanding comment and welcome to the site.

    “lack of self-respect”
    I think that is the key to a lot of of this, as it is a great many things in this country today, self-respect and self-confidence is key, in my opinion.

    I think you make the same points I would Ieva, it’s not about being a damp squib or a bore and there’s nothing wrong with having a great night out and wearing a short skirt just stop before collapsing in the gutter with the skirt around your waist !?
    Regards,
    Rod

100. Willy said,

     November 24, 2011 @ 8:17 am

     hi…i’m willy from malaysia….i like all the comments….but the fact is that,i’ve met british girls here in malaysia or to be precised,sarawak…they were all ok,cute,well-behaved,not fat etc…..there was no incident like what u guys r talking about…i mean here in m’sia…..i think it only happens in western countries….everyone seems to be okay here( tourists )…but i enjoy this forum….congrats to Rod!

101. Rod said,

     November 24, 2011 @ 8:43 am

     Willy,
     thanks for the comment and welcome to the site. What you say doesn’t surprse me as there’s no suggestion that all British girls are like the cliche. I bet there’s loads of places in the world where you’ll never see this sort of behaviour, just as you won’t from that cliched image of the British lager drinking man.

     Differenet places attract different people . . . thankfully
     Regards from England
     Rod

102. cjones said,

     December 1, 2011 @ 11:04 pm

     I just found this blog and feel compelled to write.

     I have been absolutely shocked this evening while going for a drink in our (usually quiet) local with my wife after work. We were enjoying a pleasant evening drink when we heard noise and laughter outside on the street. A group of young girls, clearly on a ‘bender’, began to file in.

     Now I understand that young girls want to have fun and liberation on occasion. But the size of the girls that clattered in in tight and revealing clothing astonished us - particularly my wife. Five out of the six girls that strutted straight to the bar must have been at least a size 16, and showed no concern whatsoever with being overweight. We were appalled by their appearance - these were YOUNG girls, not one of them could have been over 25, and it’s such a shame to see them fat at that age. One girl was clearly quite happy with showing off her bulging midriff, while two of her friends were clearly just as content showing off their enormous backsides. One of these women, a platinum blond girl wearing white leotards with chunky white heels, proudly pushed out her oversized buttocks as she bent over the bar to order her drinks stretched the lettering ‘Big Luv’ for all to see. A glorification of obesity indeed.

     We tried to ignore the girls as they ordered their pints and downed them. Yet my wife and I barely had time to resume our conversation when we were interrupted by a loud belch. The girls simply laughed. One of them suggested a burping competition. My wife and I were so disgusted we left the pub immediately. I can honestly say that they seemed to enjoy making such an exhibition of themselves. What on earth is happening to young British women?

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