Europeans Are Kinky: Difference between revisions

[[File:ulla_5299ulla 5299.jpg|link=The Producers|frame|<small>"God bless Sweden!"</small> ]]

{{quote|"''You know America was founded by prudes. Prudes who left Europe because they hated all the kinky, steamy European sex that was going on.''"|'''Cooper''', |''[[Euro TripEurotrip]]''}}

In works produced outside Europe, Europeans are often depicted as more sexually free and straightforward than anything else on the planet. The sexually liberal European is typically contrasted with a more inhibited American, or with some other non-European character, who has trouble dealing with her libertine ways. Since this is usually [[Played for Laughs]], the European character tends to be female, as having a woman act this way is considered [[Double Standard|more outrageous]], and therefore more humorous. Men acting in a sexually straightforward manner is considered either [[All Men Are Perverts|normal]], or at least not particularly funny. A stereotypical example of this trope is the [[Norse Byby Norsewest|blonde Swedish nymphomaniac]] (who occasionally appears in works from Europe as well), though other European nationalities can also be used. The only exception seems to be Britain, and to a lesser extent Ireland: British people are commonly portrayed as [[British Stuffiness|more repressed]] than Americans, while the Irish are considered too intensely Catholic for sex.

As a narrative trope, [['''Europeans Are Kinky]]''' has been around since the 1960s. Earlier examples are rare, at least in mainstream audio-visual media, since before that decade cinema (excluding porn) and TV didn't address sexuality with the level of candidness the trope requires. In the 1960s, the Swedish movies ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'' (1967) and ''Language of Love'' (1969) were among the first films with explicit sex scenes to get a wide international distribution, thus contributing to the stereotypical image of the "kinky Swede". Even earlier, the French film ''The Lovers'' (1958), which includes a short (and not particularly explicit) sex scene, was the subject of a famous American court case. A screening of this film in Ohio resulted in the theater manager being convicted for public depiction of obscene material. The manager appealed, and the Supreme Court eventually overruled the conviction, stating that the movie was not pornography, and therefore not obscene. Even though movies like these helped establish the image of the sexually straightforward European in the US, they are not examples of this trope as such. [['''Europeans Are Kinky]]''' doesn't usually appear in works produced in Europe itself, as a vital part of the trope is that the European character is seen from an outside perspective as an exotic Other.

There may also be partial [[Truth in Television]] to the general "kinkiness" of Europeans: in [https://web.archive.org/web/20120226234624/http://psych.mcmaster.ca/dalywilson/commentary_schmitt.pdf a study published in 2005], citizens of 48 different different countries across the world were asked about their attitudes towards multiple sex partners and casual sex. When these countries were put in order based of how promiscuous they are, 13 of the top 20 countries were in Europe, whereas the US placed 22nd. However, 11 European countries also placed lower than the US. Most of these were Catholic countries, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal, whereas the European countries in the top 20 were mostly former Eastern Bloc states and Protestant countries. A more truthful way of formulating this trope would therefore be "non-Catholic Europeans are kinkier than most other nationalites", but fiction rarely deals with these things with such a level of nuance. Of course, this lack of nuance might be attributed to ancient [[Latin Lover]] trope--whichtrope—which covers the aforementioned Catholic countries.

* In ''[[Justice League International]]'', Crimson Fox is always trying to seduce [[Captain Atom (Comic Book)|Captain Atom]]. He replies with the "American military are [[The Stoic|stoic]]" trope.

* Several characters in ''[[Euro TripEurotrip]]''.

* Referenced in ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Filmfilm)|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]''. After Tom Sawyer sees Mina Harker [[Our Vampires Are Different|bite a man's throat open]], he sardonically notes, "They told me European women had funny ways."

* The D'Angelines from ''[[KushielsKushiel's Legacy]]'' are a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] to the French. They're all [[The Beautiful Elite|incredibly beautiful]] and base their culture around [[Eternal Sexual Freedom]].

* ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (TV)|Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' episode "Mac and Charlie Die" is heavy on this trope. Dennis finds a new roommate from Europe. The man quickly manages to fill the entire place with sexy kinky ladies willing to do anything. Though Dennis draws the line when his roommate tries to trick Dennis into having a tryst with his own father in a glory hole.

* In ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel -Air]]'' Will and Carlton attempt to impress a pair of French girls. The episode was filled to the brim with jokes about how promiscuous and "easy" French women were.

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