Despite plenty of excellent reasons to hate on the US, the internet recently circled back to “the American lean.” Americans are known to exhibit the posture while they wait, leaning on anything and everything in a public space. The habit is such a tell among Americans abroad that the CIA trained its operatives to hold their bodies differently. People from Europe and Asia assert that they stand with their weight evenly distributed, or wait in a squat position. Most of all, TikTokers from all over really want you to know that everyone knows you’re an American tourist because you’re leaning on everything.
On April 25, A TikTok creator claimed “I swear there isn’t one thing I don’t lean on😭😭 isn’t it called the American lean haha.” She then demonstrated the posture in a post that has 4.6 million views. She began the video standing, along with the caption, “every foreigner standing straight in a line,” then contrasted the pose with “Americans 😭”—throwing herself against walls and furniture to assume a deep lean.
Everyone’s talking about ‘the American lean,’ so it must be a thing.
@lala_sadii I swear there isn’t one thing I don’t lean on😭😭 isn’t it called the American lean haha
♬ sonido original – Crls_vl 𒉭
Americans responded that the lean is a casual, non-threatening way to take up space that is simply comfortable. Others mentioned that they squat while they wait and connected this behavior to European and Southeast Asian cultures. People brought up the CIA thing. Many argued that “the American lean” is not a thing because everyone does it.
“Y’all hating. It’s mad comfy,” said @jdr1102.
“Listen there’s the Asian squat and there’s the American lean…what can we say?” said @animedefreak56.
“For those saying everyone does this, one the things incoming CIA agents are specifically taught is to not lean on things because it identifies them as American so easily,” said @ichimuritanuki.
“Why only American? It’s like everyone,” said @la2inee.
Many are discussing the lean cited disabilities and difficult work conditions
Some Americans—and people all over the world—work long hours and perform shift work. Some are unable to take breaks and never sit down at all. Many jobs require repetitive movements that can lead to pain in the body or create imbalances that affect gait and posture. Humans all over the world are simply physically disabled. They stand and move in ways that work for them.
“Only because we are one the few countries who make their employees stand for 8+ hour shifts in ~70% of our working class. Exhaustion is real,” said @riddlestolabrynth13.
“When you work 9-10 hours, on your feet all day, without adequate breaks you learn to lean on stuff,” said @melissa0426.
“I’m a disabled man. I’m just trying to get my weight off my body somehow,” said @raven_.ier.
“Believe it or not, you guys just never think about it and don’t notice, but there’s a whole world outside us, everybody does it, especially those with fucking scoliosis and so on,” said @baahaa_ty.
“I’m not American but I do have chronic pain gang,” said @sxdkio.
Redditors ask ‘Why is the American Lean a thing?’
And there’s a fresh Reddit thread from May 4 in the r/NoStupidQuestions sub.
@Raski_Demorva asked, “Why is the ‘American lean’ a thing?”
Commenters on the thread responded similarly to those on TikTok…comfort, squat, OSHA violations, “everyone does this—not just Americans,” CIA.
“Cuz we posted up straight chillin at all times,” said @Embarrassed-Buy-8634.
“My dream is for it to be socially acceptable to pop a Slavic squat at any time anywhere in the world,” said @Bestefarssistemens.
“We have a sh*t ton of injuries from never going to the doctor and OSHA violations,” said Upstairs-Parsley3151.
“It’s not an American thing. Everyone leans. Whoever said that is an idiot,” said @AknowledgeDefeat.
“I just saw a video about the American lean and it said that CIA agents need to be taught not to do that because you automatically get clocked as American in another country,” said @sneaky-snooper.
Why do we think Americans lean? Because they do, but also because people are into spy stuff.
People are really fascinated by the CIA factoid. Many brought it up in relation to the American lean in conversation on social media.
Details about CIA training protocols for American spies required to hide in plain sight among Europeans came from a 2019 book by Jonna Mendez, former CIA “chief of disguise.”
Mendez told Wired in Dec 2018, “Americans have a certain way of standing—weight on one foot or the other—and if they’re trying to pass themselves off as European, it helps if they stand squarely on both feet.”
In 2019 NPR quoted Mendez, who said that Europeans think Americans, “…are slouchy, a little sloppy…Because they stand up straight, they don’t lean on things.”
Sounds plausible. Americans are known for leading sedentary lifestyles. Some work in offices where they sit at computers for hours, and most Americans drive cars everywhere they go. These habits can contribute to pelvic instability, loss of muscle mass, and back problems that can negatively affect posture.
Lifestyles in other countries could include more walking and climbing. These habits might help people maintain strength in postural muscles as they age.
This is not the first time the American lean has come up, why are we hearing about it now?
The lean has been previously discussed on Reddit, of course—there’s an entire Endless Thread podcast episode about it from July 2024. And there are plenty of annoying American ex-pat TikTokers who’ve posted about the lean in the past.
Could the American lean be hitting right now because it’s about to be vacation season in the northern hemisphere, and foreign countries will soon be inundated with dreaded American tourists?
Maybe! “American tourist” has been synonymous with cringe since before the dawn of “cringe,” so why not use the American lean to dunk on Americans for being—as Mendez said, “slouchy” and “sloppy?”
And by all means, dunk away—American tourists could do a whole lot more to respect cultures where they are guests this summer.
At times, however, the American lean chat on social media is kind of giving casual racism, ableism, fat-phobia, low key nationalism, and other nonsense that’s bad for everyone, American or not.
…But the McDonald’s ‘lean poles’ are undeniable.
“The American lean is so real, McDonald’s has lean poles lmao,” said @napithegreat.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
