Post war lawns were marketed to the mostly white middle class as luxury items that reflected status. Ancestral man found the open savannas of Africa most suitable for survival. Another theory is that suburbanites grew up with the concept that short lawn is good, long lawn is bad. American suburbanites have grown up with neatness and conformity being considered the norm and have never asked themselves if a long lawn is really bad. A long lawn is often seen as a symbol of laziness, slobbery and neglect.
Some people find mowing the lawn a therapeutic activity.
This is where we have a division in the attitudes of mower owners, there are some who just want a nice lawn and will use a noisy, polluting lawn mower if that is what it takes to achieve their goal, and then there are some owners who take great pride in their mowers. For these owners the mower is something of great workmanship and design and is to be pampered and cleaned on a regular basis. These owners practically dote on their mowers and use them with great pride and ceremony.