The centrality that does not need to be named

Question

Suppose we are looking at Internet domain names. Every country has its own two-letter abbreviation (.fr, .uk, .ca, .za, etc.) — except for the US, as far as I know. They have .com, .org, .edu, .gov. I assume there's an historic reason for this, but what I'm wondering is: is there a term to describe the assumed centrality of the US in the domain-name world — the country being so "central" that it does not even need to be identified. Only the other needs to be identified.

Now suppose we are in Europe or North America. I'm asked to describe a man. "He's five foot eight, brown hair, wearing a beige suit..." I know in North America and I presume in Europe, that unless I specifically state otherwise, he is assumed by most of my listeners to be white. In other words, whiteness like the US, is assumed to be so central that it does not need to be identified.

I could give many more examples of the margin vs. the centre, but hopefully these two illustrate what I mean.

My Question: Is there a term that describes this centrality — the centrality of not needing to be labelled, if you will?

I don't know how to research the question either on this site or elsewhere.

Answer 1

I suspect that the assumption of certain default characteristics reflects the hegemony of particular groups within that domain (Weak pun intended).

Answer 2

.com is a prototypical domain suffix, and a white man is the prototype of an American man.

prototype
n 1: a standard or typical example; "he is the prototype of good breeding"; "he provided America with an image of the good father" [syn: prototype, paradigm, epitome, image]
— WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

Answer 3

From the context, the appropriate adjective would be

natural
2 of or in agreement with the character or makeup of, or circumstances surrounding, someone or something.

The top level domain name for the UK is naturally, .uk (as one would expect).
The people of Spain, naturally, speak Spanish -- what else?

Answer 4

You may be looking for Americentrism.

American networks are said to have an americentric bias in the selection of their material and U.S. celebrities have been accused of being Americentric.

I've also found this that you may be interested.

Exceptionalism is the perception that a country, society, institution, movement, or time period is "exceptional" (i.e., unusual or extraordinary) in some way and thus does not need to conform to normal rules or general principles. Used in this sense, the term reflects a belief formed by lived experience, ideology, perceptual frames, or perspectives influenced by knowledge (or lack thereof) of historical or comparative circumstances.

And to be more specific: American exceptionalism. Though wikipedia suggests that

American exceptionalism is the proposition that the United States is different from other countries in that it has a specific world mission to spread liberty and democracy.

it can be used to imply superiority:

Although the term does not necessarily imply superiority, many neoconservative and American conservative writers have promoted its use in that sense. To them, the United States is like the biblical "shining city on a hill," and exempt from historical forces that have affected other countries.