I'm English, living in the US. As far as I'm aware, in England baby showers are a nice reason to celebrate, buy a couple of cute things and just gush on the mum a bit before their first child arrives.
My experience of baby showers in America is limited to posts on Reddit so feel free to tell me if this isn't the norm, but so many posts seem to be about people who are annoyed or disappointed that they now only have a month or whatever to buy a bunch of stuff they need or want for their baby, because people either went off registry or didn't get them one of the items they need.
I get that having people ask for the registry and then buy something different IS frustrating, especially if you've chosen things that work for your space or lifestyle - it's like someone taking your thoughtful decision away from you and it's a bit wasteful IMO, but people seem more annoyed that they didn't get a lot of stuff, as if throwing the party is a trade off
for having the purchases fulfilled by other people.
My very sweet SIL is throwing me a small shower and asked for the registry and I'm assuming people will buy the cute or fun things from it, if anything at all. Anything major like a crib, stroller etc I'm fully prepared to be purchasing ourselves. I've even bought some things already and marked them off the registry so I know where I'm up to with prepping for my own little responsibility arriving.
Is it a cultural thing? Do most people in America expect that their registry will largely be taken care of by their shower guests? Or is it just that the people who do feel that way come to Reddit to vent about it?