American Captains put up with so much **** from the flight attendants it's unbelievable. I have flown with many Euro captains in previous jobs and they definetly would not tolerate half of what I see at Delta on a daily basis.
Isn't it amazing that one gets the CA's/FA's he deserves?
You have these hierarchy problems only in those airlines, where there is a big difference in status in one crew. You have these problems very seldom in smaller crews, where - as one could assume - the gap is smaller and the CA power to stand up would be greater. You don't have these problems in LCC, where captains also do lots of ground handling duties, help with the cleaning of the cabin (yeaaah, that exists) aso.
It also seems that it happens more in majors, where captains have more power, are older and show more authority. And it happens more in the USA, where there seem to be most of the defender of the United captain.
That all shows me that you fall in a trap of perception. It's not the problem of the CA's, its yours! Never in my live did I ever have a problem with a cabin attendant. And never had a CA had a problem with me. And never has a senior CA questioned my authority, even when I helped her to clean the cabin just moments before.
Dani