Why do people think people in the past weren't easily offended? (drug, high school)
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People whine a lot about political correctness but why do people assume people in the past weren't easily offended. I had a conversation before with a former older investment banker (Vanderbilt BA and Wharton MBA) who grew up in Kentucky in a upper middle class home. He told me as a teen in the area he grew up in, if he called a girl after 8pm, it would elicit a very angry phone call from the girl's parents and a beating from his parents and this was the culture and standards of the time. I am not saying people in the current era aren't sensitive but it seems like people in the past weren't any different. Of course what people are offended by today are obviously different than what people were offended by in the past but again I don't think this means people weren't easily offended in the past.
you have to be taught to be offended by the least provocation.....
being offended is now used as a political weapon by liberals. the advent of aplying zero threshold to words has done its share of creating enemies where none exist
the weakness in the fight against prejudice is that it is waged using prejudice.....
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Originally Posted by kevinm
In the past if you were offended, you kept it to yourself. You did not stand on a soapbox and whine in public.
To "stand on a soapbox and whine about" IS an exercise of free speech that offends others, that IS free speech. Speaking of soapboxes and whinings, what about people whining about "loss of gun onwning rights", or whining about "socialized medicine", or making disparaging (especially sexually harassing) remarks about female employers (and it still does happen, believe it or not? Don't even get me started about whiners of "free speech" when the social climate calls them out on their contemptuous and frankly bullying attitudes.
So it looks the whiner-bashers just wanna have it both ways: They want mainstream society to deem it socially unacceptable to "whine" about things they consider "trivial", yet want it socially acceptable to whine about their own pet issues that attack "my freedoms" (their definition of "freedom" seems nihilistic anyway, but that's another topic).
So no, this is just bullies trying to stack cultural rules and customs in their favor - namely by redefining "abnormal" behavior and "disrespect-worthy" person in ways that effectively bar anyone standing up to the political and (perhaps especially) cultural status quo from being worthy of even the basics of dignity.
I agree with the OP. In the past people were wayyyy more fearful and offended by others, especially people who were different from them. People got so offended, and scared of others, that they willfully voted for public officials who prided themselves on discrimination. For decades, people were so easily offended, that they cosigned the government legislating peoples lives into misery. Whether black, gay, divorced, etc... it didn't take much to stand out in civil disobedience.
When looking at TV shows back then, couples often slept in separate beds (and married couples at that). People were offended by the sexual implications of a couple sleeping in the same bed. People got offended if a black person drank from a white water fountain. People got offended if you didn't bow down to Christianity. What you have today, is social media making everyone's personal thoughts, public. Opinions are just more accessible.
I think that's really it... opinions are more accessible today. People might have been offended in the past, but only the people they verbally told would know about it. Now, you can just post on Facebook and everybody who you have as a friend knows instantaneously. And if it's outrageous enough, they will share it with their friends and so on. All it takes is a few clicks. Informations spreads faster and easier.
In 7th grade all the black and white students were put together in an old high school.. their were hundreds of us put together for the first time.. Blacks with whites.. no problem...
No riots, no parents offended.. we all went to school and there was no big deal. It just felt natural.
I believe we had a nicer environment . No drugs , we all dressed decently. Jeans were not allowed. Everyone looked clean cut and polished and we were not in a rich neighborhood . It was a working class neighborhood with modest homes kept nice.
TV was family oriented and many variety shows like Ed Sullivan , Red Skelton, Westerns , and nothing out of the ordinary.
In 7th grade all the black and white students were put together in an old high school.. their were hundreds of us put together for the first time.. Blacks with whites.. no problem...
No riots, no parents offended.. we all went to school and there was no big deal. It just felt natural.
I believe we had a nicer environment . No drugs , we all dressed decently. Jeans were not allowed. Everyone looked clean cut and polished and we were not in a rich neighborhood . It was a working class neighborhood with modest homes kept nice.
TV was family oriented and many variety shows like Ed Sullivan , Red Skelton, Westerns , and nothing out of the ordinary.
People whine a lot about political correctness but why do people assume people in the past weren't easily offended. I had a conversation before with a former older investment banker (Vanderbilt BA and Wharton MBA) who grew up in Kentucky in a upper middle class home. He told me as a teen in the area he grew up in, if he called a girl after 8pm, it would elicit a very angry phone call from the girl's parents and a beating from his parents and this was the culture and standards of the time. I am not saying people in the current era aren't sensitive but it seems like people in the past weren't any different. Of course what people are offended by today are obviously different than what people were offended by in the past but again I don't think this means people weren't easily offended in the past.
I am sure they were easily offended but they got over it because it just wasn't important in the grand scheme of life. Still isn't.
1, there are many more outlets for outrage now compared to the old days and 2, those who were offended back in the day had less power to voice their outrage (other than writing books, or protesting/rioting).
1, there are many more outlets for outrage now compared to the old days and 2, those who were offended back in the day had less power to voice their outrage (other than writing books, or protesting/rioting).
Back in the day, protesting would get your voice heard if there was media around to get your message out. These days, if there's a mass protest/march roaming the city, I can follow their every move on Twitter. "They made a right on Broadway and are heading towards Union Sq. Now they're splitting up into two groups." Occupy Wall Street had their protests live-streamed over the Internet.
I think people in my earlier days weren't offended easily. I wasn't alive during Jim Crow, but I imagine people were offended by stuff then.
But these days people get offended over silly stuff. I think the anti-bullying seminars created a whole bunch of bullies who think they're being compassionate, but really they're not. I read an article the other day about the offensive treatment of women in the Olympics, because a reporter said a lot of the credit for a woman's improvement in her time belongs to her husband/coach. It has nothing to do with saying she was only there because of her husband, and everything to do with the coach. They also got offended because someone said the girl's gymnastics team were standing there looking like they were at the mall instead of being worried about their scores. I took it to mean they didn't seem all that concerned with their scores, but were just standing around being blase about the whole thing. They got mad because they said mall, as if girls have nothing better to do with their time than go to the mall. Another instance was when someone mentioned that one of the athletes was married to a Chicago Bears player. The reporters said it was just a way to tie her into a local story, but people said it was taking away from her moment.
I kind of get what they're saying, but who has time to be worried about that kind of stuff? It seems if you're looking to be offended, you can find plenty of reasons, but why? Life is too short.
I guess we'll just ignore that time when 14 year old Emmit Till did nothing but WHISTLE at a woman, and was brutally murdered for doing so.
But Nah...his murderers and the woman weren't easily offended, aye?
Nahhh...couldn't be.
No one forgets that stuff, and a lot has changed since then.
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