I do take issue with the idea that we have ‘forgotten’ how to be ‘cheerfully ribald’. Of course that sounds so much more tolerant, humanist, even** caring** than ‘indecent’, ‘inappropriate’, ‘making light of serious subjects’. Cheerful acknowledgement of the glory of sex (between married couples) was always a part of society; the ‘teasing’ was not made to excite prurience (though that came somewhat later) but above all, there was a real knowledge of right and wrong. Right behavior was rewarded; wrong behavior condemned; actions had consequences.
Golly gee whiz, in today’s culture people trying to even question ‘cheerful ribaldry’, ‘glorious breasts’, ‘entertainment’,
free speech, and especially the glories of sex (not to be confused with the chains of ‘married’ sex, of course, but rather the ‘free’, the ‘wild’, the unconfined etc.) are immediately labeled as Puritans out to ‘foist their morality’ (usually a repressive, anti-anything-FUN set of rules) onto the ‘cheerfully ribald’ regular guy or gal who just wants some ‘fun’ in life.
Balderdash. It’s a marketing triumph that so many good things–so many virtues–have been twisted into appearing either for the stupid or the terminally ‘unwanted’ and so many vices twisted into virtues.
So, Mirdath, I ask you–when was the last time a slogan about ‘second base’ was applied to married couples? You know it is not, because the whole premise of ‘second base’ is predicated on this being sexual ‘experimentation’ between the unmarried, and for the most part, between the young, teen unmarried. I know in your world ‘safe’ sex between those paragons of ‘civilized’ teens who not only know how to ‘guard’ against complications like disease or unplanned pregnancy, and who also are so mature that when the relationship ends they can walk away with ‘self esteem’ totally intact, who view sex as just another ‘fun’ activity for the body, another ‘experience’ just like drinking, smoking, dancing, etc., is just ‘peachy’. In my world (the one in which I was born, grew, married, and raised children who are now ready to become parents themselves) there is no such thing as ‘safe’ sex for teens, in that they are neither physically nor emotionally ready for it, where disease and unplanned pregnancy result more often than not, and when the relationship ends one or both are emotionally devastated often to the point of mutilating behaviors, long term emotional disorders, or even suicide or homicide. This ‘real world’, in which the constant drumming of sex as ‘fun, fun, fun’; and cheerful ribaldry’ like ‘second base’ is presented as healthy and normal, the reduction of Shakespeare’s plays to ONLY the ‘comic’ aspects of sex (ignoring the many portrayals of men and women as devoted husbands and wives), the saturation by society that women are to be ‘hot’ and men to have as much ‘action’ as possible, is, at least, the prelude to the downfall of civilization. . .real ‘civilization’ in which men and woman do not act like mindless animals bent only on titilating their jaded selves.
A lot of people out there are sexual ADDICTS, and it appears even more are voyeuristically addicts as well. Not all that long ago, it was ‘shocking’ to hear profanity on TV–now it’s shocking if it is NOT used. Every year we get a little ‘more’ added to keep us from being bored by the same-old-same-old. Of course, it’s so easy to claim that ‘if you don’t like it, change the channel’. We do, anyway. But that ‘channel’ is impacting us in that when we, or (for you men) your wives, mothers, and daughters are degraded, even in ‘little things’ like being taunted for not ‘looking hot enough’, or if we don’t choose to watch, for being ‘out of it’. Name calling is rude and nasty enough. But we, or your wives, mothers, and daughters, are being raped, even murdered, by people for whom this steady diet of objectification has produced unhealthy, even deadly, appetites. Think about THAT the next time you examine your viewing habits. Think about how dulled and inured you are to thoughts, and actions, that your parents, grandparents, and those even further back, would have found alarming–that they fought to keep from happening as they knew the danger it was to society, to women especially.
Can you imagine the marshall of that town in the west in 1870telling the people on the street to ignore the profanity of their children? Encouraging the women to dress scantily? Encouraging men to ‘get to second base?’ Heck, no. Yes, things went on there (we all know about the prostitution for example) but today, rather than try to help the PROSTITUTES to adopt proper social behavior by repudiating the WRONG behavior, it seems to me that we have forced the ‘wives, mothers and daughters’ into adopting the PROSTITUTES’ behavior, the wrong behavior, so that everybody is equally wallowing in wrong, and the ‘right’ behavior is a subject for mockery and derision.
