#10

In 1960 the social norms were much stricter than they are today. In the 60s the rigid, social norms that had been in place for so long had started to finally break down. We had the rise of the counterculture and the Hippies with their motto of “Free Love”. But the conservative group still controlled what was deemed socially correct and the opposing social movement was labeled immoral and wrong. So we can see the beginning of the movement of the relaxation of certain social taboos, but it is not until our modern ear that we have seen the culmination of these social movements. And the biggest example of this changing social attitude can be seen in the language we use and the language we still do not use in the media. Many of the shows popular today would have been taboo in the 1960s. I believe that as society progresses we become more accepting of the taboos of the previous generations. So where does this acceptance stop, or does it only keep progressing until there are no taboos left in our society?

With this new acceptance of language taboos of the past our media has started to show topics and say words that have never been allowed before. On television today we can see women talking about having multiple sex partners, people cussing when they get mad, violence is seen running rampant, and we even have a show that stars competing Queens! We have progressed past the taboo social norms of the past and we actually have reality on television now. Before it was all white picket fences, perfect families, and there was no such thing as violence or cuss words on the television. Now we can see some of the issues and people present in our society. It is so great to turn on the television and see people talking about sex, talking about having children before marriage, to see homosexuals, people of ethnicities other than White, and pretty much real scenarios of modern life. We have progressed past the fake imaginary world that was allowed in the 1960s to showing real life events and characters on the television.

A great example of the acceptance of taboos of the past is that cuss words are now heard on television. It is a fact that everyone in this world has let slip a few cuss words or uses them on a regular basis. Now there is still some resistance to having obscene language allowed in the media but I think it is a useless battle. We have realized that this coarse language is essential to create a level of realness on our television shows because it is so much part of our society today. If a show is not merely using cuss words for shock value then I think that this showed be allowed in the media and not be censored. If someone does not approve of the language then they can simply change the channel, no one is forcing them to watch it!