over-sensi-sensitivity

[JGbassman]

In my opinion, America has become overly sensitive, and extremely thin skinned. This does not mean it's good to be disrespectful, nor do I approve of this behavior. I just want people to lighten up a little.

I don't believe in the way the old cartoons were back in the day, but at that time things like that were acceptable, watch the "hour gang" and you will see it as well. I'm glad that we have evolved past that point, but at the same time there are still racial issues and double standards.

I was not brought up in a racist home, nor was I subjected to any racism as a child. I was taught that a human is such and there wasn't any difference. I am white, but my wife is from Mexico City, and obviously Mexican. Our children are mixed, and our godson is black. My best friend is black. I have a mixed grandson on the way. In our family there is no distinction of color.

My peve is the Ganster rap. I don't hate rap, but it's not my favorite. My 9 year old daughter was thumping on a internet radio station, all of a sudden I hear *MF n***r. Blah blah blah coming from her room, as she was singing along to that filth. I opened the door, and shut off the music.

I said in this house we don't use those words and I was not allowing that degrading music in my house. She didn't understand as first, as it was in a lot of the songs, and she heard it at school from some of her friends using it, and they call each other it. I told her it was disrespectful and we would never use that word. Ever.

I find that degrading and offensive, but it appears to be acceptable in certain circles. I'm frustrated trying to teach my kids to speak the right way and show respect for all, but it seems every ganster wrap song glamorizes it. That's crap.

I am pretty thick skinned and feel to each their own most of the time, but I'm very passionate about that. I hate the double standard. Do I think Blazing saddles is funny? Yes. But I also though many skits on the show "in living color" were funny as well, which were just as racially loaded, just in another direction. Why? Because I didn't take either as degrading, maybe off color a little, but the intent wasn't there to disrespect in my opinion. I'm not so sensitive that I can't find humor in someone poking a little well intended fun in another's direction.

I hope this makes sense. By no means am I wanting to spark something, just speaking my mind a little.

 

[twinjet]

In my opinion, America has become overly sensitive, and extremely thin skinned. This does not mean it's good to be disrespectful, nor do I approve of this behavior. I just want people to lighten up a little.

I don't believe in the way the old cartoons were back in the day, but at that time things like that were acceptable, watch the "hour gang" and you will see it as well. I'm glad that we have evolved past that point, but at the same time there are still racial issues and double standards.

I was not brought up in a racist home, nor was I subjected to any racism as a child. I was taught that a human is such and there wasn't any difference. I am white, but my wife is from Mexico City, and obviously Mexican. Our children are mixed, and our godson is black. My best friend is black. I have a mixed grandson on the way. In our family there is no distinction of color.

My peve is the Ganster rap. I don't hate rap, but it's not my favorite. My 9 year old daughter was thumping on a internet radio station, all of a sudden I hear *MF n***r. Blah blah blah coming from her room, as she was singing along to that filth. I opened the door, and shut off the music.

I said in this house we don't use those words and I was not allowing that degrading music in my house. She didn't understand as first, as it was in a lot of the songs, and she heard it at school from some of her friends using it, and they call each other it. I told her it was disrespectful and we would never use that word. Ever.

I find that degrading and offensive, but it appears to be acceptable in certain circles. I'm frustrated trying to teach my kids to speak the right way and show respect for all, but it seems every ganster wrap song glamorizes it. That's crap.

I am pretty thick skinned and feel to each their own most of the time, but I'm very passionate about that. I hate the double standard. Do I think Blazing saddles is funny? Yes. But I also though many skits on the show "in living color" were funny as well, which were just as racially loaded, just in another direction. Why? Because I didn't take either as degrading, maybe off color a little, but the intent wasn't there to disrespect in my opinion. I'm not so sensitive that I can't find humor in someone poking a little well intended fun in another's direction.

I hope this makes sense. By no means am I wanting to spark something, just speaking my mind a little.

I have a little girl on the way. Reading other parents' experiences with racism and issues like these is more helpful and fascinating to read than I ever knew it could be, mostly because I am not quite sure how I will touch on this subject when she is growing up in the '20s. Thanks for sharing yours.

 

[catcauphonic]

I only skimmed page one as Patti Smith's 'Rock-n-roll N***er' played in the back of my head. Then i thought about some of the songs on my (musically) fave Guns N Roses album 'Lies.' Apologies if they were already mentioned

 

[blue4]

I think the more fascinating thing about all this is it seems to be almost entirely an American phenomenon. Most of the civilized, technical world find America stunted socially in both it's view on sexuality and race. If you show those same cartoons and movies elsewhere they are most likely to be taken much as they were when we were young and first viewed them. This isn't to suggest it was right. But it was right, for them, then. If you look at then and now we seem to have come a decent way.

Why?

The hardest hitting commentary, socially, in America, has always come from comedy. It is how we seem to have collectively been joined to discuss and examine something which otherwise could result in an unfavorable outcome. It allows for self examination. "Oh, wow. I didn't know I was perceived this way." It can allow for a more considered approach to how we interact with each other. This is good. I much prefer this method to the soap boxers who feel empowered to tell me how I should feel.

I think that is why we have come a decent amount of the way and it could take us all the way home if the baiters (sic) on both sides with very definite agendas would just give it a rest for awhile.

Obviously this is just my own opinion and should not in any way be taken as absolute. Even for myself.

Comedy is a great way to gain perspective. Much better than the soapbox. The guy on the soapbox usually makes as many false generalizations as the people he's lecturing to.

 

[joeaba]

I just had to put these comments next to each other and see how I felt about them. I'm still looking.

As for the first one, really? How do you know someone's mentality? This seems like an arrogant thing to say.

That's the point. Somebody is arrogant. You're offended.. Now they're offended for being called arrogant.. it never ends.

 

[INTP]

That's the point. Somebody is arrogant. You're offended.. Now they're offended for being called arrogant.. it never ends.

No they're not.

 

[slobake]

We are growing and going through changes. I am old enough to remember when racism and misogyny were the accepted norm and only of a few of the kids I knew thought it was a problem. I would rather be in our "over sensitive" society than go back to that.

 

[ZenG]

 

[Funky Ghost]

It occurs to me that this new world; this hyper connected - instant reaction world, almost certainly has added to the situation. young folks are quick to emotions, both in and out. It seems like they are almost a separate species. The way they interact is often a mystery to me. To me, it seems that their brand of communication is all about a reaction. It's less about informing, like we old timers, and more about a thumbs-up, like and lol deal. It's very fleeting too. They move from topic to topic like monkeys jumping to limbs in a tree. They don't seem as interested in lasting images and memories. They live vicariously in the now. Sorry for the generalization. I know it's bad form but I wanted it to be inclusive of a broad group as that is what I am observing.

Now, granted, I'm not the most connected guy. I'm famously detached from the facebook, twitter, instawhatchamacallit world. I'm just not interested. So maybe I'm off base with this, but it seems to me a lot of the "Offense" these days is a communication mechanic not a social stance.

Just another idea to put out there.

 

[ZenG]

It occurs to me that this new world; this hyper connected - instant reaction world, almost certainly has added to the situation. young folks are quick to emotions, both in and out. It seems like they are almost a separate species. The way they interact is often a mystery to me. To me, it seems that their brand of communication is all about a reaction. It's less about informing, like we old timers, and more about a thumbs-up, like and lol deal. It's very fleeting too. They move from topic to topic like monkeys jumping to limbs in a tree. They don't seem as interested in lasting images and memories. They live vicariously in the now. Sorry for the generalization. I know it's bad form but I wanted it to be inclusive of a broad group as that is what I am observing.

.

This describes TB posters to a 'T".

Two thumbs up LOL..I like your post.

 

[Funky Ghost]

I so deserved that

Damn it.

 

[ShredderMaximus]

This is a fine example of how things have changed. I grew up in a family that abhorred racism. As a white guy in the South, my Grandfather hated racism before hating racism was cool. I was brought up in his shadow (best thing that could have happened to me....I am still grounded by him today).

Some of those old Tom & Jerry episodes had an African American who was basically in "slave dress", had a head wrap, huge red lips, pretty much a caricature of all the bad stereotypes. Back then, I just thought the cartoons were funny. I wasn't taught to have a stroke every time I saw something that wasn't nice. I was taught to treat actual people based on the content of their character. These days, my girls love old Tom & Jerry cartoons.....even the ones with the "slave caricature" that calls Tom "Jasper". My girls are not racist. Three out of four of their teachers are African American and they all but worship those ladies. The youngest girl's best friend is African American. (My wife accuses me of flirting with her mother every time I see her....and my wife is not a jealous woman. ) But I must admit the caricature of that woman never crossed my mind until this conversation.

Here's the thing. MY REACTION is what matters here. My girls will continue to be not racist. I will continue to be not racist. But I'm not going to turn off those old Tom & Jerry cartoons, throw the remote into the pool, and give my girls a good talking to about how horrible that is to depict African Americans that way. Therein lies the "too sensitive" part to me. They see how I act toward people. They have never been exposed to the racism prevalent in older generations "down here" (the South). Racist people are taught to be racist (or sexist, or whatever). Mine are not "learning racism" from those old cartoons. They are learning how to NOT allow racism into their lives from me.

The "too sensitive" part comes to play when groups advocate for the public burning of the file reels that contain that "offensive content that clearly promotes racism and the firing of any CEO that allows those cartoons to be broadcast on their stations".

Like many issues we can't agree on here in the US, it is MY JOB to teach them otherwise. It is not the job of any government, or any nanny group, to filter out the content that I "should see" ass too offensive to braodcast.

Some people are offended by the uniforms cheerleaders wear when NFL games are broadcast. Should we ban those?
Some people are offended by the violence on TV. Should we ban that too?
Some people are offended that moral/social/political views other than their own are allowed to be broadcast. Should we ban those too?
(Yes, I just went down the slippery slope. Sometimes the slippery slope is a valid argument. )

It's not about how you and your kids feel when you see those cartoons, but the feelings of members of the minority being mocked.

The thing I don't get is how when there was a large movement of men rallying against the portrayal of the bumbling white father stereotype, no one was calling them "precious little snowflakes." Hypocrisy much?

 

[blastoff99]

That's the point. Somebody is arrogant. You're offended.. Now they're offended for being called arrogant.. it never ends.

No. You are assuming I'm offended. That is your problem; don't try to pin this on me.

 

[fdeck]

Has anybody here actually met a person as thin skinned and hypersensitive as the people being reported in this thread? Maybe "political correctness" is just a bogeyman, or an irrelevant fringe. I've never heard a teacher or politician come out and say that they believe in political correctness. It's always an epithet thrown at some hypothetical other person.

On the other hand, the Constitution wouldn't be approved if it were proposed today.

 

[joeaba]

No. You are assuming I'm offended. That is your problem; don't try to pin this on me.

No they're not.

That's good. Really no good reason to be offended. Some would take offense to being deemed arrogant. There's much irony to be found in this thread. Sensitivities abound.

 

[slobake]

This is starting to look like the do women mind being called girls thread.

 

[richntiff]

Fdeck hit the nail SQUARELY on the head.

 

[fhm555]

...They don't seem as interested in lasting images and memories. They live vicariously in the now...

Funny you would mention this. I've noticed the same thing and as a kid who got an award for reading every book in the school library in junior high, I was at a loss as to why the younger generations put such a low value on information, but the more I pondered I came to realize it's not so much a matter of not feeling that info has little value, it's that info is now available in seconds on their smartphone. Where we had to go to the library and find a book and read up to find out why the moon is made of green cheese, today you just google it while you wait for your craft beer.

There is no need to retain any information because it's all right there on demand, in the palm of your hand. My nephew gives the impression that he's somewhat vacuous and distracted, but he's in an honors program taking a full course load, works a regular job, plays drums occasionally in a couple bands and actively pursues being an electronic multi media DJ. Ask him anything about any of those things and he can rattle off the answer chapter and verse. Ask him something he doesn't know and he can have you an answer in a few seconds.

I've also abandoned all social media save TB and texting with my fam, mostly because if I don't I'm isolated from their world because they are totally sold on the text thing, but I'm adapting to the info on demand situation. I used to be able to store vast amounts of info in my head, but as age and the ravages of too much fun collect their due, I find myself less interested in committing stuff to memory unless I just have to. Everything else I ever needed to know is on my smartphone.

 

[hrodbert696]

I don't know, is Blazing Saddles that much different from, say, South Park? That's still being made (I think).

The Lou Reed example is an interesting one as it kind of has a foot in both old and new worlds.

The world is changing and people seem to feel various different ways about it.

I think this is the most insightful reply so far. Society hasn't gotten more or less sensitive on some sliding scale; it's gotten differently sensitive, and different sectors of society have gotten sensitive about different things. Some people think it's silly that the N-word is now treated as a forbidden swear word, but then get their panties in a bunch over "press one for English."

But if you've ever found yourself posting pictures of random women in the audience or making innuendos about your female lead singer in the "babes at shows" threads, bashing millennials for their taste in music, or thinking "back in my day", you have to admit you're part of a problem. The problem of being a little out of touch. You can do two things with that. Accept it and try to grow where you think you can, or deny it and continue being an ass.

The onus shouldn't be on the offended, but the offender. If a woman says that she doesn't want to be called a "girl", accept her point of view, consider it, and be a little introspective. Don't try to justify your own world view to make you feel better (my wife says "the girls are going out tonight" so I think it's fine"). It didn't make that first woman's opinion any less valid. If someone tells you that your language is offensive, maybe think about it for a minute instead of denying someone elses experience.

I agree with a lot of this post (including parts I didn't quote). But I would also nuance or emend it at some points. One point, which I also made in the women/girls thread, is about context and generalization. You're absolutely right that if a woman says she doesn't want to be called a "girl," accept it and respect it. But the fact that one woman, or some women, don't want to be called girls, doesn't support a new commandment that Thou Shalt Not Call Women Girls. The appropriateness or inappropriateness very much depends on the individuals and the context.

And, people being people, you have to make some allowances for decent, well-meaning people who are going to judge the situation wrong, perhaps because they are "out of touch" at some level, which brings me to the second point. As anyone who puts together a cover band set list knows, people's outlook is largely formed in their youth and changes and adapts only slowly or with difficulty in later life, often not as fast as society changes. And there is some practical value in that, having some friction to getting swept away in the fashion of the moment. The thing about the advocacy of greater sensitivity is that it imposes a burden on people to be utter saints of awareness, constantly taking in the vast and shifting variety of other people's experiences and fine-tuning one's own outlook, language, and behavior accordingly. Now, to be able to do that is admirable, certainly, I agree with you there. But is it reasonable to hold it obligatory of the general run of the population? If not (and I don't think it is), then how do we treat the person who isn't all that good at it, the Archie Bunkers of the world?

I sometimes play with an older guitarist, pushing retirement age. He's a bachelor with a thirty-year-old poster of Claudia Schiffer in a bikini on his refrigerator, and once proudly posted on facebook a still-life of his telecaster, with a glass of bourbon and a copy of Playboy. My college-age daughter thinks he's disgusting because of that, but I know the guy. He's a perfectly decent person who wouldn't harm anyone. The poster and the Playboy aren't admirable, no, and yes, he's out of touch with how many women, like my daughter, feel about that kind of thing. But I don't feel a need to rush to judgment and scold a lonely old man.

I have posted on Chicks at Shows, and for that matter I was the one to actually launch the last iteration of it, so I'll take ownership of that. The thing is, there's a right way and wrong way to do it. You can take it as TB's soft-porn thread if you want. But that's not the spirit in which it was intended, not my chapter of it anyway. Again, as anyone in the cover band business knows, the lifeblood of a band is women wanting to dance, and if the women come, the men follow. Yes, sexuality and display is a part of it. And for bands to thump their chests a little over the support they get from women at their shows does no harm. The "hot singerbabe" thread branched off of it because so many people were posting pictures of their singers that it was decided to make it a separate topic. As with TB as a whole, you have to moderate it. You did get slugs coming in occasionally to post that the singerbabes weren't "hot" enough for their taste, and that had to be put in its place. But you don't need to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Has anybody here actually met a person as thin skinned and hypersensitive as the people being reported in this thread? Maybe "political correctness" is just a bogeyman, or an irrelevant fringe. I've never heard a teacher or politician come out and say that they believe in political correctness. It's always an epithet thrown at some hypothetical other person.

Not necessarily. But in the late 19th century, nobody called themselves a "social Darwinist" either. That doesn't mean it wasn't a real thing. The term was coined to characterize certain thinkers, by their critics, in whose thinking the critics perceived the application of Darwinist concepts to social questions.

 

[ptg]

I find it interestiong that the OP is wondering if we are becoming too sensitive when we just elected a President (and this is not pro or anti Trump...Please do not go down that path!!!) who without question is the brashest least politically correct person to hold the office in modern times.

Again, not for or against him, but each time he did something that many deemed offensive the general public shrugged it off and got past it enough to vote for him.