Taboo or Not Taboo

What is happening in our society? When have we become so accommodating to accept behavior and actions that are detrimental and damaging? Think about the kids, for the love of all that is holy, think of the kids. When I say this, I don't have to think too hard to give an example, I don't have to probe the inner database of my subconscious, then spice up a memory file to illicit a response, you probably felt the way I felt when a particular situation arose. Think about it...there was a time when words such as bitch, damn, and ass were unacceptable, yeah, you might have said them when you were around your friends, but the only other time you were sure to hear them was if an adult cursed. Are these words even considered curse words now and days ? They are so commonly used on televison and the radio, it should never be a surprise when a young child curses. I'm not blaming everything on television and the radio, it is a parents job to do the censorship. There was an episode of "South Park" that featured something called a shit counter; a device that counted how many times during the episode the word shit would be said. Believe it or not, it was over a hundred times, but that shouldn't be too hard believe, especially with everything else that is shown on television. "South Park" is just a cartoon, think about crime dramas "NYPD Blue," or even sitcoms likes "Seinfeld."

When I speak about how we as a whole have become an accepting society, I am speaking of more than mere curse words, think about the amount of sex, drugs, and alcohol that are projected in music, their videos, commercials, and the whole of television. I had to stop watching television, it seemed as if I saw a bare ass everyday, and it wasn't porn or a channel like HBO, it's regular cable. Look at the commercials, they even made a Herpes medication commercial sexual. A sexy woman in all white is riding a horse on the beach. She dismounts, approaches a man who is waiting for her with open arms. They embrace, he swings her in his arms and then they kiss. That's the commercial! Yeah, I know, what the hell? It's not until he is swinging her in his arms that she even mentions she has herpes, then they quickly mention the medicine that is experimental and they want you to try, until finally they blur through the side effects. Beer commercials are made to look cool, so it's no wonder kids are experimenting with alcohol at young ages. A parent can try to sheild their child, but advertisments are everywhere. If they don't see it on television, then they will hear it on the radio, you censor the radio, then they'll see the billboards as you drive, if they happen to miss those, they can always see the sides of the city buses. There is no particular time frame for adult-oriented commericials, because advertisers don't care who they sell to, the mission is to move a product. Remember good ole "Joe Camel," cigarettes once used this cartoon to target kids, and turn an entire genration into smokers. Why would kids be smoking cigarettes? Are they really stress like that, has high school got you down? Don't fit in with your friends? Really, these are the reasons a kid would smoke...because THEIR stressed, get real.

My concern lies with the overall acceptance of words, actions, situations that are intially frown upon. I have a theory how many of societies past ills have made their way into the everydayness of human lives. The first action is introducing the taboo. Regardless of what it may be, when something is introduced that people do not fully comprehend or understand, they challenge it. This action is purposeful, as it self-promotes itself by being controversial. It doesn't matter what it is, a word, product, action. The only thing that matters is people are talking about it. Second, with all the free publicity the taboo has been recieving, the next course of action will be frequency. Let the taboo be seen and heard as frequently as human possible. This ensures that the taboo will be etched into society, as with frequency comes acceptance. When the taboo was fresh, it was controversial, it sparked debates, it literally took on a life of its on, but as time passes, so does the intial feelings of resentment or anger. Frequency of the taboo gives the perception that the taboo has been weaken, and thus...step three. Step three is acceptance, as society accepts the taboo as just one of those things.