Graphic language, nudity and sex are now commonplace in movies and on cable television. At the same time, there is now almost no tolerance for casual and slang banter in the media or the workplace. A boss who calls an employee “honey” might face accusations of fostering a hostile work environment, yet a television producer whose program shows an 18-year-old having sex does not. Many colleges offer courses on lurid themes from masturbation to prostitution, even as campus sexual-harassment suits over hurtful language are at an all-time high.
[…]
Our schizophrenic morality also affects the military. When America was a far more traditional society, few seemed to care that Gen. Dwight Eisenhower carried on an unusual relationship at the front in Normandy with his young female chauffeur, Kay Summersby. As the Third Army chased the Germans across France, Gen. George S. Patton was not discreet about his female liaisons. Contrast that live-and-let-live attitude of a supposedly uptight society with our own hip culture’s tabloid interest in Gen. David Petraeus’ career-ending affair with Paula Broadwell, or in the private emails of Gen. John Allen.
What explains these contradictions in our wide-open but prudish society?
Decades after the rise of feminism, popular culture still seems confused by it. If women should be able to approach sexuality like men, does it follow that commentary about sex should follow the same gender-neutral rules? Yet wearing provocative or inappropriate clothing is often considered less offensive than remarking upon it. Calling a near-nude Madonna onstage a “hussy” or “tart” would be considered crudity in a way that her mock crucifixion and simulated sex acts are not.
Criminal sexual activity is sometimes not as professionally injurious as politically incorrect thoughts about sex and gender. Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer — found to have hired prostitutes on a number of occasions during his time in office — was given a CNN news show despite the scandal. But when former Miss California Carrie Prejean was asked in the Miss USA Pageant whether she endorsed gay marriage, she said no — and thereby earned nearly as much popular condemnation for her candid defense of traditional marriage as Spitzer had for his purchased affairs.
[…]
Modern society also resorts to empty, symbolic moral action when it cannot deal with real problems. So-called assault weapons account for less than 1 percent of gun deaths in America. But the country whips itself into a frenzy to ban them, apparently to prove that at least it can do something — without wading into the polarized racial and class controversies of going after illegal urban handguns, the real source of the nation’s high gun-related body count.
Not since the late-19th-century juxtaposition of the Wild West with the Victorian East has popular morality been so unbridled and yet so uptight.
In short, we have become a nation of promiscuous prudes.
Rich kids wearing designer clothes use their iPhones to take pictures of themselves at rallies protesting corporate greed. Progressives fear Big Brother and love Big Government.
If there is anything we are consistent at it is being inconsistent.
Privileged white males complain about white male privilege.
Some of us white males don’t feel very privileged.
Then by all means purge yourself of all your privilege , then you might feel better .
They never seem too concerned with their own privilege. They never say “give my legacy spot at that Ivy League university to some black kid”, or “Give my job to a woman”.
FBI press conference coming on tv in a couple of minutes. will show video of suspects in Boston bombing
they better not be trolling us again đŸ˜€
That’s it, then. VDH better watch himself. He’s making too much sense to be welcomed back to Stanford. Maybe he should be making nice with College of The Sequoia.
This pretty well describes the elitists in our society who control government and media but I don’t see myself in the “we” this article is using. Also it is important to remember that media does NOT reflect our culture and two of many reasons why is that men decide what content is made and a pre selected slate of channels is force fed into the homes of people who sign up for cable or satellite TV. Women are more than half of society and we aren’t allowed to create media content or to choose what channels everyone watches or even what channels we subscribe to.
Well, I think it’s pretty clear women currently rule on the US campus. Whether for good or naught depends on one’s viewpoint, apparently, but in the last decade or so there’s been a sea change that almost went unnoticed – until the Title iX side effect set in, that is.
As to the “force fed” media meme being a male thing, as a male I think it’s a corporate thing. But reasonable minds can differ as long as we agree to defund the idiot corporations involved, be they led by men or women.
I see fist of puny is still tweeting …
Sirota hasn’t read the list of bombings by the Weathermen . Just because they didn’t kill “that many” people doesn’t mean they weren’t trying.
What is this? Some perversion of trying to praise failure? The Weatherman aren’t that bad because they failed to kill as many people as they wanted?
After the OKC bombing did Bill Ayers feel jealous and wonder “Why didn’t I think of building a giant truck bomb like that?”
Technically, Charles wasn’t even there when the multiple murders occurred. Kinda like Bin Ladin.
Bullshit. The real distinction he would like to draw is that Ayers was a man if privilege and means, just like Sirota, while McVeigh was not. Thus Ayers is worthy of protecting, while McVeigh is not. One thing about white male privilege, for the white males who have it, is insularity.
http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/volusia-county/Retired-Volusia-County-deputy-says-bag-near-Boston-Marathon-bomb-site-was-his/-/12983450/19805636/-/tertliz/-/index.html?absolute=true&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=wesh
bag at bombsite was filled with empty pizza boxes
Watch FBI broadcast live:
http://www1.whdh.com/video/7newslive
The photos are at fbi.gov (wouldn’t try looking right now, too many trying to access); they both look like young guys – late teens or in their twenties.
http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2013/04/18/press-conference-boston-marathon/
Thanks VM ! REading comments now. So many obsessed with “tea-baggers.”
sick isn’t it
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/04/images-and-video-of-suspects-in-boston-marathon-bombing/
also see pictures here at legal insurrection
Here is a link to the FBI
http://www.fbi.gov/news/updates-on-investigation-into-multiple-explosions-in-boston/surveillance-video-related-to-boston-bombings
It’s odd that in the thousands of images all over the net, nobody has any of these guys. Also, note in the FBI video that they walk past the woman in the pink sweater with the purple bag twice……odd
No they don’t. All that video is just from one source with multiple cameras recording simultaneously. We’re seeing the same running scene from different viewpoints. Oh, I get it. You were pulling our legs. Good one!!!
Those boys could easily be middle eastern , or black block anarchists. What they don’t look like is militia or survivalists.
They look too young and hipstery to be Tea Partiers.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/18/report-saudi-national-ruled-out-as-suspect-in-boston-marathon-bombings-to-be-deported-on-national-security-grounds-next-week/
more on the Saudi deportation
Rant:
How can we possibly trust that the Obama administration will honestly pursue the perpetrators of the Boston Bombing ??? He made the same exact promises about Benghazi ,and all we got was delay and cover up and political theater .
We already have confusion and delay with the Boston Marathon terror attack, and closed meeting with the Saudis , and reports that the first suspect / person of interest will be deported ,without SAYING ANYTHING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE . Are the Obamacrats so hypnotized they are willing to swallow this kind of garbage and be treated like complete fools who don’t question anything?? Now our SOS says we “just need to move on from Benghazi ” , when there is no resolution , and no one in custody for attacking the Americam Embassy and killing our Ambassador .
What will they say 6 months from now ? We just need to move on from the Boston Bombing?
We did not get the truth about Benghazi , nor have we had any resolution , no one held responsible . Obama promised he would get those responsible , just like he promised for the Boston bombing . Six months from now will SOS Kerry be telling us to move on , as he just did with Benghazi and will the American people just go along , as they did with Benghazi? And will Kerry say “what difference would it make ?
So what is the criteria and or time frame for “moving on” ?
Obama gets to make a speech , and then the clock starts ticking ? How long before we are told by Obama that the Boston bombing doesn’t matter ?? A few weeks, or after the next election ? Do the American people really have memories like sieves ?
Are people so hypnotized they cannot hold him accountable for what he promises? A churchy speech is all it takes ? We are supposed to remember “what Bush did” but lets move on from Benghazi , or whatever else Obama wants us to forget ? The Boston bombing? Just move on if Obama says so. How many absolute idiots will accept this?
Yep, yep and yep. Preach it!
STANDS IN APPLAUSE!
you rock
Honk!
http://www.thehopeforamerica.com/press/2013/04/18/john-kerry-on-benghazi-weve-got-a-lot-more-important-things-to-move-on-to/
it did not take six month for kerry to say we’ve got MORE IMPORTANT things to move on to then Benghazi
You are so right. And I saw pictures of these two guys in the FBI pictures last night. That is the only reason they released the pics in a press conference, because they and the media were getting scooped by the blogs. They just want to look like they are doing something, Who knows whats really going on but you can be sure if it was “teabaggers” we would have been told by now.
Good information and updates here. Turn off auto updates or your screen will keep jumping.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/updates-on-aftermath-of-boston-marathon-explosions/?hp
did anyone see video of the guy in the white hat putting a bag down? Maybe I am not looking in the right places but I can’t find any
Maybe the feebs held that back?
OT. I know it’s tradition and all that, but does anyone else think the seriously shrunken and undersized “50 mission crush caps” jauntily affected by the Massachusetts State Police makes them look a little too stupid and egotistical to function as modern cops in this century? The soft brim uniform cap worn by Boston Police seems much more professional and competent to me, but I’ve been wrong before – I’ve been told.
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/04/18/report-suspect-2-put-backpack-down-right-next-to-8-year-old-martin-richard/
if this is true there has to be a special place in hell for this guy
It’s times like this I wish I believed in hell.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/04/16/Obama-Signs-Bill-To-Gut-Insider-Trading-Law
how special, backtrack stuck around long enough to sign this
While I was hanging around the fbi.gov site looking at the Boston Bomber pics , I wandered over to the most wanted terrorists page . They are all Muslim extremists , except for the one LEFT WING nut job
Good catch – you shld tweet that observation
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/04/18/no-joke-homebuilders-scrap-term-master-bedroom-because-of-racist-gender-biased-connotations/
it has gotten so nutty , I do not know whether to laugh or cry
Iowa Hawk
It’s also my porn name RT @freddoso “Master Bedroom” is now racist and sexist. #facepalm: http://tinyurl.com/c99nj7w
Truth be told it’s probably closer to being Milady’s bedroom, but is that sexist?
Uh oh… what about the master and slave cylinders on cars? lol
tweeted this after an argument w/ Sophie Puma about the Newtown parents
He saw both the Boston bombings & the West TX explosion & he & his family were unscathed.
if he and his wife are ever going to buy a lottery ticket this is the week to do so
Absolutely.
I shared an elevator with a guy had a ticket for Air Florida Flight 90 but missed the flight due to the bad weather. We were all standing there with our jaws agape and a woman said something like “I bet you couldn’t throw that ticket away fast enough” and he replied “Nope, I’ve still got it. It was my lucky ticket.”
I almost got married a third time.
Nooo,Nooooooo! Don’t do it. Why ruin a perfectly good relationship?
There was nothing good about it.
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/04/18/nyt-can-you-believe-fox-was-talking-about-this-fertilizer-explosion-instead-of-guns-today/
somebody’s priorities are kind of screwed up
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/gun-debate-triggered-media-bias-90306.html
more on this
đŸ˜€
LOL. For Klown
ROFLMFAO!
Life is inconsistent.
Wow, more pics of the suspect, on twitter
apparently from this guy ->https://twitter.com/cr3dit/status/325038497398419458
circled suspects

is the other guy with the black hat right in back of the two women, one with a pink sweater?
sorry should have looked at the circled suspects before posting