When I was growing up (which
granted was back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth) north of the Mason-Dixon Line, there were some things that you just
didn’t talk about, except among your nearest and dearest. There were certainly things that you did not
ask people! It was considered rude to
ask someone their age, how much money they made, or how much they spent on the
item they purchased. It was just in poor
taste to ask someone their political affiliation, for whom they voted, or what
religion they were. It was an
abomination to ask a person about their sex life. Sigh.
I miss those days.
Now everyone talks about
everything and nothing is considered personal anymore. (Thank you facebook users for not only
letting us know your every thought regarding politics, religion, and sex; but
informing us when you leave your computer to get your mail or use the
bathroom.) Don’t get me wrong – I
utilize and enjoy facebook, for the most part.
But in a world where I’m labeled inappropriate or controversial, how is
it that so many things that I would consider truly inappropriate are now
OKAY?
Maybe it’s just here in the Deep South {shrug} I don’t know. I’ve been trapped, err…living here so long
now I am clearly out of touch with how the rest of this Nation’s citizens are
carrying out their lives. So I can only
speak on this topic using the anecdotal evidence before me. When did a person’s political views,
religious views, and sex life stop being PERSONAL information?? I’m not saying that it is wrong to share your
views on those topics. Should one want
to share, however, it should first be out of a desire to do so, not any other
reason and certainly not because you feel you’ve been placed under an
interrogation light. Second, to engage
is such conversations it would be best to do so with those that understand how
to have an open discourse, rather than a mud wrestling contest over the
difference of opinions.
And please tell me, whatever
happened to the innuendo? I *love* the
innuendo. It makes the risqué joke all
the more funny, in my opinion. I don’t
need my humor to be in your face filthy in order to be funny. Part of the reason I can watch the ‘adult’
programming of yesteryear with Punky is because the risqué humor was mostly
innuendo and she doesn’t understand it, just as I didn’t when I was her
age. Please, don’t get me wrong, I am
not a prude. I can tell a dirty joke
with the best of them, but even *I* know to be careful depending on the
audience. The innuendo though, that’s
always appropriate, to me, and if one is offended by innuendos, ah well…..I
could not be less bothered by that.
At the end of the day though,
I do wish the community at large would please stop assuming that my political
and religious beliefs are something I’m required to dole out for public
consumption; because really, where I live, it is the same as making me testify
against myself in a court of law! I
should be able to plead the 5th and it is they who should be ashamed
by their inappropriateness!!
A caveat, if you will: I talk about what I believe and I won’t stop
doing that. However, I do not put labels
on it. Folks agree with me or disagree
with me and I’m fine with that. But I
will not be held responsible if what I say makes someone else label me. I am not a label.
~Mari B.
LOVE it! I am in the Deep South too! Dam Yankee...LOL
ReplyDeleteLOL :-D
DeleteI just found your blog through the secular homeschooler's website, and I found this post very interesting. In so many ways, I think that political views should be public. After all, politics is about what affects everyone... it is about the public, and shaping the public. On the other than, we've made politics into some sort of crazy spectator sport where people are just rooting for teams, rather than discussing the issues in such a way that they might learn from one another. So in that way, it makes sense to keep politics private. But that it isn't what politics should be.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying christyk! Just as I said in my post, it's not that I think folks shouldn't talk about their views, etc. They should feel free to do so. It's just that it is no other person's RIGHT to know my views, unless I elect to share them. It's the others feeling that they can ask me my religious or political views as if I'm obligated to share that is the problem, to me; especially when I **KNOW** that my answer is going to cause issues to arise or that I'm going to be sharing them with someone who has no interest in a give-and-take conversation for the purpose of sharing and learning but is seeking validation for what they believe and will turn it into something personal and ugly if I don't agree.
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