Society, Language, and "Sissy"

I have noticed how sensitive Society has become in the different sites on words like sissy faggots but I didn't say faggot.

I was on twitter and said sissy. Got muted 24 hours. Damn

Society in general is simply becoming more and more prudish.

It should also be noted that with social media we can communicate with greater and greater numbers of people who invariably come from different backgrounds and upbringings. There is therefore a larger pool of people who can potentially be offended by language or choice of words or even concepts.

And besides this, there is the normal phenomenon of language constantly changing and evolving. One hundred years ago if you said someone was ‘gay’ it simply meant they were of loose morals, it indicated nothing about sexual orientation as it does now. In old pre-war songs, ‘making love’ meant little more than what we now call making out or to use an intermediate expression 'petting'.

So, as you grow older, be prepared to find that many expressions you were used to, will invariably cause offence to others and fall out of general favor.

As I’ve written in another thread, I don’t think, in today’s society, you can write a sentence with more than 5 words without offending someone.

Political correctness has gone overboard. As far as I know no-one has ever died from being offended. A lot of people need to get over themselves, in my opinion.

@agracier In old pre-war songs, ‘making love’ meant little more than what we now call making out or to use an intermediate expression 'petting'.

As a teen back in the 1950's I equated “petting” with stroking a gal's girdle covered crotch. 😈

As a teen back in the 1950's I equated “petting” with stroking a gal's girdle covered crotch. 😈

Petting was indeed a somewhat more bold activity.

But with the ‘making love’ expression, I was thinking of old Our Gang shorts where Alfalfa ‘made love’ to Darla. Since it was used so often pre-war, it obviously had a different meaning than nowadays.

As a teen back in the 1950's I equated “petting” with stroking a gal's girdle covered crotch. 😈

@reddevil that could be pretty exciting for both. I miss it…

There is also the fact that some people misunderstand words, especially English words that are used in countries where English isn't the first/native language.

For instance in the city where I live, English is used for everything and all when it comes to advertising, commercial or business needs, names for shops etc. Some time ago I saw a clothing store called ‘Sissi-Boy’. Apparently the owners didn't understand the meaning of sissy since they sold normal, if somewhat trendy clothes. Another use was in an ad for meatballs (of all things): 'Don't be a sissy eat … #onlyatballsnglory'

I have noticed how sensitive Society has become…

I like looking at the old Dean Martin roasts from the 1970's - the things everyone would say on the show. Wow, the difference between then and now. People did not get offended by all that was said. So less sensitive back then. Miss those days…