Social Values And Norms

Why People become so Easily Offended Today

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"Why People become so Easily Offended Today"
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You are not imagining this; society has become too thin skinned. People have become more aware of everyone else. In the quest for society to become more tolerant and loving to each other's differences, society has actually accomplished the opposite task, society has evolved over many years into a too thin skinned society.

Somewhere in the late 1970's, society refused to allow the Archie Bunker mentality to win over our minds and hearts. When you think about it, the Archie Bunker mentality was an extreme way of thinking, and not every middle-aged, working class white man thought this way.

Society as a whole became more tolerant of other people's cultures, and skin color. This is a wonderful concept, but something happened in the meantime as women were gaining their equality and political correctness took over.

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, society began overdoing their politically correct methods, and went to the opposite extreme from bigoted mean spiritedness. Society has evolved over the last forty years from people saying certain terms to people becoming upset when one person says anything.

It happens all the time, with millions of people speaking on Facebook for example, in very general terms, so as not to offend anyone. Millions of people talk to each other daily on Facebook in upbeat, fun terms without saying anything at all. Society will not allow people to really say what is on their minds without labeling those people as being rude, left wingers, or hate mongers.

Society will not allow people to be tougher these days due to everyone having to speak a certain way. We have become a more integrated, more thoughtful society, but this has come with growing pains, and people being too thin skinned.

Everyone has actually gone the opposite way of the rude, mind-boggling 1970's where people said rude things to each other. We now can't say anything to each other without hurting another person's feelings. Many different races, and nationalities of peoples live in the United States. Many millions of people have become respectful and tolerant of each other. That is the way life and society should be; people getting along to live a life of freedom and trust.

But society has gone to the opposite extreme and now that people get along, society has become too thin-skinned. It's as if with all those growing pains, millions of people have chips on their shoulders, that they need to shirk off. Society actually needs to toughen up, stop worrying about what labels are given to each other and start living life. Society needs to grow up, stop worrying, stop the name calling, and mend the world lived in. Society needs to create well-paying jobs, offering everyone an opportunity to live the good life, not talk about the labels society should place on other society's.


More about this author: Kate Johns