Does the “unambiguously crass behavior” we encounter daily in popular media necessarily lead to a worse society, as some have suggested? In this October 2013 essay in Time magazine, Libertarian journalist Nick Gillespie suggests that it doesn’t-—and what’s more, that as a society we’re getting better!
Read it here: Gillespie, "Society is coarser but better”
- Referring to U.S. society, Gillespie concedes that “we’re coarser” now than we were in decades past. He also cites desirable trends for young people over the same interval—lower incidence of extramarital sex, fewer arrests for violent crimes, and less cigarette smoking, among others. Is Gillespie suggesting any kind of relationship between the two trends? Why mention them together? Is his argument persuasive? Why or why not?
- Gillespie describes Justice Antonin Scalia’s writing for the Supreme Court as “brutally lapidary prose.” What does that description mean? Is it a compliment or criticism? Gillespie positions his argument in opposition to statements made by Scalia, but how might you describe his overall attitude toward the Justice? Disdainful? Respectful? Empathetic? Point to specific words and passages to support your answer.
- Popular culture is quite a broad phenomenon, and Gillespie offers no definition of it except by the examples he gives. What do you infer he means by “popular culture”? Does the lack of a clear definition weaken his argument? Why or why not?
- You may not have personally witnessed the trends over the last thirty years, but you certainly can observe the details of the present moment. What effect, if any, do you see the “ill-mannered society” having on social behavior? Do you see any relationship between the popular culture that people consume and the way they speak, act, think, or conduct themselves? Write an essay in which you describe the pop culture trends next to the social behaviors you observe, using your personal experience and observations as evidence and Gillespie’s article as your They Say.
They Say I Blog 
I don’t see a relationship between the two trends nor do I see the reasoning behind speaking of the two together. His argument is non-persuasive as well. Gillespie goes against his own statement by arguing against it. How did he think he was being persuasive at all?
Gillespie’s description was criticizing toward the Supreme Court. He is respectful to the facts of the Supreme Court as well. He does not criticize them too harshly, yet still does by providing multiple points on the matter.
Gillespie is speaking to teens. He includes things on TV and music that is in this day and age. He wants to get the teenagers attention throughout his article. More examples would have helped him to reach this goal, though.
I see the social behavior effect on teenagers after reading this article. So many things in today’s society points towards ways that one should be instead of just being oneself. Some people follow these guidelines and that is completely wrong in my mind.
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1)Using that argument, I think Gillespie supports perfectly his thesis. It is a really persuasive argument that contradicts the thought of some people of our actual society. 2)It means she uses coarse words. It is a criticism. But the overall attitude to Scalia from Gillespie is respectful because he always answer Scalia’s point of view with strong arguments, never attacking her. 3)By popular culture I think he refers to all the public people of the actuality as singers, actors, dancers, people that appears in TV shows… The fact that he does not define correctly what he means by popular culture probably weakens his argument because it makes it less accurate. 4)I think that the popular culture has a direct impact to the whole society. People, especially young, use to act, dress and talk as famous do on TV. However, I also think the new generations are also more concerned about the consequences about some bad behaviors as the ones that Gillespie appoint in his text. As the results show in Gillespie’s text, actual young are less coarse than most of the people thought.
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1)There is a relationship between the two trends, with laws becoming more harsh on crimes such as underage drinking and DUI’s, and finding out about the nasty health effects cigarettes have on the body, kids nowadays are much more self-directed and have set goals that past generations never could have imagined.
2)Gillispies’s point of view on scilias’ writing leans toward criticism and disdainment towards the fact that he doesn’t want kids in todays world and Gillispie himself has two.
3)Not having examples of modern pop culture doesn’t take away from the writing because his writing is aimed towards teens and he mentions them often.
4) In todays social loop, nearly everything is effected by what is going on in social media. I believe that pop culture definitely has an influence on social behavior.
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I’m not sure that there is really any correlation between the two. Gillespie’s argument is also not necessarily persuasive, but more of just an observation of what today’s youth have become. He uses statistics to mention the good things about today’s generation, which can’t really be argued with.
I think Gillespie is referring to the “lapidary prose” as a compliment, saying that the justice utters a truth that can’t be argued with and that he’s not wrong about the “coarseness” of pop culture today.
I don’t think his lack of definition weakens his argument. I think when he says pop culture, he is referring to many, many facets of media today, such as social media websites, TV shows, music videos, movies, and even more. Those are the things that influence the way we behave and when music videos and movies show people acting a certain way, people who watch those movies are likely to adopt those behaviors, as they feel they are acceptable.
It is not difficult to see what Gillespie is talking about in his article. I can see how today’s youth is different from they were before. However, I don’t think it’s a horrible thing. The youth of the 1970s were a lot different than the youth of the 1940s. It just happens. And of course, because it’s different than it used to be, people are going to call today’s young people ill-mannered, but if we could take a look thirty years into the future, we might not say so. Making those arguments about society is all relative. Yes, I see what Gillespie is talking about because I live in the world today as a young person, but that doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with how bad he’s making our generation out to be.
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I think that Gillespie is suggesting that because our culture has exposed the current generation to violence, sex, and substance abuse though television and video games, the need to commit such crimes has gone down. The relationship between the two trends is the fact that the earlier generations were told sex, drugs and violence were not allowed and not to be talked about, creating a rebellious era, while current generations have been exposed to it all explicitly. He mentioned them together to show how exposure to such topics have almost satisfied one human tendencies to act out. For example, people can take out their anger through playing video games rather than taking it out on someone or something else. I didn’t think his article was very persuasive because I believe children should not be exposed to certain content before the appropriate age. Also, I think some things should be explained to a child from a parent and unfortunately the television has taken that role in many households, often leaving children with the wrong idea about many important values.
I think it is a compliment when Gillespie describes Justice Antonin Scalia’s writing for the Supreme Court as “brutally lapidary prose”. Overall, I believe Gillespie respects Scalia and understands the toll technology has had on society compared to previous generations. Gillespie uses words such as “cruder” and “coarser” to show how he agrees with Scalia when it comes to our society now, but explains how he disagrees that it is influencing younger generations to “act out”.
Popular culture is what is popular among a culture and has the ability to influence a society based on “what’s in” or “what’s hot”. Celebrities and musicians are constantly trying to take things to the next level and “wow” the world. I believe the lack of definition does not weaken his argument because something new is always coming out and pop culture is constantly changing. However, if he were to have a better definition on pop culture it would have supported Scalia’s argument because pop culture has a huge influence on society and behavior.
People have become completely consumed with acting like the way people act in movies. Which usually consists of selfish and obnoxious behavior. I think we have created a self obsessed culture that has forgotten morals and values for the temporary satisfaction of beauty and lust. For example, women are influenced in today’s society to be sexy and revealing and unfortunately many women see it as “it’s my body, I can show whatever I want,” rather than understanding the boundaries of modesty. Men, on the other hand, are encouraged to lust over women and even cheat to satisfy immoral needs. Many movies promote the wrong message towards relationships and sex and this has created a very crude culture.
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1.) I think that Gillespie is trying to make it seem as though our culture now a days isn’t as course as we think it is. He tries to persuade his readers by giving facts and statics about how different things, such as drinking, smoking, and sex have lowered over the years in teens and young adults. Although these facts show improvements in many areas, in my opinion this doesn’t have much to do with the fact that society has become coarser. 2.) Scalia doesn’t like what society has become, he was most defiantly not dishing out any compliments. He said that he’s glad he’s not raising kids anymore, basically meaning he would hate having to deal with the tv and the stars of our world today. 3.) I think having a definition of what he thinks Popular Culture is would surely help is case. It would show whether Gillespie is trying to say weather the pop culture he’s referring to is the stars of America or if he’s talking more about the people in society. Its important to know which he is definitely talking about because it seems as though one has gotten better (society, the people) and one has gotten worse (tv and the stars), overall. 4.) I think it is fairly visible to see in our modern day that kids are growing up seeing and/or hearing more vulgarity than kids in previous decades have had to deal with. Songs, tv shows, and other media have become much more open to saying things that would not have been tolerated in previous years. Yes, I feel like the effects people, but it obviously doesn’t do a terrible amount of damage to people if stastics are showing that many bad things have decreased in teens and young adults over the years.
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In an age of idolizing sex, violence, and profanity, it is easy to see why many have raised the question: what effect will today’s popular culture have on society itself? Many people worry that exposure to such improper conduct, whether on television or the internet, will be a poor influence on generations to come. And they have every reason to worry. Such vulgar culture will inevitably play into the future of our society, demoralizing and corrupting minds across the nation. The values and virtues once instilled in our population are highly susceptible to the “trends” and “fads” set forth by popular culture.
Though some data suggests that coarse culture does not play into the behaviors of younger generations, this claim is faulty. Such “evidence” does not mean that inappropriate material does not affect society; instead, this “improvement” of society can only be attributed to other innovative aspects such as education and awareness. With statistics aside, there has been an unmistakable decline in morals among younger generations within the last decade. Children and teenagers, in particular, are easily molded by their living environments. When exposed to gratuitous levels of sexuality, alcohol consumption, drug abuse, and violence, younger generations only naturally adopt such behaviors. It does not help how society seems to glorify such actions either; they are held in high esteem in magazines, advertisements, videogames, television shows- just about anywhere- for the purpose of sales and demand. How do people expect children to recognize the wrong in such behaviors when they are cast under such a positive light?
Younger generations will only learn from what they see. This increases appeal for such lowly culture, leading it to expand even further. Soon enough, culture will only plummet deeper into its hole of vulgarity. The extremes of today- in instances of, say, Miley Cyrus- will become the naiveté of tomorrow. In other words, as time progresses, culture will only worsen, dragging society down with it. It is oblivious to say that we are a “safer, nicer, kinder country.” Until our new generations have better role models and influences that convey some degree of decency, the future of America lies in ruins.
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For the most part, America is historically a conservative county that prides itself on characterizing its people as respectful, dignified, and decent. However, today’s society as a whole has been more focused on how violent it is and how hot is the person rather actual character traits and moral values. Since most children, and even some adults look up too people with seemingly no values, it appears hard to disagree. However, if you look past what appears on American T.V., you’ll find that America has actually improved in areas such as crime, street violence, bullying rates of children, and even inappropriate interactions among minors. Overall, America’s increasingly vulgar pop culture has not negatively impacted American society. In fact, American society has been becoming a softer, kinder, more respectable country.
First off, American crime rates have actually decreased since the early 1980s. Statistically, the percentage of young males between ten and twenty-four who have been arrested has been cut in half since 1995. Also, the arrest rates of women of the same age have decreased by 40% in the same time period. Not to mention that, despite all of the vast displays of nudity that appear on television, women and men are waiting longer to have sex or are even waiting to get married before they consummate their various relationships. Thus, actually sticking with the values and standards of the first two-hundred years of American history that many have claimed has been absent from young Americans. Secondly, many are neglecting to acknowledge the true problem plaguing American society. It is not our pop culture. It is our morals that are causing the majority of our problems. Most Americans are not spending their days debating how respectful Miley Cyrus is. We are debating social issues about gay marriage and, even today, racial superiority. However, those problems are not as prevalent as they were when they were first raised. Leading me to believe that, we are indeed a softer, kinder country.
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As Gillespie’s article says, I also don’t know of anyone who would challenge the fact that America has become far cruder over the past few decades. I previously assumed that the rates of violence and teenage drinking have skyrocketed as a result of this, but that is obviously not the case. The article is quite broad, and addresses two occurrences that are happening simultaneously, but are probably not affecting each other greatly. In statistics, we often say “correlation does not equal causation”, which, incidentally, directly applies to this social situation. Sure, teenage smoking rates have decreased, but mainly because it is now generally acknowledged as detrimental to your health and unattractive to others. The use of birth control has become more widely accepted and inexpensive, therefore teenage pregnancy rates have decreased by 42% since 1990. A strong focus on education has caused smaller numbers of high school dropouts and larger numbers of college graduates. Countless factors, along with society’s more questionable morals, have helped to change these statistics for the better. This crude American mindset allows for new radical ideas to spread, such as accepting abortion or promoting gay rights. Americans are adopting many new habits, and good or bad, they shape our children and our future. We can become whatever we aspire to be, and knowing the facts is step number one.
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I do not think that pop culture has lead to a worse society. Many people typically hear ‘pop culture’ and think ‘oh, that trash.’ That is not the case. Pop culture is simply what society sees as interesting at the time, not what shapes how the society acts. What’s considered pop culture in world is what the people find interesting. What many fail to realize is that at one point, everything that they praise was once a part of pop culture. For instance, the songs that older generations consider classics, were at one time, new and daring. For instance Madonna. Parents all tell us about how her song are “real music and have real meaning.” But what is forgotten is the fact that when her music came out, it was very controversial and risquè. As times change, so will pop culture. We, as a society, have to remember that before we know it, we will be considering what is now ‘trash’ to be the good ‘ole days.
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I refuse to blame pop culture for the wrongdoings of society. There is a vast difference between it being an influencing factor and it being the reason for all bad in society. Pop culture is for our personal enjoyment and entertainment, there is the possibility that we could be influenced by it, but its all on how we imbibe it in our lives. Pop culture is often seen as bad because it is compared to the “classics”, but its all but a process. Soon todays pop culture will be known as “classical”. The fact that wrongdoings have decreased in the world has nothing to do with pop culture. It shows how society is changing for the better and its becoming more strict with laws and regulations. While I disagree to believe that pop culture has a thing to do with wrongdoing in society, i continue to feel that it is a big influence on the actions of people in society.
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Sure, society may be spiraling into an era of crudeness, but that does not mean that society is becoming worse. In fact, the crudeness that many older folks criticize is making society better. Nobody can deny the fact that crime rate amongst all age, race, and gender groups has declined since this age of “skankitude” arose. I believe this is due to the crudeness portrayed in the media. When people see others being open on television, they in turn become more open themselves. This openness with emotions and thoughts allows people to channel their feelings into something other than violence. Other commenters claimed that the crudeness in the media is desensitizing teens and children to drugs, sex, violence, etc. I agree with that, but i do not believe that the desensitization is a bad thing. If children are aware of these things, they can be more educated to make appropriate decisions. In short, the media’s portrayal of crude behaviors does not affect society in a bad way, but promotes a healthy growth in the culture. Just remember that without a increase in “crude” behaviors, we would have never been able to show our ankles or speak freely.
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I agree with Nick Gillespie’s claim that “society is courser, but better”. Teens these days are significantly influenced by the widely renowned ideas of popular culture, but that is all there is to it. Teens are being influenced, not necessarily changing their behaviors to fit the ideologies of popular culture. On the contrary to Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s claim that “[y]ou can’t go to a movie- or watch a television show for that matter- without hearing the constant use of the F-word” (1) is completely insignificant. Today’s popular culture may increase the likelihood but his claim was merely a generalization of the new generation. His suggestion that bad behavior’s presence will lead to a whole society reverting to those ways is wrong. For example, statistics display that violent crime arrest rates have significantly decreased since 1995, teen participation in sexual activities have dropped from 60 to 42 percent, and high schoolers’ rates for bullying have plummeted as well; ultimately proving that yes, society is better.
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I fully believe that being an “ill-mannered” society has helped us to actually be better as a society. Why? Well, that “crudeness” is really just being more open with each other and about the world that surrounds us. People are going to have sex, they are going to curse and swear, they are going to do vulgar things. By being open about it in media and popular culture, you show society that it is okay to talk about these things and learn from them. For example, the traditional practice of teaching abstinence instead of safe-sex in high school sex education. Safe-sex teaching is designed to teach students how to prevent pregnancy and STDs/STIs, while admitting that most teenagers are going to participate in intercourse, instead of simply abstaining from sex as a prevention method (which is an absurd expectation for young adults going through puberty) and denying that many teenagers will engage in intercourse. People don’t understand that by talking about problems and issues, you can prevent them from happening. And that if you ignore a problem with the hope it will go away, the problem will fester.
Despite the fact that the production of pornography has skyrocketed in the past few decades, the number of teenagers having sex has dropped about twenty percent in males and nearly ten percent in females from 1998 to 2010. Despite the fact that from a very young age, children are exposed to extreme violence and gore, the violent crime arrest rates have dropped by more than half in males and nearly half in females from 1995 to 2013. This is all because people are being exposed to the reality of the world, and have prepared themselves. Sure, people are more vulgar than ever. But they are also smarter about themselves and their bodies. This is why I fully support the “ill-mannered”-ness of the modern era.
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In Nick Gillepsie’s article “Society is Courser- But Better” he argues that even thought pop culture has become more crude, the overall actions of society have become better. In an interview, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia told New York magazine “I am glad that I’m not raising kids today,” because of the coarse activity of young people in today’s pop culture. However, data proves that violent crimes, sex, bullying, and smoking have all decreased since 1995. As pop culture becomes more open to taboo aspects of society it teaches young people about the consequences of things such as smoking and having sex. While some may believe these thing being shown more is influencing young people to do them, the truth is that is influencing them not to.
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In the article “Society is Coarser—but Better” by Nick Gillespie, he notes that even though some think that modern pop culture has become more coarse and tacky, we shouldn’t worry about that since modern society in general is becoming better. In a way, I disagree with this because I still feel like there are issues that haven’t been near resolved still going on today. For example, I still think that the media will not try to make people aware of things like crime and instead ignore it. Such as when the author says that crimes have overall gotten down since the 90’s, it may be because of improved police forces and longer times in prison, not really because the criminals have changed mindsets. Or when people watch reality shows about things like teen moms, some might see it as glorification of being a teen mom rather than discouraging being a teen mom.
As much as these problems still persist in America and our pop culture, we’re trying to teach people of these problems and how to prevent them. Yes, pornography is now easier to access than ever, with visiting one just being a click away; yet learning about the issues that pornography could introduce and how to avoid those issues are also just a click away. That may not completely remove these issues, but it can help lowering the problem. In general, people these days want to encourage knowledge and change within social issues and pop culture now that the internet can spread that knowledge in such an easy and efficient manner. Although it depends on whether those who indulge into the “skankitude” mindset would want to listen to those willing to raise awareness of the issues with today’s pop culture, people will at the very least hope they understand who they are and represent.
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I read this article through the eyes of a teenager in 2015. Contrary to Gillespie; I believe the society is becoming more receptive to pop culture and what we see on television. Media and pop culture permeate the lives of the younger generation with toddlers, ages 1-3 knowing how to navigate a cell phone, have instagrams, twitters, and facebooks dedicated to them, sing all the words to radio songs, and can repeat fluently some of the crude remarks they hear daily. We, as a society, are heavily influenced by pop culture and social media. That influence is the cause of a more crude society. We encounter harsh situations and skankitude daily and contrary to many we aren’t being brainwashed or peer pressured into imitating these acts but we’re merely becoming less sensitive to them. People are becoming bolder, more outspoken and the notion of Self-Expression is widely promoted. America isn’t like the Puritan society it was hundreds of years ago. Times are changing and the idea of what the “norm” is is changing with it.
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In his article, “Society is Coarser–but Better,” Nick Gillespie addresses the effects of a changing culture on the youth of America. With new popular figures, such as Miley Cyrus, the nature of pop culture is becoming more cruel. Gillespie quotes a Supreme Court Associate Justice saying “I am glad that I’m not raising kids today.” Indeed, modern culture may not demonstrate high levels of social etiquette, but as Gillespie argues, no consequences have been experienced. Among American youth, crime, sex and drugs have all decreased in recent years. The cruelty of culture holds no correlation to a decreasing morality in teens. However, Gillespie addresses his optimism for the future and fails to back up his reasoning. While society may not be worsening because of a developing culture, it is hard to say that is bettering. Culture will always change; and society will change with it. But it is too soon to identify the effects of such changes.
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I generally agree with this article by Nick Gillespie. Society is definitely becoming more coarse, ragged and rough around the edges. However, this may not be a bad thing. This newfound coarse-ness is simply people expressing themselves more openly rather than resorting to violent methods. Gillespie provides a great example of how bullying rates have gone down. If people feel more free to express themselves to others openly, though it may be considered crass, they no longer have to internalize all their feelings until they come out by using someone else as a punching bag. The new coarse society may not be a problem, but rather the solution to many problems of violence or drugs. Being cars does not correlate to having less morals or being less responsible, but instead it shows the new freedoms society is allowing.
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Today’s society compared to the society that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is extremely differential. One difference is that there is more vulgar language on one show than there used to be on an entire network. The women show more “skankitude” than they did before. In the media, most women are portrayed as sex icons. Music videos “are nothing more than highly styled pornography.”
Some people would claim that that the “moral values are getting worse,” but that isn’t the case. Although it’s portrayed in the media that moral values have gone down, the statistical rate in the real world are completely different. The crime rates are lower (than those in 1995), marriage rates are up (compared to those between 1988 and 2010), people in high school are less likely to be bullied or smoke tobacco. Society is changing drastically and coarsely, but there’s more to “be optimistic about [for the] future.”
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I’m at San Francisco City College. We had to re-write a paragraph quoted in the into to THEY SAY/I SAY. I ended up writing more than a page on one of my pet peeves of popular culture, word use change from the street up.
When I think of “SKANKITUDE” I also think of the near-universality of people saying “literal/literally” (including on the back cover of THEY SAY/I SAY where students can “literally join the conversation”), which includes tv and NPR reporters. Why is it necessary to modify a statement about something you saw, experienced, or did, with “literal/literally”?
Long story short (does anyone hate that phrase? I don’t, unless the story teller can’t shorten the story…), I looked at my dictionary one day after one too many NPR “literal/literally” exposures and, well, THE DICTIONARY DOESN’T SUPPORT MEEEEEEE….aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii….
So, I, uh, kinda sorta give up. The only people who really care are probably reading my little screed, and we aren’t enough to turn back the tide of whatev…
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With Scalia and Gillespie’s point of how society is turning out; I both agree and disagree with how they feel. The points I do agree on are that with new Pop Icons we see it being socially accepted to show a lot of skin or act sexual in public. Even though I believe in this point I will not say that women nor men should be cover head to toe. A point that I disagree on, is that women are using crude language when neither Scalia nor Gillespie bring up the point that men are using it too. This article is based on women and how society has changed them when really it has changed men just as much too. If Gillespie wanted an article that was not biased, he should have had a women’s point of view and should have pointed it out that men have changed with society too.
“Society is Coarser- But Better”
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Blog Comment: Society is Coarser but Better by Nick Gillespie
I strongly agree with Antonin Scalia’s view that if we “portray [bad behavior] a lot, the society’s going to become that way.” However, as I read Gillespie’s article as a student fresh out of high school, it was very difficult to agree with him. My small town school experienced all the things he said were diminishing such as smoking pot, underage drinking, bullying, and violence. People still “smoke pot on a regular basis” and I still see and experience the effects of bullying on social media (Gillespsie). I believe the raunchy people that the media idolize, such as Miley Cyrus, are ruining American entertainment values. We are not prospering due to a coarser society, we are drowning in it and allowing it to overtake everything. I found the statistics to be quite shocking and considered multiple outside factors that probably caused those results. This topic goes hand in hand with the technological communication wave that is spreading over the world. We are so focused on the next MTV update on twitter or posting the best half-naked photo, that we are truly forgetting what matters in life. Society should be “optimistic about the future”, but keep the derogatory and distasteful media out of the picture for the better (Gillespsie).
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I definitely believe that the gradual shift into an “ill-mannered society” has negative effects on people, especially young, impressionable kids. I can see it just in my short seventeen years of life. It’s only been four years since I was in middle school, and it’s already changed a lot. Now the majority of middle schoolers have phones, causing many more cases of boys and girls doing inappropriate things with them. They have such easy access to the disgusting things that plague the Internet, it’s not fair for them. In a way, it’s destroying their innocence. Also, popular culture is telling kids and young adults what is and what isn’t socially acceptable, the standards of which are steadily plummeting. How is a kid supposed to keep strong morals when the media is constantly bombarding them with filth? I stand firmly in the belief that “popular culture” is only harming younger generations.
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Popular culture has a dynamic relationship with general behavior; it is not entirely a cause or a result. I believe that the two should be judged as a whole and as a complement, rather than generalizing or limiting one’s definition with what television or a single person has to say. Although Gillespie’s broad definitions could be considered a weakness in his argument, I think that a steadfast generalization is more detrimental since “culture” in itself is very broad. Also, we often define the actions of the current generation with the morals of the one before it; think about Scalia’s voice in comparison with Gillespie’s. As a result of this, older generations are almost always shocked by the behavior and attitude of the younger, and we compare our culture to the past with very little examination of how the change happened, why, or with what benefits the change came. I don’t believe that women today should be held to puritan standards, or that biracial couples should be shunned by society because our grandparents would have shunned them. In the same way, I believe that we should take statistics, individuals, and media as a whole at face value and decide based on simple values – not a set of rights and wrongs defined by a wholly different society. So while Scalia is upset by the world that he sees, a child who is better behaved that one of the past generation is not still worse because he has television, video games, and a cellphone.
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Pop culture is not necessarily ruining the lives of our youth, it is just brainwashing them to devalue self-perseverance, and devalue the importance of ethical values, in order to fit into society’s ideal image. Although I understand what Nick Gillespie is trying to say (pop culture has lowered the rates of teenagers developing lifelong habits that would ultimately kill them), it still defaces the importance of self-respect. In the 80’s there was smoking, drinking, and underage pregnancy, today we have slut shaming, children idolizing media porn stars, and objectification — for both men and women. We have taken one problem and replaced it with another.
Children are impressionable, but so are the parents. We focus so much on how media can brainwash our children into overly sexualized puppets, we neglect the consequences and effects it has on the parents. As parents, we would like to think that our children are smart enough to withstand society pressures, but how could they if we, as parents, are also affected substantially. Young adults may idolize those in the media, such as Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Chris Brown, etc. but the parents support their idolizations and compete with each other to fit the image we see on television. Even though we, as parents, try to protect our offsprings from negative influences, we have become so accustomed to societal expectations we do not realize what is good and what is bad anymore.
Yes, children are not indulging in potentially addictive substances anymore, but rather indulging in acts that destroy their character. The only reason teenagers are not indulging in smoking or drug use is because it is not romanticized on television. We encourage a generation to think for themselves while simultaneously shaping their minds to fit the exact idea of the world; it is like a double-edged sword. It is not the children’s fault or even the parents fault. The fault lies in what we allow the media to present us. Sex sells because we, as a society, only want to see sex, violence sells because we, as a society, encourage violence, objectification of men and women is okay because we romanticize this unrealistic ideal of men and women. It is a lose-lose situation, really.
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The article “Society is Coarser-but Better” by Nick Gillespie talks about how even though society is coarser that doesn’t mean it is affecting the kids growing up in this society. I personally think that society does affect kids but to a certain extant. Kids can be influenced by media, that is was tends in language and fashion occur. I agree with Maggie J that society does have an influence but to a certain extant. She points out that she watches reality television but it doesn’t affect her relationship with people and I agree with her. I think the main way society influences kids is by tends and advertising.
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I disagree with Dorothy Carter’s claim that teenagers witness celebrities doing drugs or dressing raunchy, and automatically think that they should do it too. As a teenager in today’s society, I’m much more influenced by the people I interact with daily then the acts I see on TV and in music videos. Teenagers see movies and TV just like any adult, as entertainment. As Gillespie points out in his article, teenagers today are exposed to exponentially more explicit, illegal, sexual content than previous generations, but incidents of violence and sex have decreased considerably. Carter’s claim simply doesn’t hold up to the numbers. If anything, the increased exposure has decreased stigma for these topics, opening up the conversation surrounding these issues and giving teenagers a more balanced view of the world around them. This provides teenagers the ability to make informed decisions once they are given the opportunity to do what they see online and in movies.
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Bernard makes a good point in his comment about there always being pros and cons in our society. The cons are ever-changing over time. Today, the coarseness roots from icons like Miley Cyrus. Back in the 60s, the hippies who started to smoke and have a more laid-back lifestyle were looked down upon by older generations. On one hand, the article is right when it states that our society’s outcasts are changing. But on the other hand, I do not think that it is anything to worry about, comparing it to past years. Caroline has an interesting perspective as well when she mentions how much of an impact pop culture has on today’s society. Pop culture shows, magazines, and billboards all have the ability to change how the young society acts in the real world.
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In this article, Nick Gillespie discusses seventy-seven-year-old Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s feelings towards society and how it has changed from when he grew up. Scalia says he is glad he isn’t raising his kids today because of how graphic and vulgar movies and television shows are. Gillespie doesn’t deny that this is true, but he also says that today’s society is one with much less youth violence, bullying, sex and drug use than in the past. He says dealing with people cursing and acting ambiguously is a small price to pay. Gillespie disagrees with Scalia’s idea that if we exhibit bad behavior, the entire society is going to become that way. He gives the statistics of violent crime rates for males and people having sex to show how much they have declined over the years. He understands where Scalia is coming from, as he has two boys that grew up watching Hannah Montana before Miley Cyrus became who she is today, but still thinks more good is being done than bad.
I’m of two minds about Gillespie’s claim that our society is in good standing today in terms of how people in the media are acting and how that influences people. On the one hand, I agree that controversial topics like sex or drug use aren’t as big of an issue as they may have been in the past. I agree with him when he says, “But we’re also a nation in which youth violence, sex, and drug use are all trending down.” Our country has come a long way in educating us on domestic violence as well as bullying and smoking through school and the media or television. I do think those topics are becoming the focal point of society in trying to end or reduce them. On the other hand, I’m not sure if we are still looking up to people who may not have the best intentions or morals. I disagree with him when he says, “If that means putting up with, you know, ladies cursing and other examples of unambiguously crass behavior, it seems a terrifically small price to pay.” Because many children look up to celebrities, it is important to make sure those celebrities are setting a good example. Some of the music and movies produced send a bad or wrong message to children or young adults and therefore, influence their actions. I believe that the media needs to be more cautious about what is being put out into the world. I agree that we have come a long way, but I still think we have a lot more work to do.
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Although I agree with commenter Nadia up to a point, I cannot accept her overall conclusion that exposing youth to more scandalous pop culture allows them to become less sheltered, more book-smart and more street-smart. I do agree that the acceptable line for crude humor and scandalous content in mainstream media has changed significantly overtime. I do not agree, however, that children’s exposure to this is what is creating the improvement in society. It is true that, as stated in the article, violent crimes, sex, drugs and bullying amongst young people has declined significantly in the past twenty years. Nevertheless, I do not believe that the improvement of society is a direct correlation to the increase in “inappropriate content.” The improvement amongst the actions of youth in society is more related to improvement in children’s upbringing and education.
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I agree with Caroline’s opinion that pop culture is actually hurting society, not making it better. I believe that society is the way it is because of pop culture. No one twerked before Miley Cyrus did. It is becoming more socially acceptable to drink and party and do drugs because that’s all we hear in today’s music and channels like MTV. The statistics the author uses do not really provide any evidence to argue otherwise. The data does not necessarily relate to anything. There may be no correlation between society today and having sex in the teenage years because the author presents no evidence that they are. He also claims that students are less likely to be bulled, but cyber bullying is still a rampant issue so while it may be true that bullying in person is declining, bullying is still a big problem. He claims that teenagers are also less likely to smoke cigarettes, but I believe that this has to do with the fact that music talks about doing drugs rather than cigarettes. It is no longer considered cool to smoke cigarettes because all pop culture talks about is drugs. Pop culture is definitely having a negative affect on society today.
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Gillespie makes an adequately-persuasive argument by linking behavioral patterns with anecdotal data, as it is often assumed to be a two-way street, with one informing the other of potential crossroads to take. He conveys a pretty disdainful attitude towards the late Justice Scalia, pointing to his own experience as a father raising children in the era of Hannah Montana as a swift rebuttal to the idea that such parental concerns about what kids are consuming being a worry of the past. His descriptor of Scalia’s writing as “brutally lapidary prose” is meant to draw a stark opposition to the Judge’s remarks while being interviewed, exploiting the very candid nature of the Judge in such interactions. I assert that Gillespie’s name-drops of popular culture figures such as Miley Cyrus and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo strengthen his argument rather than weaken it, as often people need to put a face to an argument to truly grasp the intensity hoping to be conveyed. By putting two popstars of differing generations, Madonna and Miley Cyrus, side-by-side, and engaging in compare and contrast, readers are able to see the Venn diagram more clearly, with more urge to contribute their own conclusions. I believe it is up to the individual to harness the impact popular culture will have on social code. With incoming technologies, there does appear to be a shift in how young people perceive events happening in front of their eyes. No longer are they living in the moment and taking the sights for what they are being presented as, but rather a permanently-digital lens has seemed to cover their retina. If the Snapchat so-called “goggles” do take off, the time could not be more apt; for the worth of experiences is now measured through how effectively it will make for an online posting.
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Nick Gillespie wrote an article titled Society is Coarser-but Better for TIME’s pop culture section. In the article Gillespie states that society has gotten coarser and brash since the late 1980’s and contradicts the common thoughts of this brash society having negative effects on today’s youth. This article references society’s change from kinder gentler ways to the coarse, brash, behaviors of recent years. In the article Gillespie discusses how women in today’s culture swear regularly and even use “the F-Word” and he also tells of how prime-time television shows have changed regarding the common uses of sex, drugs, and violence in television today. Gillespie states how in recent years the number of violent crimes committed by youths is down, how youths of today’s generation are not as likely to smoke, there is less bullying in today’s society and the number of teens having sex outside of marriage is also lower than it was in the 1980’s. Gillespie concludes, even though today’s society is coarser it does not mean we are a “bad society” or are falling into bad trends.
In the article Gillespie gives information regarding trends in the number of wrong doing committed by youths and the brash or coarseness of society. While there may be correlation between these events there is not a relatability. Gillespie gives statistics when referring to violent crime arrests and out of marriage sex in youths of the 1990’s and 2000’s, but he just states as an afterthought that bullying and smoking rates are also down. As a young adult of this current coarse generation, these statements do not convince me that what Gillespie is arguing is a true statement. I agree with Gillespie, we are a coarser and crude society but, I do not agree it is better for society. As someone who has grown up only in this cyber society, I see more of the ugly side to the harsh reality that is our younger generation. Bullying may be down at schools and in personal conflicts but, one look at an online comment section or chat room and it is apparent that cyber bullying is everywhere. Young children and teens now resort to hiding behind a screen to say bad things about people. The percentage of youths being involved in sex outside of marriage may be down but instead these young people are going into chat rooms and on pornographic websites to engage in cybersex and other sexual acts. The statistics brought to attention by Gillespie maybe valid but in today’s society there are other ways for youths to engage in these activities without them being face-to-face with others. Personally, I believe the coarseness of our society is not bad, but there are new outlets for youths to express themselves and behave in negative ways. These outlets are not being considered by Gillespie in his article and are avenues which must be better explored to truly understand if the coarseness of our society is having less of a negative impact on the current youths of America.
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I do not agree with Gillespie claim that even though society is coarser but better for a few reasons. The article he published has outdated statistics on the matter or the links he provided do not work. I will admit that I cannot prove society is worse based on pop culture influence. In my opinion, I believe there are many people in our society today who are afraid of criticism and exposure. A large percentage of the individuals I’ve met on this journey called life, have suffered some kind of traumatic experience as a child. These experiences had one thing in common having involved lewd behavior or act between an adult and a minor. Pop culture emphasize sex and influence our view on what is normal and accepted. That type of influence feeds a part of our brains in a level of perversion that compels some people to rape, murder, abuse, degrade, lie, and cheat and so much more.
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I think this article has some very vaild points. There is a lot more things going on in social media that people from previous eras would most likely frown upon. Music, movies and general media everywhere seem to always involve violence, sex, drugs. People are making very obvious observations there. However what I always seem to disagree with is the fact that people believe just because it is everywhere means it is going to reflect in the behavior of children. Just as the article said, times may be troubling but overall the crime rates have gone down, the amount of teens and teens and young adults having extramarital sex have gone down and the general “bad behavior” statistics seem to be on the decline. Personally I believe that the media is helping to raiser more independent and resilient youth. This era and age is forced to develop their own moral standards and stick to them. They see the media influence all around them and are encouraged to choose what they will, most of them have chosen correctly according to the statistics. I think generally people have a fearful outlook towards the rising generation but never actually realize that this upcoming generation has learned from the very people that doubt them. It has seen the mistakes of the past and looks forward to developing a brighter future.
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I agree with Scalia’s claim that society and pop culture are influencing the youth today, but I disagree that how they are influenced affect how a family interacts with one another. I have seen first hand how social media can influence young ones with my two little brothers and their friends. For example, both my brother watch Jake Paul, and yes they are definitely “Jake Paulers”. As and eighteen year old girl, I think that he is not a very good role model for my nine and ten brothers. However, they do not go out and perform the wild things Jake Paul does. They do not disrespect family or friends the way Paul does.
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I disagree with Nick Gillispie on how although pop culture is vulgar, it does not mean it will negatively impact teens who consume it. This article was written in 2013, and now in 2021, artists have developed even more shocking identities. Although some of their tactics are no big deal, some artists have promoted specific behaviors that have led to negative situations. Take, for example, Travis Scott. Travis Scott is a well-known rapper who continuously promoted the “rager” mentality, which gave his supporters the excuse to act violent and crazy. This meant that they were allowed to storm into festivals, and disregard all the security guards who were trying to do their job. More specifically, the negative impact of this encouraged behavior can be seen in his latest music festival, Astroworld. While he performed, many of his fans were pushing forward, squeezing people to the point in which they could not breathe, and pulling fans down into the crowd. The few people that were trying to make it know that something was terribly wrong, were pushed aside and complained about. Additionally, while paramedics were trying to make their way into the pool of people, other fans jumped on their vehicles and acted as if people around them were not calling for help. This night that was supposed to be a fun event to enjoy live music, turned into a horrible tragedy, where ten lives were lost. Another example of how pop culture can negatively impact teens is the constant promotion and romanticization of OnlyFans, a site that was originally created for content creators to teach or promote their talents. Now, with so many women demonstrating how much money it brings them, teenagers sign up as soon as they turn 18. This promotion can be very misleading, since many girls are led to believe that they will earn a huge amount of cash, by simply posting pictures of them in lingerie. They do not realize what sacrifices they have to make, for their body and their mental health.
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