When I was growing up, there were a number of words that my
parents identified as "dirty words." My sisters and
I were taught not to use any of these words. Some of them were
words most children weren't allowed to use. At that time in history
those words were rarely heard in public, in movies, or on the
radio.
There were other words we were not allowed to use that were
not necessarily bad words, but we were not old enough to know
how and when to use them appropriately. In those days, there
was a sense of decorum in public and there were many words that
weren't considered bad, but using them, especially in mixed company,
demonstrated lack of respect for others. For example, one would
never have heard someone use the word "sex" in public
nor would one mention the scientific names for body parts.
Today this standard is almost comical. For example, a play that
is currently gaining worldwide attention is called "The
Vagina Monologues" and a followup play called "The
Penis Monologue" is currently under way. Oddly, the words "vagina" and "penis" used
to make people so uncomfortable that even in the privacy of our
homes we created all sorts of ways to talk about these body parts
without saying the words. While some might see this change as
liberating, I generally find it a bit disquieting that we seem
to have lost any sense of propriety.
In recent years, there has been an interesting cultural transition
in regard to dirty words. Language that at one time one could
only hear at a shipyard is now used with increasing fluency.
Yet other words that didn't used to be "dirty" are
now a part of a new list of bad words. Space doesn't allow for
a long list, but here are two examples:
"Proper." To suggest that some behaviors are "proper" and
others are improper is to set oneself up for criticism. In fact,
some readers may have taken offense to my use of the word "propriety" above.
Virtuous behavior is considered old-fashioned and to suggest
that we should expect wholesomeness in certain environments is
nearly always considered puritanical. For example, a few months
ago, William Bennett, the author of "Book Of Virtues" and "The
Broken Hearth," was ridiculed because it was revealed that
he lost a million dollars gambling. No critic has been able to
discount the truth of what he was saying in his books. Instead,
discrediting the author was the only way to ignore his premise:
that virtue is dead.
"Moral." Any suggestion that there is a right or wrong
is heresy. Postmodernism teaches that there is no absolute truth.
Yet this philosophy seems to deny the obvious. Of course there
is absolute truth. Postmodernists who argue there is no absolute
truth are contradicting themselves because the statement itself
is evidence of the belief in an absolute truth. Postmodernist
thinking was intended to broaden the minds of people who believed
that their way of thinking was the only possible way. However,
this well-intentioned philosophy morphed into an indefensible
position.
Most religious believers are convinced of the ultimate truth
of their respective faiths. They must think this way; otherwise,
there would be nothing in which to believe. Oddly, it is this
same commitment that leads postmodernists to snub their noses
at religious teachings. Postmodernists believe they are right
and this belief that there is no absolute truth is, itself, a
moral value. In essence, we all maintain some kind of moral base
that we believe to be true. We only differ in the facts on which
those moral beliefs rest. Only one who holds absolutely no beliefs
whatsoever, if that is even possible, could truly claim that
there is no absolute truth, yet such a claim would then be a
belief.
One of the main sources from which we learn how to think and
behave is our culture. Using what were formerly "dirty words" receives
little condemnation these days, but daring to utter one of these
modern dirty words will bring on the wrath of the postmodern
thinkers. Once again demonstrating the clear contradiction in
postmodernist thinking, to question one's use of the former dirty
words is considered puritanical, but these same people find it
reasonable to condemn one's use of current dirty words. Simply
put, in our present condition our culture seems bent on teaching
that vulgarity is normal and that morality is old-fashioned and
something that is practiced only by the most backward thinkers.
This is a troubling shift in values and it is frightening to
think about what our culture will be like for our children if
this trend continues.
