How the hell is that (not) acceptable?

[madster11]

How the hell can someone go and rape/muder/torture/otherwisedobadshit to another human, and get off with nothing more that a slap on the wrist.
But average joe shoots an attacking animal in defense of his 5 year old daughter, and faces 20 years in prison.

It's simple:
There's currently so many humans on the planet that if 99.99% of us were wiped out, we'd still have enough genetic diversity and overall population to bounce back with effectively no repercussions except maybe a loss of technology. Hell, there'd still be enough of us to form 2 large armies, have a war, and then continue on as a species.

The same cannot be said for most other things on this planet.

 

[Kizi]

If I like being alone for a while I'm either "forever alone", a freak or in need of professional help.

Nudity being taboo and clothing in general. Why, for a completely random example, is man not socially entitled to wear a giant, pink top hat with dancing flamingos decorations? Because it's silly, they would say, but why is that?

Honestly, most things considered to be tradition or taboo boggle my mind.

 

[Slash Joel]

Swearing. I mean you can say poop or pee pee but not shit or piss. How fucked are we as a society when a sound is taboo? No one cares about the meaning, everybody poops after all. But when people start shitting, that's offensive.

A rose by another name would still smell as sweet.

I sure bodily waste is in the same boat.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

- I never understood how somebody who's 17 and 364 days is off limits, but the day they turn 18, they are fair game . It seems odd that somebody who is 16 or 17 is deemed "unable to give consent"
varies by region but the point still stands). Although, once somebody is into their mid-20s they shouldn't be dating that young anyway, I'm talking more about people ages 18-22 who get pinned for statutory rape.

- I never understood how a film (or other forms of media) can have violence and killing and only be PG13, but one woman's nipple will give it an R rating.

- I never understood how men's nipples are allowed to be exposed, but not women's.

- I never understood why halloween is normal but cosplay is weird.

- I never understood why rats and mice are considered ugly, but hamsters are cute.

I have more, but these are the first ones I thought of : \

In Australia at least I'm pretty sure its legal within two years of age difference. So a 17 and a 19 year old are fine.

 

[WaysideMaze]

I think there would be far, far less trouble if it was determined on a case-by-case basis, since there are plenty of 16 year olds that are far more mature and able to give consent than many 18 or 19 year olds.

Additionally, not just are some kids more emotionally mature (as in, they don't ACT immature), brain development is significantly different for everyone, to the point where comparing two 16-year olds and putting them on the same legal level is just...illogical and counterproductive.

Edit: But that's just me. I think that arbitrary cut-off points are horribly, horribly wrong for something like sexuality, and really only make sense for stuff like politics, where maturity is not that large of a factor compared to just basic intelligence.

How do you quantify something like maturity though?

My contribution, I guess I'll throw in with the swearing crowd. It seems incredibly childish to get offended by a 'naughty word.'

 

[WaysideMaze]

AND ANOTHER THING! WHY THE FUCK DOES "'I' before 'E', except after 'C'" NOT APPLY TO THE WORD "Weird"???

I'm sure I saw somewhere that there are more exceptions to that rule than there are words that follow it.

 

[aattss]

- I never understood how somebody who's 17 and 364 days is off limits, but the day they turn 18, they are fair game . It seems odd that somebody who is 16 or 17 is deemed "unable to give consent"
varies by region but the point still stands). Although, once somebody is into their mid-20s they shouldn't be dating that young anyway, I'm talking more about people ages 18-22 who get pinned for statutory rape.

Because there has to be a cut-off point, and on that age it is recognised they should have undergone enough development to be able to give informed consent.

I think there would be far, far less trouble if it was determined on a case-by-case basis, since there are plenty of 16 year olds that are far more mature and able to give consent than many 18 or 19 year olds.

Additionally, not just are some kids more emotionally mature (as in, they don't ACT immature), brain development is significantly different for everyone, to the point where comparing two 16-year olds and putting them on the same legal level is just...illogical and counterproductive.

Edit: But that's just me. I think that arbitrary cut-off points are horribly, horribly wrong for something like sexuality, and really only make sense for stuff like politics, where maturity is not that large of a factor compared to just basic intelligence.

It's not the same everywhere. For example, the age of consent in Georgia (and many other states) is 16 (and a police officer and multiple sources confirmed it).

 

[Jolly Co-operator]

I never understood why wearing hats in school is so taboo.I've heard that it was first introduced as a matter of courtesy, but that seems a little outdated. I'm not trying to say that courtesy is outdated of course, it's just that people don't wear their hats inside to be disrespectful, they just want to wear their damn hat.

 

[chadachada123]

It's not the same everywhere. For example, the age of consent in Georgia (and many other states) is 16 (and a police officer and multiple sources confirmed it).

Oh I know, I live in Michigan, where it's 16, and they recently amended the law so that if one of the parties is under 16 but within 4 years of the other, the other can't be put on a sex-offender registry for breaking the law.

It's not perfect, but it's a helluvalot better than it used to be, and far better than a flat "X.99 is wrong, but X+1 is okay." I have a friend that nearly got screwed over hardcore because he was 16 and his girlfriend was 15 and a half, despite both clearly being consenting.

All states should AT LEAST have "Romeo and Juliet" laws to protect teens/young adults that are within several years of each other, is all I'm saying.

How do you quantify something like maturity though?

My contribution, I guess I'll throw in with the swearing crowd. It seems incredibly childish to get offended by a 'naughty word.'

Actually, my reply to aattss works pretty well as an answer to yours. If kids are within several years of each other, it should be legit without any cut-offs, period. Anything larger where the younger person claims that it was consensual should be taken to a judge/jury for THEM to determine if consent was obtained.

 

[chadachada123]

I never understood why wearing hats in school is so taboo.I've heard that it was first introduced as a matter of courtesy, but that seems a little outdated. I'm not trying to say that courtesy is outdated of course, it's just that people don't wear their hats inside to be disrespectful, they just want to wear their damn hat.

My school claimed that hats were "distracting," yet allowed people to have literally green mohawks along with all sorts of other counter-culture/unusual hairstyles that were far more distracting than a simple cap.

We also allowed a huge variety of piercings, too, and shirts with distracting statements (as long as they weren't "obscene" of course >.>).

Full of hypocrisy, in my opinion.

 

[lacktheknack]

For example, how the hell did public nudity become so taboo? Why did more "civilised" cultures come to disapprove of it? I can understand requiring clothes for specific things, but why the complete shift? Why are clothes now a requirement, rather than an option?

Because people started getting fat.

OT: Why did spanking become such a horrible form of "abuse"? Beating is horrible, obviously, but a light hit on the backside does not permanently scar even the most sensitive of children.

 

[zehydra]

Why is it acceptable to wear a Sesame Street shirt, but, not a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic shirt?

Because MLPFM is "targeted" at little girls. It's the same reason people would look at you funny if you played with barbie dolls.

Sesame Street is gender neutral with regards to its target audience.

 

[Moriim]

OT: Why did spanking become such a horrible form of "abuse"? Beating is horrible, obviously, but a light hit on the backside does not permanently scar even the most sensitive of children.

I've never heard of someone crying abuse over that. I know for sure that I responded much better to corporeal punishment than I ever did to timeouts or having my toys taken away. I think once your kid is old enough to care about video games, television, and/or going out grounding becomes a much more effective punishment in most cases.


OT: Why am I considered socially awkward for playing video games, even though I spend on average just as much time playing online games as any kid spends playing sports or socializing at school?

 

[chadachada123]

Why is it acceptable to wear a Sesame Street shirt, but, not a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic shirt?

Because MLPFM is "targeted" at little girls. It's the same reason people would look at you funny if you played with barbie dolls.

Sesame Street is gender neutral with regards to its target audience.

MLPFiM has more violence than...I actually don't know of any boy-oriented shows for younger kids. Most stuff on Cartoon Network is pretty gender-neutral, as far as I know.

Point is, MLP is full of violence that a boy could enjoy, and keeps out the frilly foo-foo stuff. Its intended target audience is NOT what the show itself is geared towards (which is pretty gender-neutral, in my opinion).

 

[Adrian Neyland]

Basically it is 'cos it is, If the general societal view was different things would be different. What is normal is dictated by the greater public opinion.

 

[Rednog]

Why is it acceptable to wear a Sesame Street shirt, but, not a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic shirt?

One is a reference to nostalgia of a show that the person watched in their childhood that they no longer watch. While the other is the watching of a children's show outside the target audience and is considered "immature" or "inappropriate". Also one is gender neutral and the other is targeted at females.

Swearing. I mean you can say poop or pee pee but not shit or piss. How fucked are we as a society when a sound is taboo? No one cares about the meaning, everybody poops after all. But when people start shitting, that's offensive.

To add on to that, I keep getting told to not say "hell" as it is offensive and a swear word. What the fuck?

Yea, something like this blew my mind, way back when, when I was in highschool we were playing pictionary on kind of an off day class. I forgot what I picked to draw but I didn't know what it was and I said "what the heck?" and there was just this audible gasp from the room, and my teacher was like "you need to leave the room now, see me after class." After class he was like, I like you so I'm not going to give you detention, but I'm really disappointed in you, I didn't think you were that kind of person.

 

[chadachada123]

OT: Why did spanking become such a horrible form of "abuse"? Beating is horrible, obviously, but a light hit on the backside does not permanently scar even the most sensitive of children.

I've never heard of someone crying abuse over that. I know for sure that I responded much better to corporeal punishment than I ever did to timeouts or having my toys taken away. I think once your kid is old enough to care about video games, television, and/or going out grounding becomes a much more effective punishment in most cases.


OT: Why am I considered socially awkward for playing video games, even though I spend on average just as much time playing online games as any kid spends playing sports or socializing at school?

If you ignore the horrible bias in this article, here's one about spanking and where it's illegal:

http://www.ethicsoup.com/2009/10/spanking-is-illegal-sweden-celebrates-30year-national-ban-.html

and also this, about New Zealand:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32562673/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/t/new-zealand-leader-stands-spanking-ban/

Not that I don't agree with you, spanking worked quite well for me, and the only cases where it didn't is where I weighed my options and accepted the punishment as "worth it." Like for stealing cookies. Heh.

 

[Imthatguy]

Why do people associate the color black with a dark brooding personality?

 

[chimeracreator]

Swearing. I mean you can say poop or pee pee but not shit or piss. How fucked are we as a society when a sound is taboo? No one cares about the meaning, everybody poops after all. But when people start shitting, that's offensive.

That one seems to be built into our capacity for language. Basically certain words exist as intensifiers or insults and can be placed into this category. These work because they evoke an emotional response and show that the speaker is in a heightened emotional state. When these become generic they lose this effect and simply become a shibboleth, which marks someone as a member of the group for using it correctly or an outsider for failing to use it correctly. As people want to interact with those in the same group misuse of these marks you as an outsider and thus it becomes taboo. As for racial slurs it should be fairly obvious why they tend to be taboo.

Jumping and climbing on things in public. If I hop over the wall to get to the cashpoint outside my house, it saves me 10 seconds, keeps me fit, and is really fun. But most people would give me a weird look for doing it.

Sometimes people damage the properly they jump off of or climb which is frowned upon. Also lots of folks don't like being reminded that a fence doesn't always work plus in some cases it can lead to trespassing.