Political correctness has taken the “edge” off our daily living. There was a time, and we – the baby boomers know this, that it was commonplace to hear others airing out their grievances without concern of being labeled like many are labeled today.
Today’s culture is centered around guarding the feelings of others. As we grew up, did our sport team give out trophies regardless of the rank? No. If the team won, congratulations were in order. The rest, better work harder next time.
Rare to find someone who speaks their mind without concern of what others will think nowadays, isn’t it? Do you find it refreshing when that outlier lays it out unfiltered?
Let’s look at examples from 3 parts of our culture; those being music, sports, and college. Each of these avenues has seen its fair share of publicity recently, partly thanks to the unfiltered views of a few.
Music
We should consider ourselves fortunate indeed to have grown up with the music legends that populated the airwaves of our generation. Across the spectrum of rock and roll, country, blues, punk rock, and alternative music, our lives were enriched by the creative genius of our time.
In our current society, the unfortunate reality is that few musicians are willing to take a public stance on the issues of the day. With the 24-hour media, which includes social media giants like Facebook, stars are reluctant to say what’s on their mind.
The reasons are simple in this capitalist culture, the fear of revenue loss from sponsors and advertisers keeps lips and fingers sealed. However, there are always exceptions and one of the exceptions is Danny Baraz who captured the hearts and minds of those eager for authenticity with his Keith Morris interview with Janky Smooth.
Leaving the opinions of others to the side, Keith demonstrates a reduction of self-centeredness that is rare in today’s society. How important is it, what people think of us?
Sports
Caitlyn Jenner is the most famous transgender person of our lifetime. Yet, us baby boomers may still cling to Bruce Jenner, the heartthrob gold medal winner from the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.
What Caitlyn, formerly known as Bruce, did was transform the American culture from a closed-minded view on gender dysphoria to a spirit of tolerance and acceptance. Has this occurred across the board in success? Of course not, as this world we live in will always be subject to the opinions of others.
However, the bravery of those willing to go public with their true, authentic self draws the attention of those in agreement and otherwise. We tire of the status quo.
College
Chick-fil-A has certainly raised some “feathers” in recent years with their CEO Dan Cathy’s public statements opposing same-sex marriage. The consequences of this continue to linger as Fordham University has found it necessary to block efforts to open a Chick-fil-A on campus.
Both sides of this are intriguing. On one side we have the fundamentalist, on the other we have the LGBT community. Each, in their own way, are authentic and unfiltered.
The louder of the two sides is certainly the LGBT support. Here, we find, the difference between when we grew up and society now. How grateful each of us should be for the individuals who are willing to be transparent with what weighs on their heart and mind.
It makes for a more interesting world, and perhaps a better one.
