Modern Culture: What Went Wrong?

The culture of the United States has been going from bad to worse in recent years. Things like good manners and kindness have been weeded out. The youth of America look to the media for guidance on what is "cool" and acceptable and pop culture is filling their minds with bad thoughts. TV, movies, and radio are the avenues for this corruption. On average, in a two-hour period, a child will see a maximum of one hundred people die on TV. Music is destroying the tentative footing that women have in the country. This decay of modern culture is traced to violence on TV, music that is negative to women, the standard for manhood, and the bad fashion that has been forced into us all

The main point, violence on TV and in movies is appalling. A teenager of eighteen has seen. On average, twenty-six thousand people die on TV alone. Youth have become desensitized to violence and they tend to accept it as normal and okay. This has led to children actually believing that, for example, a rape victim deserved it. Children are being taught violence and how it is just and everyday thing. Sports, such as football, are violent as well. A child may think it is okay to tackle people. Pop culture is breeding the violence in daily life. The rapes that take place everyday can be traced to the entertainment we all watch and hear. In the time it takes you to read this essay one hundred and sixty women have been raped. Date rapes are one of the worst results of violence. There is no one direct cause of date rape except a warped mind.

Secondly, music is becoming more and more negative to women everyday. Lyrics to rap and heavy metal are almost flat out saying that women are weak and need a "strong man" to lead them. The heavy metal group Poison has sold well over two million copies of their albums with lyrics such as these: "I want action tonight... I need it hot and I need it fast. If I can't have her, I'll make her and take her." This is what young boys are listening to everyday and no one stops to think that this may be bad for them. This music is vulgar no matter what angle you look at it from, yet this is what teenagers are listening to and imitating in daily life. Boys in the school environment will treat the girls in classes as something to beat on, mentally. They treat them as property because that is what they are taught these so called "cool" lyrics. Values considered outdated and baseless, such as mutual respect, consideration for another person's feelings, and common courtesy, are becoming extinct human customs. Especially troubling are the violent misogynous messages infused in heavy metal and rap music and their negative effects on today's youth. Healthy relationships of mutual love, respect, and compromise between men and women of all races and social classes are instrumental to a sane and stable society. Respect and reverence for mother, sister, wife, and daughter as the nurturers of civilization, are key to our survival as a species. Many youth today approach their relationships with the opposite sex, mimicking the attitudes of the rock or rap entertainer.

Another point, the standards for masculinity today are to have power, toughness, dominance, eagerness to fight, lack of empathy, and callous regard for women. Sports are a big part of this, for a boy is called a "wuss" if he does not play a sport or for not playing a sport well. A common insult is "you run like a girl." "Wuss" is a cross between woman and pussy. These insults are comparing boys to the "weaker sex." Another insult to be called is "fag" derived from faggot. The sports culture produces some of the most revered and idolized figures in American society. Athletic achievements are glorified and the achievers are often elevated to an extraordinary, super-human status. For many young boys especially, sports are a way to gain acceptance within a peer group, identify with the male sex, and establish relationships. It is a context wherein boys learn how to be boys, to be masculine, to achieve status within our success-driven culture. This is wrong; there should be other places, besides sports, to find masculinity. A child should not be ridiculed because he does not want to be a G.I. Joe when he grows up, or a great sports star. Not all men have been warped by society, there are a few but they hide for of claims against their masculinity. In a general sense, traditional male and female roles in society are part of the problem. Men are taught