About How Vulgarity And Profanity Are Slowly Being Accepted In Society Today

For centuries, what people say has been criticized and filtered. There has always been an implied social norm depicting what is acceptable to say in public. However, people seem to ignore that implied rule when comedy comes into play. Many audiences find vulgarity and crude humor hilarious. In some cases, people actually prefer vulgar and dry humor to politically correct comedy. This phenomenon is the case not only in the comedy realm, but also in society as a whole.

One of the largest public media outlets today is television.

This study, conducted by The Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic media, examines offensive language spoken on primetime television across seven networks in 2001. It showed that use of profanity had increased between 1997 and 2001 to a staggering rate of one word every eight minutes. The programs aired by FOX network contained more obscenities than all other studied networks. Mild words such as ‘hell’ and ‘damn’ were most popular, but the famed ‘seven dirty words’ registered on the charts once every 3 hours.

Overall, the programs labeled “TVPG” aired more dirty words than those labeled “TV14”.

Television ratings are based on profanity, violence, and adult content. In today’s changing society, Parental Guidance has never been needed more. More and more children are being exposed to adult content, profanity, and violence each day. Social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and twitter have been capitalizing on this market. Recently, these platforms have began to place restrictions on what is accepted on their platforms. More and more media has become demonetized if the content is not child friendly.

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Late night television seems to be an exception however. This exception is overlooked because most children are asleep or do not watch television at times that late night shows air, allowing restrictions on late night shows to be relaxed compared to regular daytime television.

Another issue that people recognize is political incorrectness. F. King wrote an article discussing the use of profanity and vulgarity in popular culture. The author states in his deliberation that, in popular culture, profanity is defined by political incorrectness as a whole and not by actual words. This means it is considered profane to separate things in terms of gender when describing them. However, it is not considered profane to use a vulgar word when describing something. This article is written from a very interesting point of view because it does not focus solely on vulgarity being completely taboo and it sets some unique boundaries that show what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Some believe that the more vulgarity is accepted, the more quickly it loses its meaning. Swearing was intentionally meant for emphasis, not explicitly to be funny. So, if profane words become socially accepted, more are made to take their place. This constant cycle can be and has been detrimental to media in the recent decade. As the internet has become a more and more popular way to view media, access to its content has been more available to a larger audience. This burst of exposure speeds that cycle up and creates a larger issue.

Comedy and popular culture are not the only realms affected by vulgarity. Religious groups are also heavily impacted. A related speech was given by Michael F. Curtin, Vice Chairman, Associate Publisher of The Columbus Dispatch. The speech was delivered at the annual meeting of Catholic Social Services. He discusses the media business and the degeneration of language in America. He also mentions an Associated Press survey denoting a critical mass of citizens were concerned about profanity. This study shows different cases that relate to vulgarity in America. This speech was given at a catholic gathering. In that case, this is an slightly biased example and is only referenced for proof of opinion. Since they are Catholic / Christian they certainly do not think that swearing is acceptable. Many religious people state that profanity is degrading the English language and is also degrading to America as a whole. On the contrary, some believe that the use of profanity adds to comedic value and makes comedy more interesting and more appealing.

So what do actual audience members of comedy shows think of the use of vulgarity in comedy? E. DeCamp conducted a research project in 2017 to find out. His findings explore personal experiences among audience members in midwestern comedy clubs, focusing on acceptance of racial discourses given out by stand-up comedians. He said, “Conducting a Midwest-based ethnography of comedy clubs located across three states, I collected data through a variety of methods, which included: live stand-up performance observations; interviews of comedians and audience members from the same shows to better situate their respective strategies and reactions; and audience surveys. My analysis reveals how the subtlety and art of stand-up performance styles combine with the pleasurable medium of humor to alternately reinscribe, challenge, or proudly celebrate audience understandings of race.

The accounts shared by comedians and audience members at these clubs demonstrate the potential for stereotype humor – contingent on presentation styles and audience experiences – to foster ethnic solidarity or complicate racial-behavioral associations through repeated encounters with comedians who either indirectly challenge or actively critique familiar types.” (DeCamp) This article focuses mainly on racial issues within comedy. Some believe that the subtle use of racial discourses add comedic value and makes comedy more vibrant and unique. On the other hand, it can be degrading to society. The more racism is accepted, the more quickly it becomes a larger issue. Racism was never intended by anyone to be funny, but in today’s society, it is more and more widely accepted from all nationalities. Unfortunately, this research was privately conducted and was nat professionally audited.

Art is also a place that vulgarity has long resided. G.H. Williams examines the place of humor in contemporary art. He explains how the exhibition titled ‘The Present in Drag,’ by New York-based fashion and art collective DIS, offered an opportunity to test the communicative powers of humor and irony in contemporary art. He also describes and discusses exhibitions, such as ‘Situation Comedy: Humor on Recent Art,’ books such as ‘Dysfunctional Comedy’ and conferences that have examined comedy as a critical tool for both the production and reception of contemporary art. This source does a good job of explaining that humor and comedy has become somewhat dysfunctional.

Many people see any vulgarity as extremely taboo and completely unacceptable. Others can deal with a certain amount of vulgarity until it reaches a certain point. And, on the other hand, some people promote vulgarity because they find it amusing or interesting. These views mean it is extremely hard to please everyone when performing comedy or other shows. So, a happy medium must be found to keep comedy acceptable, while also not going too far in either direction. It is a very fine line. Some comedians and writers know that this is a risk and continue to do the same thing anyway. They know that the audience they are appealing to will outweigh the negative opinions of the people who disagree with their script.

Back to the subject of political correctness, the United States presidents are not immune to criticism of their voice as well. This article focuses on U.S. President Donald Trump. He has quickly gained a reputation of being rather vulgar in interviews and other media sponsored events. President Trump has discussed the inferiority of women and minorities on multiple occasions. This study helps to give some background knowledge on president Trump and his recent vulgarity. This source also explains the vulgarity of the president himself. Many disagree with Trump’s outspoken nature and sometimes vulgar language because it is inappropriate. Some others believe his outgoing nature is a good thing and that it shows he has power and dominance over other people. This deliberate display of dominance is a key factor in being an effective and respected leader. What Americans do not understand is that all presidents who have been successful in any way have shown some sort of dominance. In comedy, the brash use of vulgarity has become a large part of many shows and acts. No matter how much backlash there is, it has become accepted as a changing part of comedy in today’s age.

Psychology expert N. Cavazza also conducted a similar study. This was an experimental study that investigated the effect of politicians’ profanity and gender on their perceived and actual persuasiveness. Results of the study showed that a candidate’s use of swear words improved the general impression about the source. This was particularly strong for male candidates, as female candidates were already evaluated positively, without taking into account their cursing. However, when the candidate’s speech was changed, the participants of the study changed their impression of the candidate. This source also shows the results of a study that compares the average persuasiveness of the speaker when using vulgar words vs not using vulgar words. This study also focuses a lot on the gender of the speaker and how just a change from a male speaker to a female speaker can change the attention of the audience.

Finally, the First Amendment. Freedom of Speech. This is one of the driving advocates for vulgarity in society. This source references a speech by Benjamin P. Pomerance. Powerance is the executive editor at the Albany Law School. In the speech, he discussed the right to freedom of speech. He also spoke about the First Amendment rights and protections. Lastly, he spoke about free expression rights in the United States. Freedom of speech is a sensitive subject in modern America. Many people see that more and more vulgarity and profanity is slowly being accepted in society today. This concerns some parents of young children who want to shelter their children from this vulgarity until they are of a less impressionable age.

This concern has made some new restrictions easy to enact into television and other platforms of entertainment, mostly those on the internet like social media platforms. However, some believe that vulgarity is part of growing up and it can not or should not be suppressed. The people who do want vulgarity to be suppressed want it done quickly and immediately. If they do not see results they feel insulted, and feel that their concerns do not matter to the large companies that regulate vulgarity in the media. This distrust is detrimental to the companies and sometimes results in loss of profits. So, more and more companies are listening to what the people want and placing harsher restrictions on television shows and other media sources.