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Who knows, maybe the social attitudes/standards will revert to those before the 90s, and then in a few decades we'll seem funny exactly because of our "outrage"

Who knows, maybe the social attitudes/standards will revert to those before the 90s, and then in a few decades we'll seem funny exactly because of our "outrage" at earlier times. EDIT: such a reversal would not be unheard of -- if you read some communist texts from the 60s, they often talk mockingly of the capitalism of earlier decades, and congratulate themselves for having superseded those times. From our vantage point these 60s texts indeed seem outdated, but not because we have progressed even further along the path they had in mind :)

dragonwriter 7y ago
> such a reversal would not be unheard of Perhaps not, but your example is not a good one; it doesn't show reversion it shows, if anything, a perspective that was never dominant continuing to not be dominant. (Actually, I suspect communist—particularly from the segments of Western communism that were already at odds with the Leninist/Stalinists—critiques of capitalism from the 1960s resonate more with the popular view today than they did when written, even if 1960s communist prescriptions for resolving the issues raised in those critiques might not, which, come to think of it, I wouldn't count on all that much.)
- new2628 7y ago
  I meant communist texts from Eastern Europe where they expressed the attitude of having advanced beyond capitalism.
TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
I'm not convinced by a reversal, but there may be a replacement. IMO contemporary gender politics are just as rigid and aggressively normative as those of the 50s - just in different ways. If you consider the possibility that rigid politics are a problem, and the form they take is secondary, there may still be room for progress. Meanwhile these magazines are 50-60 years old, and best read as a historical record. They haven't been taken seriously as futurology for literally decades - if ever. Getting angry about the content is a little like getting angry about the whaling in Moby Dick.
dclowd9901 7y ago
Doubtful; any hint otherwise is the shuddering cry of a dying viewpoint.

dragonwriter 7y ago

> such a reversal would not be unheard of Perhaps not, but your example is not a good one; it doesn't show reversion it shows, if anything, a perspective that was never dominant continuing to not be dominant. (Actually, I suspect communist—particularly from the segments of Western communism that were already at odds with the Leninist/Stalinists—critiques of capitalism from the 1960s resonate more with the popular view today than they did when written, even if 1960s communist prescriptions for resolving the issues raised in those critiques might not, which, come to think of it, I wouldn't count on all that much.)

new2628 7y ago
I meant communist texts from Eastern Europe where they expressed the attitude of having advanced beyond capitalism.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago

I'm not convinced by a reversal, but there may be a replacement. IMO contemporary gender politics are just as rigid and aggressively normative as those of the 50s - just in different ways. If you consider the possibility that rigid politics are a problem, and the form they take is secondary, there may still be room for progress. Meanwhile these magazines are 50-60 years old, and best read as a historical record. They haven't been taken seriously as futurology for literally decades - if ever. Getting angry about the content is a little like getting angry about the whaling in Moby Dick.

dclowd9901 7y ago

Doubtful; any hint otherwise is the shuddering cry of a dying viewpoint.