American media more homophobic and prudish now than it was in the 70s 80s and 90s?

[pellaz]

... pretty telling of how open we were back then.

before the HIV, with out that disease i bet even catholics would approve same sex marriage.

[Mike]

Very insightful! Thanks!

I'm from Israel and here we have the opposite trend - Israel used to be way more prudish about sex and gays, but more and more you see gay people on TV. Talking about sex and having strippers on talk-shows would not be frowned upon.

Back in the 80's and 90's it was considered a taboo. These days people are more open to sex and gays.

One thing though - we have a different kind of problem in Israel. Because the legislative system in Israel is so cumbersome, religious minorities have the power to take down the government. The government succumbs to their every whim, but so far they've mostly had monetary gains.
Luckily, the Prime Minister is in favor of gays and there have been quite a few instances in which he drew a red line to the religious parties.

It's sad to hear about the path US TV is going. I think it's only a matter of time, before it changes for the better, as old people die and new generations come. The US will evolve to be modern and open-minded in regards to gays, but it'll take some 60-100 years, in my opinion.

The US sets the pace for global recognition of gay marriage, as it does in many other areas. I hope there will soon come a time when none of it matters - men-men, women-women. Who cares, as along as it's all about L-O-V-E?

[Pix]

From 2008-9 (not sure when this award was actually given, but the season in which the awarded clip happened started in January of 2008 and LH mentioned Prop 8 in her brief acceptance speech):

[WaltHitman]

Americans are getting ready for tough times. Our most unfortunate parts of society have started "ostracizing" who isn't "us" now so that it will be justifiable to cut people out of charity, emergency shelters, food and etc because they're no longer gay, they have become a "leech like homosexual" (in american words) so it really has nothing to do with social issues - whenever America isn't on the FAT they dump off the children, animals and women first thing - gays are just in that mix. As usual, the majority of mainstreamers here don't even have minds. Less than ever. They are just a two-ended consuming machine, glutting it's way mindlessly through one of the most meaningless lives on the planet. Ahahahahaha!

[princealbertofb]

Somehow, the media in America seems way more prudish and sexually uptight when it comes to guys than it did in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Its just something I noticed while one day, going through some old VHS tapes at my house of movies (not porn, ACTUAL movies) when I was in one of my cleaning moods, there's some tapes I found of the old talk shows that ocasionally showcased strippers and body models of both sexes. ...
... Speedos have a purpose in the Olympics and professional swimming, and thanks to the homophobia in America, they're now considered strictly a gay thing. And even though America is beginning to come around, there will always be people that think anything that's gay is disgusting and immoral.


I love the U.S of A, I'm not bashing this country in any way, I just wish that people would be more open minded....

I shortened your text but I'm guessing that (more a personal hunch than someting checked) there are probably more private or pay-for channels today than there were then and so my idea is that this sort of stuff is more segmented now. For those who want to watch risqué stuff, they can take out a subscription to this or that tv channel, or satellite-transmitted programming. Thus the tv that is available to absolutely everyone has become more middle of the road and has (indeed) eliminated what might hurt the sensitivity of religious or other groups. Let's say that like porn that was never on mainstream tv, such things a scantily clad and soft porny stuff is now on specific channels which you can decide to pay for or not.

As I said, this is just my impression judging from what we get over here in France and that is made by companies like HBO or SHOWTIME. These companies issue stuff that definitely has rude words and profanity, and that don't shy away from nudity and adult themes. Maybe it's because Americans still watch a lot of tv, and many kids do it without their parents around, that it's thought best to keep the general public programmes as clean of smut and raunchiness as possible. Just my two cents. The smut or risqué stuff is still out there, it's still available but just not on mainstream tv.

[Counselor]

That makes it sound like cheap conservative teevee junkies want to regulate what gets shown for free, then create a market for the fun stuff.

[princealbertofb]

... ...
...

The US sets the pace for global recognition of gay marriage, as it does in many other areas. I hope there will soon come a time when none of it matters - men-men, women-women. Who cares, as along as it's all about L-O-V-E?

This made me laugh, Mike, as I think Canada got there beforehand... so yes, the ball was set rolling by the Stonewall incidents, but since then, the US has stalled time and time again, and parts of it are still stalling.

[princealbertofb]

That makes it sound like cheap conservative teevee junkies want to regulate what gets shown for free, then create a market for the fun stuff.

Isn't it the case? It's like porn, if you want it, you can pay for it (normally speaking).

[Counselor]

Isn't it the case? It's like porn, if you want it, you can pay for it (normally speaking).

No matter how you get porn, though, you pay for something. Like an internet provider, cable provider, and the like. I'd like to know how many conservative causes have investments in communications and television services...

[Mike]

This made me laugh, Mike, as I think Canada got there beforehand... so yes, the ball was set rolling by the Stonewall incidents, but since then, the US has stalled time and time again, and parts of it are still stalling.

You misunderstood. I mentioned the US sets the pace for many things. What I meant to say was - many world trends become the norm, once the US adopts them.

The US carries a lot of weight in regards to what is considered to be "progress". When the US "progresses" other countries usually follow (though often not immediately).

All of this equals "the US sets the pace..."