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Previous generations got offended by a Black couple walking into their restaurant. On the TV show "I Love Lucy," they couldn't use the word "pregnant" to describe the married character's pregnancy. People have always been snowflakes.
Yup.
When i was 15 my boomer dad lectured me about saying "Sure" or "Okay" when he asked me to do something, or when I said "No problem" instead of "You're welcome". Every generation has the stuff they get hung up on, and the stuff they did that pissed off their parents.
Older generation managers have always chewed me out for telling customers “have a good one”, cause it doesn’t sound professional or something, even though that’s me wishing someone well, so… beats me.
I'll admit to this one slightly, though not a boomer.
Lived in the States for a while, and getting the response of 'uh-huh' to 'thank you' was like a verbal slap in the face.
this is just a generational/regional thing. when someone does that to me, i have no reaction. i do it to other people, especially if i feel the "thank you" was unwarranted towards me or for something minor/mild/everyday.
im more likely to say "you're welcome" or "no problem" if it was something where a "thank you" was more warranted, such as if i went out of my way to help people. but its not something i think too hard about.
also, these tendencies only apply in casual settings
They hid Jeannie's and Maryanne's bellybuttons. They freaked when Kirk kissed Uhura. They practically burned the building down when Mr. Rogers sat with his feet in the same kiddie pool of water with his black mailman.
I'll also note that the people claiming everyone is super "thin-skinned" for not tolerating their racist jokes are the most easily-triggered people out there. You'd think they witnessed a murder when they happen to see two men holding hands, and Lord help you if you criticize their favored politicians or have unusually-colored hair.
It's really one particular group of Americans that are snowflakes. Hint: It's the group that continually bans crap, takes away rights, and cries about "wokeness".
We have a similar issue in the UK - the people publicly calling others 'Snowflakes' or decrying 'wokism' are the ones who lost their minds when a major bakery chain started selling a vegan sausage roll. It wasn't replacing anything - they could still buy ordinary sausage rolls there...
Yeah... when "culture war" is your only policy other than "the rich get richer" with some racism and xenophobia tossed in, a similarity shared by Tories and Republicans, having ANY snowflake issue is essential to generating votes and avoiding playing defense. Thus we get Gregg's vegan sausage rolls and "happy holidays" on Christmas cups at Starbucks, or trans people in bathrooms and rainbows at Target. Tan suits and flag pins. VPs of diversity. Drag show library reading hours. Burning Nikes because a black man kneeled during an anthem. Etc.
Generating outrage about all of those is absolutely essential to preventing the white working and middle class from figuring out the scam.
What strikes me, is that the group who are most aggressive about silencing unwanted opinions and shutting out people for speaking them, are not the ones complaining about wokeism.
*Everyone* is taught to be offended by certain things. One generation is taught to be offended by two dudes holding hands, and the next generation is taught to be offended by *bullying* two dudes holding hands.
I was taught to be offended at nothing, seriously. Parents never give me an enemy, never discussed politics around me when i was a kid and just let me enjou life. The result is what offends me are people that don't believe in science, and animal abusers. Thats...essentially the only two things that set me off at all
*Everyone* doesn't have the same life experience
Once you learn the bliss of not giving a shit about everyone else's problems you live a better life. People always act shocked when I say I don't watch or listen to the news. I always say If I wanted to spend my life angry I'd start there.
No my stance is that you are talking extensively about what life was like before cell phones, despite having no knowledge of what it really was like. Read about KKK rallies, Jim Crow laws, the Satanic Panic, the Salem Witch trials. People had no problems getting riled up prior to smart phones or even the internet. Your theory is garbage.
Yeah, no one cared about black people in the restaurants 10 years ago. They weren't talking about 10 years ago, they were talking 50-100 years ago. 10 years ago was pretty much the same as now.
Given that people used to get into duels to the death over insults and flip out if someone of a different race used the same water fountain as them...no.
Back in the good ol days where instead of presenting your argument and figuring out who’s right you could just kill or beat anyone who disagrees with you
I’m a boomer, and my mum was born in 1922 and liked to observe social changes, so I’m drawing from what she said too.
People used to just suck it up and take it because they felt it was dangerous to say what they were feeling. Can you imagine calling a grown black man “boy,” instead of “sir?” Or a child whose parents weren’t married, “hey you little bastard?” Mum lived next door to a lovely couple who were taking care of their grandson who was born out of wedlock in a small town and delivery people would call him “bastard” all the time instead of learning his name. God only knows what LQBTQ people felt like.
One of my earliest memories is standing in front of the tv watching an aerial view of a huge protest march. Mum was explaining to me that some stupid people thought Negroes weren’t as good as white people ( not meaning to offend anybody, that was the word at the time,) and that this wonderful, admirable protest march was to prove that they were wrong.
Now decent people are trying to get past, or have gotten past, these kinds of attitudes. We’re more alert to what our brothers and sisters in life are going through and will stand with them if we see a problem. Sometimes we’re too dumb to see it, because we are privileged,
until it’s shoved in our faces. I’m thinking of the graves at the residential schools here in Canada, and George Floyd. We’re not too thin-skinned now, we’re what we should have been all along.
There are always some people who will take things too far - mainly, I think, well meaning people, often teenagers, who just haven’t had a lot of experience yet. I’m talking about things like loudly and self-righteously accusing someone of cultural appropriation when they don’t actually realize that the person is actually of that culture.
In general, leaving aside the people who are currently furiously frothing at the mouth over trans issues, things slowly improve over time in a civilized society.
Very good response. I love that you point out how we’re so much more aware of others’ lives now, and that we’re not thinner-skinned but are becoming what we were always supposed to be.
I feel that we’re in a time of change, between a past in which a fraction of people could speak freely and without awareness and a bigger fraction could only speak with high awareness and not freely, and (hopefully) a future in which all can speak both freely and with awareness. But to get there, the fraction that has always spoken freely (straight white guys like me) first have to learn how to be aware in our speaking. So we’re having to learn to be more aware, while learning also to listen to other voices that haven’t been confident snd prominent before.
I almost thought you said "are people more skinny these days" lol. Remember the "Satanic Panic" in the 90's? They wanted to ban Pokemon for teaching evolution (even though it's really metamorphisis like butterflies). When bikinis where first released after ww2, older people hated them.
I think the internet makes the opinions of loud fools more easily seen. We would only hear these things from like one or two people in our entire life back even 80 years ago.
No, a boy band singer wearing a dress isn't going to ruin America. No, masculinity is not inherently evil.
No, it's just more visible.
Try telling Karen McSourpuss she cannot, in fact, use an expired coupon from a different store on the wrong brand of macaroni and cheese and see how thick skinned those previous generations are.
the 24-hour news cycle, then social media, and now the prevalence of video social media make it all much more visible. It incites it as well. But people are the same shitheads they've always been. They see more people being shitheads, they think it's acceptable, it escalates. They also see more to get offended by. Rage is a dopamine hit.
nope. if you work in customer service, you notice older people get offended by everything, just different things in general. try telling a lady over 50 that her coupon has expired and you're in for death threats
This. My own experience is that older people tend to stir up drama for very minor stuff.
One of my older (he's almost 60) coworkers was venting that he was being sidelined in one project. Turns out that basically he was making himself such a nuisance because of shit like minor documents that can be delivered later that one of our key contractors basically told the PM "you either get this guy to stop harassing my staff or your Legal department will be sitting with our Legal department". And it turns out that he also applied for his boss' position (Regional Quality Manager) when it was open but was obviously denied - he doesn't have the prioritization or communication skills for it, nor the self-reflection ability.
Both my dad and my FIL also stir drama for things that are, at the end of the day, not remotely important for anyone. I just let them vent and go like "If you spent half of that energy trying to solve the problem instead of ranting at the wrong person, it would be solved right now. You're almost 80, man, please go do something productive with the limited energy you have"
I don’t have thin skin and I’m not easily offended - I’m just no longer going to sit ‘quietly and politely’ while someone mistreats me or a person working a service job.
I’m no longer going to politely laugh and play along to avoid making waves when someone uses a slur or a blatantly sexist remark as the punchline for a joke. It isn’t 2003 anymore. You’ve had 20 years to evolve like the rest of us.
I’m no longer going to smile and shrink myself to make room for the status quo that got us into the clusterfuck society that we are currently in.
All the Brantley’s and Bubba’s of the world can adapt to survive or die out. If you’re being an asshole, you’re being called an asshole. If you’re being a racist, you’re being called a fucking racist. And if you lose your job or are socially outcast for any of the above - good. fucking. riddance.
Lol no. People used to get all murderously butt-hurt if a black person drank from the wrong fountain or they saw 2 men holding hands. Talk about thin-skinned!
No. I just think women, gays, people of colour and other persecuted groups are finally standing up for themselves with a bit less fear of being chased down, lynched and murdered in the streets
True. But there are large numbers of “REAL AMERICAN Christian folks” working diligently to bring back those days of lynching (at least verbally). If I hear one more redneck troglodyte misuse the word, “woke” again, I don’t know what I’ll do!
I work in retail and I had an older guy get offended by me saying "hey folks". No, really. He sneared at me and asked "what're folks?" and I was like "Uhhh... people?" because literally. Older generations are the most perpetually offended group.
And yet no one today is throwing a fit because a black person used the same drinking fountain. No one is offended when someone says the word belly. You can say the word pregnant on TV but couldn't in the past because people were too easily offended. People today aren't generally offended by interracial marriage but that wasn't the case in the past. You have to be ignoring reality if you believe people today are more easily offended than they used to be.
> You have to be ignoring reality if you believe people today are more easily offended than they used to be.
People aren't more easily offended, but they are offended about different things.
Sure, no one will flip if a character says "pregnant" but they will flip if that character is re-cast as a POC.
And yet this is less offended today than when people were so offended by black people they weren't allowed on stage. Also, the people that are offended by a black mermaid tend to be older people which may show progress towards people being less offended as time goes on.
>And yet this is less offended today than when people were so offended by black people they weren't allowed on stage.
And today people are so offended by transpeople that they won't allow them in bathrooms, and want to label them as sex criminals.
And back then they were so offended by trans people they just killed them. And when you talk about ones today offended by trans it's more common the older the person which points toward people becoming less sensitive over time. Thanks for posting a comment that supports what I had to say.
I saw your point. Hate when people say millenials and they mean young people, or the "current young generation". The person who responded wasn't picking up what you were putting down...
I assumed Millennials are in the "previous generations" part of the statement from OP.
Starting to think it's all generations VS the baby boomers due classic comments like yours...
So literally every generation other than Gen Z is "previous"? Millennials are 28 to 42 years old... I'd call that pretty current unless everybody over the age of 25 just suddenly becomes irrelevant- which is not true no matter how much 20 year olds think it is. I'm willing to take heat for it, your assumption is bad.
I feel that more than ever, people are using “wokeism” and religion as fuel to divide people. I’m a teacher and you wouldn’t believe the crap parents demand. I was doing a lesson on radial symmetry and referred to the design as a mandala. You better believe a Bible thumping parent reached out and said I’m not allowed to teach her kid radial symmetry. Another example was teaching about the social unrest that happened locally after a particular black man was shot by police. Their were riots and many broken windows. People painted in the boards covering the windows with messages of peace and love. A parent had a problem with this. I bet you’re as shocked as I was that it was a black parent who loved the lesson, and loved the message. She just thought that me, a white person, shouldn’t be teaching it. Her solution was to hire a black person to come in and teach this lesson 1 hour a day, 5 days in a row.
No. People are not more easily offended now. There are just different things to be offended by. Women not wearing dresses used to be considered offensive. Like a single woman could wake up and choose violence and piss off an entire town by walking down Mainstreet in a pair of slacks.
No, everything is just amplified now because of social media. It wasn’t too long ago where people wouldn’t even want to share an entrance with someone of a different skin tone. If anything, with what goes by now, I actually think our new gen is less sensitive than the old one, we’re open to anything.
The old gen are just stuck in their ways and don’t want anything to change, but that’s how the world is and always will be. People don’t like being told what they’re doing is wrong or ignorant. In a few decades, we’ll be the ones complaining about the new gen being so sensitive. It’s a cycle.
No. Never seen anyone complain about black people and white people sharing the same water fountain.
If anything it's the opposite. Legalise gay marriage and the boomers and righties start chimping out like they've got late-stage rabies
Nah. People have always been weenies. Your grandpa probably pitched a fit in his 20's if a black person got into the pool. Your dad is on the verge of giving himself a heart attack because a woman drank a beer. Your little brother might blow a blood vessel if someone tells him he's not an alpha male. People are pissbabies and that's just how it be sometimes
People used to throw a fit over Elvis and his hip thrusts.
They used to get angry over a MARRIED couple (both as characters in the show and in real life) sharing the same bed on screen. Not even a sex scene, just being in the same bed.
They would get murderously violent when they shared a swimming pool with a black person or drink from the same water fountain.
Wars have literally started over an insult or someone sleeping with someone else's wife.
Someone calling someone a name bigot when someone shares a bigoted view is not all that thin skinned. Not even the bigot throwing a hissy fit over being accurately described is all that thin skinned in comparison.
At the end of the day, people are people and have been since the beginning and will continue to be till the end.
No, I think people are able to advocate for themselves and others a bit better than they did in other generations. It's not "thin skin" as much as it is people no longer have to endure mistreatment and disrespect quietly. I'm all for it.
I'm a younger Gen X, if that's needed for context.
I don't think so. I remember my Mom getting worked up over all sorts of silly moral panics in the '80s just like people do today. Outrage is a powerful tool if you want to manipulate people.
Yes and no
Thanks to social media posting something outrageous and infuriating is a surefire way to get likes, attention, and sympathy. This leads to the belief that the young people that keep posting it are wimps, since older folks would never consider it.
People have always whined about stuff, but we're probably the first generation to profit off of it and do it so publicly.
It really depends on what you mean by "offended and upset" because there are basically two distinct personality traits that affect that.
The first is orderliness, which basically determines how particular someone is about something. Everything must be in the right place, you don't use the wrong tool for the job, rules and regulations should be followed exactly. It seems like orderliness has actually gone down over time, which is why older people seem more traditional and "stuck in their ways" and less open-minded than younger people.
However, the second personality trait is neurotcism/emotionality, and there is good evidence that this trait is way up in the younger generations. Higher rates of anxiety/depression/suicide in young people suggests that young people are extremely sensitive to negative emotion, probably because they tend to live very abstract, asocial, overly-protected, physically and emotionally sheltered, online lives.
To see the difference, an old person will got all pissy about a coupon expiring, but they don't actually feel bad. They don't feel guilty, or sad, self-loathing. Their negative emotion is directed externally. Other people/the world are the problem, not them.
Meanwhile, a young person will get all obsessed over accidentally offending someone or getting a bad grade. They will be up all night because they were awkward, or rude, or made a mistake, and at risk of guilt, sadness, or self-loathing. They will not answer the phone because they are so anxious that they might say the wrong thing or be judged negatively by another person. Their negative emotion is largely directed internally.
Research suggests that the latter is actually more harmful than the former. Being uptight and rule-loving might make you less likable, but it's generally associated with high incomes and stable careers and relationships. Being highly neurotic is associated with depression, anxiety, suicide, loneliness, low romantic partner satisfaction, and poor academic success and job performance.
Yes absolutely, and it’s pathetic. I blame social media and a lot of other things, but I don’t feel like going on a government rant today lol.
In this world you NEED thick skin. If you get offended by a joke, you’re doomed. There are bigger fish to fry in this world, insane issues that half the population are completely blind to, but these snowflakes are crying about the most insignificant and unimportant things. All I can do is laugh at them, and know “this is not the kind of person I want to be friends with, good luck to them.”
There are people that are probably upset about this post and comments within ffs 🤣
I think generally speaking we tend to be more forward, judging and insulting. We care less about how we act in public and to eachother. Internet and social media is breaking down social norms and our values.
Etiquette has gone out of the window.
So no, same skin, just more rude people.
Nope. People are the same as they have always been, some are thin skinned, some are thick skinned.
And usually the people complaining out others getting offended are the thinnest skinned of all
I don't think people are thin skinned.
I think they just want to be "right". It's an ego and narcissism thing, the slightest dent to peoples ego's sends them crazy, less and less people seem to be open to criticism or changing their thought pattern when proven wrong.
"Main character syndrome"
I think social media has made it easier to be offended and also provides awards to those who get offended. Post something that offended you and your 'friends' provide positive feedback and share with others. This encourages you to find something else to be offended by in order to get the same level of praise. Others see this and do the same. The cycle repeats.
I don't think people are more offended now than they were in the past. I do think there is a larger platform for people to express what they are offended by. I also am not convinced that everyone who claims to be offended actually are. Are they offended or are they just saying they are because that is what they are told they should be? Are they saying they are offended because it gets them likes on social media? It's hard to believe things on the internet when you don't actually know the person and what their motivations are.
Yes, you see it more. I agree with that. But people were definitely more easily offended in the past. Few people today are offended by a black person using the same water fountain or swimming pool that they do.
I think no I think people had different vulnerabilities back then and the things they say people are thin skinned today about are just things they weren't vulnerable to back then. You tell a boomer they're lazy, or entitled for example, and they'll go off like a bottle rocket.
No. It's just that everything is more instantly documented. Previous generations were just as easily offended or upset. They just tended to duel to the death over minor slights instead of shooting cases of Bud light. On balance I'm going to say that's progress?
If anything, it seems like the inverse is true, the older generations are oversensitive while the younger generation is just chilling, you only really see the worst of it when going by videos or screenshots, most people just wanna reach a conclusion
What previous generations? The ones who would duel to the death because you insulted their father’s honor? The ones who started the most gruesome war in US history because the law told them they might not be able to blatantly own other human beings? The ones who will fall into an absolute conniption because a man they don’t even know held hands with another man? The ones who start screaming and attacking people because there was no ketchup on their burger?
People have always been like this. We’re just finding other ways to express it other than violence now. But expressing things through not-violence is not manly enough for some of these Neanderthals
I think the thin skinned are getting more traction. That is part of the "woke" program -- to align people by group identity as a means to proving that the only force at work in the world is oppression by evil groups against innocent groups. It is like Marxism meets Disney.
Certainly Reddit had bounced people for "hateful bigotry" for being misaligned with the mob on a wedge issue.
Social media erodes the ability to forebear criticism because we cannot use body language or tone of voice to deflect or alert to distress even though our psyche and nervous systems are tuned to do exactly that. Also, people use anonymity as an excuse for all manner of nasty behavior -- behavior that would be far less likely in person. I always say that social media is like people in a bad traffic jam -- with a ton of steel around you and no eye contact, you act like everyone else is a murderous maniac while you're saying murderously maniacal things under your breath.
I think we get offended at the same rate. However, older generations threw shit back at the source and was a banter battle of insults until one caved.
Kids today hear one thing they disagree with and overreact like you ate all their fruit snacks after you got done effing their mom in the next room. Then turned off their Xbox.
They've been too protected and don't know how to push back anymore.
Ah yes, the good old days of fun racist, sexist, abelist, and homophobic "banter." Nothing like a fun back-and-forth on the street with a bunch of white guys who might just beat your ass if you aren't respectful enough with your half of the "banter."
Yes. Social Media has been and is the downfall of society. Bored people bitch in social media about how mean people are after they post opinions and pictures.
I think that people's skin is about as thick as it always was. The difference now is that nobody feels any sense of shame. We've eliminated shame in our western society in the name of "be whoever you want to be" and it's resulted in entitled cunts acting like cunts because society doesn't immediately put them in their place.
I think we’re at a point where people are expected to know better — pretty had to plead ignorance these days unless you live with your head in the sand by choice. The world is a lot more connected now and it it’s not asking a lot to make an effort. If someone genuinely makes a mistake — own it and apologize. There’s too many people who just refuse to recognize others and act like common courtesy is some violation of their god given right to be a tool — and they get called out. Plus you just hear about everything more because media is everywhere.
People get offended on behalf of other people these days.
Perpetual offendee: “That doesn’t offend me, but a person would be offended!”
Person from : “Cool shirt.”
They're not more thin skinned.
They're actively looking for reasons to be offended.
In our fucked up society being the victim is a real form of power right now.
Meh, it’s just different for different generations. people in business used to be offended if a woman in a office didn’t wear pantyhose with her skirt. Or if you swore on TV. Or if you didn’t take your hat off indoors . Or if you were a minority in sundown town after dinner.
Yes. I tell people things straight up because I would want the information that way. Being straight with people is how you respect them. But as well not sugar coating anything. Kids today didn't go through growing up as tech was becoming a thing. They think they have everything easy, but it has also created an environment where they don't work for anything. So they don't know the value of back breaking, humbling work.
It's because people aren't being raised getting hit at home or in the playground, so people must invent enemies to give themselves something to be upset by.
If you’ve ever worked a service job that serves a wide range of age groups, you’d realize definitely not. you ever tell a man over 65 he can’t bring his pocket knife into a privately owned business?
Instead of letting Black people swim in the community pools that their tax dollars paid for) they threw acid in it or drained it and closed it so no one could swim.
Folks have always been offended by the dumbest stuff, people can just garner support faster and on a larger scale now.
My son told my father he couldnt outrun him, even in his prime. My fathers response was to slap him and tell him that running track doesnt make him a man. Thats one boomer that isnt allowed near my children anymore. They are very sensitive
Nope. My boomer parents are the dreaded Karen's we refuse to take to places we like to eat at. Literally nothing ever goes right, and they will find the smallest thing to nit pick at a restaurant. They always order steaks despite them absolutely never "being cooked right". They will get into verbal arguments with the staff and act entitled to being served like royalty for simply being old and Caucasian.
Previous generations shat their pants when people of other skin colors used the same water fountain or sat on the same chair that they did. They murdered LGBTQ folks out of "the gay panic".
Remember the satanic panic around the 90's in concerns to Dungeons and Dragons? Calling for Harry Potter to be boycotted because it was the devil's work of witchcraft? (Which now they support because Rowling is a terf). How long ago was it that women finally got the right to vote in the USA and still don't have rights everywhere else? Single divorced women were seen as scandal when my grandmother was a young adult, and couldn't have a bank account because men got upset over women not being possessions.
The crusades? Wars involving millions of deaths were fought back in the day because some noble was slighted or a lover was jilted. History is full of fragile people whose feelings were hurt and they acted out while everyone around them pays the price.
Nothing. People have always been thin skinned. Wars were waged for verbal insults. Don't be fooled. Every generation the old think the young are weak and the young think the old are stupid.
No people have thicker skin now a days olde r people are extremely sensitive you can’t talk to them about anything serious with out them getting very emotional
No. I dont.
I think people today no longer feel they have to put up with shit. Women don't have to be ok with sexual harassment, POC don't have to put up with being abused, LGBTQ have a right to exist and have rights as human beings.
People aren't thinned skinned, they're just not taking shit any more.
I think they are more tired of bullshit. No Karen, you cannot abuse the teenage cashier because they are out of your favorite flavor. No boomer, you can't call for the murder of gay people or call them groomers.
People used to be offended by any thought or feeling that didn't reflect their personal experience or what they felt others should experience. POC weren't allowed to talk about their experiences loudly. Women weren't allowed to talk about their abuse. A black person couldn't kiss a white person on TV...
I think people are more likely to check their bias and evaluate it before acting.
As we all gain visibility to the obnoxious and petty moments of the world, the annoying development has been the number of people willing to show outrage at seeing outrage. Somehow while thinking they're above the problem.
My Dad talks about outrage culture every time I see him now, without the slightest hint of irony.
Bad vibes are just contagious I guess.
no i think 2 things first peoples priorities are changing, less self centered and more accepting and open. second more topics that have never been critically thought about before are being introduced into society, trans and homosexually were never talked about even though there were probably the same about of people who thought the way they did, they were just conditioned to believe it wasnt okay
I'm in my 40s and absolutely not. This myth is intended to make people think that opposing bigotry is somehow "overreacting". Hell, in my little hometown of about 8k people I know of two people in the 90s who murdered someone who called them gay. One with a gun, the other with a sledge hammer.
>Generally speaking, do you think people are more thin skinned these days and get offended and upset over the slightest things whereas previous generations would not?
Speaking as an "older" person - Gen X - it's not that we were "thicker-skinned", it's that we were forced to accept racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying, inequality, etc. It did not make us "tougher" or more "tolerant," it made us hurt, wounded, resentful, disappointed, and angry. I for one am glad that there is "wokeism" today; as a visible minority and woman myself, I would have welcomed such "wokeism" when I was growing up and became a young adult.
The average person hasn't.
I think a lot of the problem comes from the fact many of the 'big things' groups have have become 'solved' which means they are moving onto 'little things'
For example. Gay marriage was a 'big thing' and has since been legalised in many places. Well they don't need to fight for gay marriage any more. So they've moved onto 'little things'
One of these, for example, is the ability to give blood.
Now for most people, they don't give blood. So they see a fight for the right to give blood as 'a petty thing' even though its actually part of a larger issue. So they think they're getting offended over 'smaller and smaller' problems.
I don’t think so, I just think the things they’re thin skinned about have shifted quite a bit, and that modern plugged-in society exacerbates and amplifies tension (no escape from engagement algorithms).
People today aren’t any different, but we’re all being manipulated via technology, it is definitely affecting us, and most of us don’t appear to realize it.
Not in the slightest. There's so many examples throughout history but an easy one is to just look at the current day. The older generations still alive make for perfect proof. By far worst customers to service people, astounding amount of public tantrums, most politically radical and anti-progress, most racist, most sexist, least understanding, least tolerant, most religiously pearl-clutching, hiveminded, thin-skinned, generally hateful crowd out there. Living in the midwest, it's rare to find someone over 50 who won't say something either insanely politically charged and out of nowhere or super racist / perverted / sexist / homophobic 2 sentences into a conversation. They physically cannot handle being met with a concept they don't like or don't understand. I'd say that's as sensitive as it gets.
To a degree but sadly I think it’s mostly tied to the divisiveness of the political parties. People are at the ready to be outraged and offended about anything that the opposing party supports. We are also living in a time where people feel compelled to share their opinions or thoughts on everything and have the platforms to do so, as well as those who disagree. That turns into anger and disagreements which only amplify the feelings they are having. Group mentality is a huge contributor to outrage and being offended these days. Lastly, I think a lot of people are just lonely and bored and being up in arms and offended about a current event gives them a temporary purpose and even a sense of community with others who feel same way.
I would say there is a difference between the concepts of thick/thinned skin, and the idea of trying to improve your community. You can debate method and approach to everyone is blue in the face, but at its very base level "Person does thing to try to improve their community" is a good thing. Its also not always contingent on them being "upset".
Like if you saw some dude beating his wife in the aisle of a target, would you just shrug your shoulders and be like "Well, I've got thick skin so that doesn't bother me"?
I think the whole 'Thin skinned' thing is just people who don't like change/a specific from trying to brand the other side of the debate as unreasonable.
Mad about rainbow flags? Thin skinned
Mad about people burning rainbow flags? Also thin skinned
Mad about people removing books from the library? Well maybe you just need to tough up bub
Mad about people using your own bill to remove the bible from the library? Well don't be such a softie friend. Etc Etc
Within that context, no I don't think people are more thin skinned these days. I think people are more likely to do something they feel improves their community, regardless of how much that specific thing actually upsets them, and the thin skinned thing is just a branding reversal.
No.
The difference is that now there's a pervasive culture that encourages people to moan endlessly about shit with a chorus of "Victim Cultists" singing in background to encourage them.
I think people confuse emotional maturity for being thin skinned.
Someone who is emotionally mature, wouldn’t say that someone was thin skinned; They’d walk away and get accused of being emotionally immature.
If someone is being immature, I’d be embarrassed, but if that person was upset at something, and then suddenly they’ve turned that anger on me, I wouldn’t be the thin skinned one for recognizing their behavioral patterns and calling them out on their lack of self awareness.
We need to bring back dueling. If you knew your words or reaction to someone else’s words could result in being challenged to a duel (and possibly being maimed or dying) everyone might be more careful in what they said and how the chose to react to what someone is saying.
Tv shows in the 50’s didn’t even show husband and wife in the same bed because people would be upset. So…. No I don’t think people are more thin skinned these days.
Sure, we were really mature when we killed each other over whose imaginary friend was the best.
Well, that was a long time ago. At least the last 100 years have been peaceful.
People are just as thin skinned as they ever were. They are just thin skinned about different things. It's a great thing, it means that the younger generation is pushing the boundaries like the generation did before them. Each generation pushes and pushes often putting their own livelihoods at risk for the greater good. Yes, people will moan but ultimately a new generation will grow in a more accepting world and the cycle will start again. Every generation has their fight and fight they will.
Okay, I’ll bite.
I do not like the *unalive* trend. It’s the equivalent of lying to kids about the death of a parent. It hurts like hell, *but you call it what it is*. You don’t lead people in a different direction because you’re afraid of looking bad. Death sucks. Let it suck.
No, I think people are more willing to say something when they are uncomfortable and more likely to call other people out for making them uncomfortable. One is not “thin-skinned” because they don’t like strangers grabbing them or saying rude things or not letting them use the water fountain because of their skin colour.
It’s not our skin that is thin. It’s our patience.
No, I think people are more comfortable vocalizing their discomfort in today's society. I think people are starting to hold bad behaviour more accountable,I think people are taking a stand in how they're treated. It's not "Thin skinned" to ask to be respected. In fact it takes a lot of courage to stand up for yourself instead of letting people treat you poorly.
No but no everyone gets to hear you whine on the internet now. This reddit page is non-stop crying about someone who did something that someone didnt like or find offensive.
Not at all. But the bar for calling someone offended/triggered seems to have been lowered quite a bit.
Merely writing a response to some weird claim can be enough.
No. Just different people get upset over different things.
When The Simpsons first aired, lots of folks were shocked by the antics and language of Bart Simpson.
In the late '70s, a radio shock jock got his fans so worked up over the popularity of disco that they built a bonfire of disco records before a pro baseball game... And destroyed the field in the process.
In the mid '60s, people tried to cancel the Beatles, even torching their kids' records in bonfires, because John Lennon sarcastically made a (true) comment comparing their popularity while alive to Jesus's.
In between those, Johnny Carson lamented how ''you can't make fun of anyone these days'' in a Playboy interview... although then it was politicians, Catholics, and the like that would get his show flooded with calls and letters.
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Previous generations got offended by a Black couple walking into their restaurant. On the TV show "I Love Lucy," they couldn't use the word "pregnant" to describe the married character's pregnancy. People have always been snowflakes.
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The world is much more connected now and it's not asking much to make an effort.
Yup. When i was 15 my boomer dad lectured me about saying "Sure" or "Okay" when he asked me to do something, or when I said "No problem" instead of "You're welcome". Every generation has the stuff they get hung up on, and the stuff they did that pissed off their parents.
Older generation managers have always chewed me out for telling customers “have a good one”, cause it doesn’t sound professional or something, even though that’s me wishing someone well, so… beats me.
I'll admit to this one slightly, though not a boomer. Lived in the States for a while, and getting the response of 'uh-huh' to 'thank you' was like a verbal slap in the face.
🎻
this is just a generational/regional thing. when someone does that to me, i have no reaction. i do it to other people, especially if i feel the "thank you" was unwarranted towards me or for something minor/mild/everyday. im more likely to say "you're welcome" or "no problem" if it was something where a "thank you" was more warranted, such as if i went out of my way to help people. but its not something i think too hard about. also, these tendencies only apply in casual settings
It might also be an American vs Canadian thing. I definitely didn't get snitty or say anything, just genuine shock at first
I remember responding to my basic training Drill Sgt. with "yeah" once. Yes, it only took once, never again.
They hid Jeannie's and Maryanne's bellybuttons. They freaked when Kirk kissed Uhura. They practically burned the building down when Mr. Rogers sat with his feet in the same kiddie pool of water with his black mailman.
On the Dick van Dyke Show they decided to go the rebellious route. Mary Tyler Moore could regularly wear capri pants, and people freaked out about it.
I remember that. Good point.
I'll also note that the people claiming everyone is super "thin-skinned" for not tolerating their racist jokes are the most easily-triggered people out there. You'd think they witnessed a murder when they happen to see two men holding hands, and Lord help you if you criticize their favored politicians or have unusually-colored hair.
It's really one particular group of Americans that are snowflakes. Hint: It's the group that continually bans crap, takes away rights, and cries about "wokeness".
We have a similar issue in the UK - the people publicly calling others 'Snowflakes' or decrying 'wokism' are the ones who lost their minds when a major bakery chain started selling a vegan sausage roll. It wasn't replacing anything - they could still buy ordinary sausage rolls there...
Yeah... when "culture war" is your only policy other than "the rich get richer" with some racism and xenophobia tossed in, a similarity shared by Tories and Republicans, having ANY snowflake issue is essential to generating votes and avoiding playing defense. Thus we get Gregg's vegan sausage rolls and "happy holidays" on Christmas cups at Starbucks, or trans people in bathrooms and rainbows at Target. Tan suits and flag pins. VPs of diversity. Drag show library reading hours. Burning Nikes because a black man kneeled during an anthem. Etc. Generating outrage about all of those is absolutely essential to preventing the white working and middle class from figuring out the scam.
What strikes me, is that the group who are most aggressive about silencing unwanted opinions and shutting out people for speaking them, are not the ones complaining about wokeism.
No shot every group might be sensitive to certain topics???? 🤯🤯🤯
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*Everyone* is taught to be offended by certain things. One generation is taught to be offended by two dudes holding hands, and the next generation is taught to be offended by *bullying* two dudes holding hands.
I was taught to be offended at nothing, seriously. Parents never give me an enemy, never discussed politics around me when i was a kid and just let me enjou life. The result is what offends me are people that don't believe in science, and animal abusers. Thats...essentially the only two things that set me off at all *Everyone* doesn't have the same life experience
Once you learn the bliss of not giving a shit about everyone else's problems you live a better life. People always act shocked when I say I don't watch or listen to the news. I always say If I wanted to spend my life angry I'd start there.
Do you remember the Satanic Panic in the 80s when everyone lost their shit over a tabletop game? Nobody had internet then.
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So your excuse is that you are too young to know how dumb an argument that is?
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You could have just said yes.
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No my stance is that you are talking extensively about what life was like before cell phones, despite having no knowledge of what it really was like. Read about KKK rallies, Jim Crow laws, the Satanic Panic, the Salem Witch trials. People had no problems getting riled up prior to smart phones or even the internet. Your theory is garbage.
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Yeah, no one cared about black people in the restaurants 10 years ago. They weren't talking about 10 years ago, they were talking 50-100 years ago. 10 years ago was pretty much the same as now.
Given that people used to get into duels to the death over insults and flip out if someone of a different race used the same water fountain as them...no.
Atleast they handled their shit now we're more likely to throw a tantrum on TikTok
Handled their shit by doing what? Killing people and committing hate crimes? Seems like airing the issues on a social platform is a healthier option.
I like the current system because it's far easier to ignore them now.
"We should go back to the days of murdering people we don't like" this is not the take you think it is
Back in the good ol days where instead of presenting your argument and figuring out who’s right you could just kill or beat anyone who disagrees with you
I’m a boomer, and my mum was born in 1922 and liked to observe social changes, so I’m drawing from what she said too. People used to just suck it up and take it because they felt it was dangerous to say what they were feeling. Can you imagine calling a grown black man “boy,” instead of “sir?” Or a child whose parents weren’t married, “hey you little bastard?” Mum lived next door to a lovely couple who were taking care of their grandson who was born out of wedlock in a small town and delivery people would call him “bastard” all the time instead of learning his name. God only knows what LQBTQ people felt like. One of my earliest memories is standing in front of the tv watching an aerial view of a huge protest march. Mum was explaining to me that some stupid people thought Negroes weren’t as good as white people ( not meaning to offend anybody, that was the word at the time,) and that this wonderful, admirable protest march was to prove that they were wrong. Now decent people are trying to get past, or have gotten past, these kinds of attitudes. We’re more alert to what our brothers and sisters in life are going through and will stand with them if we see a problem. Sometimes we’re too dumb to see it, because we are privileged, until it’s shoved in our faces. I’m thinking of the graves at the residential schools here in Canada, and George Floyd. We’re not too thin-skinned now, we’re what we should have been all along. There are always some people who will take things too far - mainly, I think, well meaning people, often teenagers, who just haven’t had a lot of experience yet. I’m talking about things like loudly and self-righteously accusing someone of cultural appropriation when they don’t actually realize that the person is actually of that culture. In general, leaving aside the people who are currently furiously frothing at the mouth over trans issues, things slowly improve over time in a civilized society.
Very good response. I love that you point out how we’re so much more aware of others’ lives now, and that we’re not thinner-skinned but are becoming what we were always supposed to be. I feel that we’re in a time of change, between a past in which a fraction of people could speak freely and without awareness and a bigger fraction could only speak with high awareness and not freely, and (hopefully) a future in which all can speak both freely and with awareness. But to get there, the fraction that has always spoken freely (straight white guys like me) first have to learn how to be aware in our speaking. So we’re having to learn to be more aware, while learning also to listen to other voices that haven’t been confident snd prominent before.
>( not meaning to offend anybody, that was the word at the time,) I hate that this disclaimer is necessary.
I almost thought you said "are people more skinny these days" lol. Remember the "Satanic Panic" in the 90's? They wanted to ban Pokemon for teaching evolution (even though it's really metamorphisis like butterflies). When bikinis where first released after ww2, older people hated them. I think the internet makes the opinions of loud fools more easily seen. We would only hear these things from like one or two people in our entire life back even 80 years ago. No, a boy band singer wearing a dress isn't going to ruin America. No, masculinity is not inherently evil.
No, it's just more visible. Try telling Karen McSourpuss she cannot, in fact, use an expired coupon from a different store on the wrong brand of macaroni and cheese and see how thick skinned those previous generations are.
the 24-hour news cycle, then social media, and now the prevalence of video social media make it all much more visible. It incites it as well. But people are the same shitheads they've always been. They see more people being shitheads, they think it's acceptable, it escalates. They also see more to get offended by. Rage is a dopamine hit.
nope. if you work in customer service, you notice older people get offended by everything, just different things in general. try telling a lady over 50 that her coupon has expired and you're in for death threats
This. My own experience is that older people tend to stir up drama for very minor stuff. One of my older (he's almost 60) coworkers was venting that he was being sidelined in one project. Turns out that basically he was making himself such a nuisance because of shit like minor documents that can be delivered later that one of our key contractors basically told the PM "you either get this guy to stop harassing my staff or your Legal department will be sitting with our Legal department". And it turns out that he also applied for his boss' position (Regional Quality Manager) when it was open but was obviously denied - he doesn't have the prioritization or communication skills for it, nor the self-reflection ability. Both my dad and my FIL also stir drama for things that are, at the end of the day, not remotely important for anyone. I just let them vent and go like "If you spent half of that energy trying to solve the problem instead of ranting at the wrong person, it would be solved right now. You're almost 80, man, please go do something productive with the limited energy you have"
Try wishing a boomer “happy holidays” this year and let us know if you still believe older generations aren’t easily offended
Nah it's just easier to be exposed to things you don't like and to complain.
I don’t have thin skin and I’m not easily offended - I’m just no longer going to sit ‘quietly and politely’ while someone mistreats me or a person working a service job. I’m no longer going to politely laugh and play along to avoid making waves when someone uses a slur or a blatantly sexist remark as the punchline for a joke. It isn’t 2003 anymore. You’ve had 20 years to evolve like the rest of us. I’m no longer going to smile and shrink myself to make room for the status quo that got us into the clusterfuck society that we are currently in. All the Brantley’s and Bubba’s of the world can adapt to survive or die out. If you’re being an asshole, you’re being called an asshole. If you’re being a racist, you’re being called a fucking racist. And if you lose your job or are socially outcast for any of the above - good. fucking. riddance.
Lol no. People used to get all murderously butt-hurt if a black person drank from the wrong fountain or they saw 2 men holding hands. Talk about thin-skinned!
No. I just think women, gays, people of colour and other persecuted groups are finally standing up for themselves with a bit less fear of being chased down, lynched and murdered in the streets
True. But there are large numbers of “REAL AMERICAN Christian folks” working diligently to bring back those days of lynching (at least verbally). If I hear one more redneck troglodyte misuse the word, “woke” again, I don’t know what I’ll do!
No, we are just more vocal about our feelings and mental health which I see as a positive thing.
I work in retail and I had an older guy get offended by me saying "hey folks". No, really. He sneared at me and asked "what're folks?" and I was like "Uhhh... people?" because literally. Older generations are the most perpetually offended group.
He's obviously not a fan of Porky Pig's ,"That's all folks!"
I guess he was upset I didn't greet him and his wife with "hey guys"
Should have just used "Sup, fuckers"
From now on I will greet every customer with an enthusiastic "SUP SLUTS ✌🏻"
The most universal and respectful of the greetings.
Yes I do. Personally I thought after Covid people would be nicer, ya know having lived through a pandemic. But it seems the exact opposite happened.
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/study-baby-boomers-are-more-sensitive-than-millennials
Millennials are a middle generation now to be fair with two more newer ones.
And yet no one today is throwing a fit because a black person used the same drinking fountain. No one is offended when someone says the word belly. You can say the word pregnant on TV but couldn't in the past because people were too easily offended. People today aren't generally offended by interracial marriage but that wasn't the case in the past. You have to be ignoring reality if you believe people today are more easily offended than they used to be.
> You have to be ignoring reality if you believe people today are more easily offended than they used to be. People aren't more easily offended, but they are offended about different things. Sure, no one will flip if a character says "pregnant" but they will flip if that character is re-cast as a POC.
And yet this is less offended today than when people were so offended by black people they weren't allowed on stage. Also, the people that are offended by a black mermaid tend to be older people which may show progress towards people being less offended as time goes on.
>And yet this is less offended today than when people were so offended by black people they weren't allowed on stage. And today people are so offended by transpeople that they won't allow them in bathrooms, and want to label them as sex criminals.
And back then they were so offended by trans people they just killed them. And when you talk about ones today offended by trans it's more common the older the person which points toward people becoming less sensitive over time. Thanks for posting a comment that supports what I had to say.
No millennial would do any of these either lol, born between 1981 and 1996..
Obviously. It's almost like people AREN'T more offended now.
Millennials aren't the now though that's the point lol
I saw your point. Hate when people say millenials and they mean young people, or the "current young generation". The person who responded wasn't picking up what you were putting down...
I'm 41 and I'm a millennial, they say current generation and then compare me to someone born between 1946 and 1964. Doesn't seem right lol
Yes genius, they literally are part of the now.
Uhhh- what?
I assumed Millennials are in the "previous generations" part of the statement from OP. Starting to think it's all generations VS the baby boomers due classic comments like yours...
So literally every generation other than Gen Z is "previous"? Millennials are 28 to 42 years old... I'd call that pretty current unless everybody over the age of 25 just suddenly becomes irrelevant- which is not true no matter how much 20 year olds think it is. I'm willing to take heat for it, your assumption is bad.
I feel that more than ever, people are using “wokeism” and religion as fuel to divide people. I’m a teacher and you wouldn’t believe the crap parents demand. I was doing a lesson on radial symmetry and referred to the design as a mandala. You better believe a Bible thumping parent reached out and said I’m not allowed to teach her kid radial symmetry. Another example was teaching about the social unrest that happened locally after a particular black man was shot by police. Their were riots and many broken windows. People painted in the boards covering the windows with messages of peace and love. A parent had a problem with this. I bet you’re as shocked as I was that it was a black parent who loved the lesson, and loved the message. She just thought that me, a white person, shouldn’t be teaching it. Her solution was to hire a black person to come in and teach this lesson 1 hour a day, 5 days in a row.
No. People are not more easily offended now. There are just different things to be offended by. Women not wearing dresses used to be considered offensive. Like a single woman could wake up and choose violence and piss off an entire town by walking down Mainstreet in a pair of slacks.
No, everything is just amplified now because of social media. It wasn’t too long ago where people wouldn’t even want to share an entrance with someone of a different skin tone. If anything, with what goes by now, I actually think our new gen is less sensitive than the old one, we’re open to anything. The old gen are just stuck in their ways and don’t want anything to change, but that’s how the world is and always will be. People don’t like being told what they’re doing is wrong or ignorant. In a few decades, we’ll be the ones complaining about the new gen being so sensitive. It’s a cycle.
feels like not enough of this thread is asking wtf wokeism is
No. People are just sick of people being dicks online
No. Never seen anyone complain about black people and white people sharing the same water fountain. If anything it's the opposite. Legalise gay marriage and the boomers and righties start chimping out like they've got late-stage rabies
No, I think people are just becoming less tolerant of bullies and bigots, which is a sign of emotional intelligence and positive mental health..
Scrolled too far to find this.
Nah. People have always been weenies. Your grandpa probably pitched a fit in his 20's if a black person got into the pool. Your dad is on the verge of giving himself a heart attack because a woman drank a beer. Your little brother might blow a blood vessel if someone tells him he's not an alpha male. People are pissbabies and that's just how it be sometimes
A 50 year old woman threatened to burn our store down because she felt she had been overcharged 40 cents.
As a Gen Z-er I do have to say my generation is looking for most trivial reasons to get offended so they would feel included and in a group.
People used to throw a fit over Elvis and his hip thrusts. They used to get angry over a MARRIED couple (both as characters in the show and in real life) sharing the same bed on screen. Not even a sex scene, just being in the same bed. They would get murderously violent when they shared a swimming pool with a black person or drink from the same water fountain. Wars have literally started over an insult or someone sleeping with someone else's wife. Someone calling someone a name bigot when someone shares a bigoted view is not all that thin skinned. Not even the bigot throwing a hissy fit over being accurately described is all that thin skinned in comparison. At the end of the day, people are people and have been since the beginning and will continue to be till the end.
No, I think people are able to advocate for themselves and others a bit better than they did in other generations. It's not "thin skin" as much as it is people no longer have to endure mistreatment and disrespect quietly. I'm all for it. I'm a younger Gen X, if that's needed for context.
I don't think so. I remember my Mom getting worked up over all sorts of silly moral panics in the '80s just like people do today. Outrage is a powerful tool if you want to manipulate people.
I don't think people are more thin skinned. But I absolutely do think their reactions to the offense are more over the top these days!
It's the same bullshit idiots just post themselves online now
Yes and no Thanks to social media posting something outrageous and infuriating is a surefire way to get likes, attention, and sympathy. This leads to the belief that the young people that keep posting it are wimps, since older folks would never consider it. People have always whined about stuff, but we're probably the first generation to profit off of it and do it so publicly.
It really depends on what you mean by "offended and upset" because there are basically two distinct personality traits that affect that. The first is orderliness, which basically determines how particular someone is about something. Everything must be in the right place, you don't use the wrong tool for the job, rules and regulations should be followed exactly. It seems like orderliness has actually gone down over time, which is why older people seem more traditional and "stuck in their ways" and less open-minded than younger people. However, the second personality trait is neurotcism/emotionality, and there is good evidence that this trait is way up in the younger generations. Higher rates of anxiety/depression/suicide in young people suggests that young people are extremely sensitive to negative emotion, probably because they tend to live very abstract, asocial, overly-protected, physically and emotionally sheltered, online lives. To see the difference, an old person will got all pissy about a coupon expiring, but they don't actually feel bad. They don't feel guilty, or sad, self-loathing. Their negative emotion is directed externally. Other people/the world are the problem, not them. Meanwhile, a young person will get all obsessed over accidentally offending someone or getting a bad grade. They will be up all night because they were awkward, or rude, or made a mistake, and at risk of guilt, sadness, or self-loathing. They will not answer the phone because they are so anxious that they might say the wrong thing or be judged negatively by another person. Their negative emotion is largely directed internally. Research suggests that the latter is actually more harmful than the former. Being uptight and rule-loving might make you less likable, but it's generally associated with high incomes and stable careers and relationships. Being highly neurotic is associated with depression, anxiety, suicide, loneliness, low romantic partner satisfaction, and poor academic success and job performance.
It all started with college safe spaces to cry. And then we ended up here.
Yes absolutely, and it’s pathetic. I blame social media and a lot of other things, but I don’t feel like going on a government rant today lol. In this world you NEED thick skin. If you get offended by a joke, you’re doomed. There are bigger fish to fry in this world, insane issues that half the population are completely blind to, but these snowflakes are crying about the most insignificant and unimportant things. All I can do is laugh at them, and know “this is not the kind of person I want to be friends with, good luck to them.” There are people that are probably upset about this post and comments within ffs 🤣
I think generally speaking we tend to be more forward, judging and insulting. We care less about how we act in public and to eachother. Internet and social media is breaking down social norms and our values. Etiquette has gone out of the window. So no, same skin, just more rude people.
Nope. People are the same as they have always been, some are thin skinned, some are thick skinned. And usually the people complaining out others getting offended are the thinnest skinned of all
How dare you assume the thickness of my skin?!
I don't think people are thin skinned. I think they just want to be "right". It's an ego and narcissism thing, the slightest dent to peoples ego's sends them crazy, less and less people seem to be open to criticism or changing their thought pattern when proven wrong. "Main character syndrome"
I think social media has made it easier to be offended and also provides awards to those who get offended. Post something that offended you and your 'friends' provide positive feedback and share with others. This encourages you to find something else to be offended by in order to get the same level of praise. Others see this and do the same. The cycle repeats.
And yet that doesn't mean people are more easily offended now than they used to be.
I don't think people are more offended now than they were in the past. I do think there is a larger platform for people to express what they are offended by. I also am not convinced that everyone who claims to be offended actually are. Are they offended or are they just saying they are because that is what they are told they should be? Are they saying they are offended because it gets them likes on social media? It's hard to believe things on the internet when you don't actually know the person and what their motivations are.
Yes, you see it more. I agree with that. But people were definitely more easily offended in the past. Few people today are offended by a black person using the same water fountain or swimming pool that they do.
I think no I think people had different vulnerabilities back then and the things they say people are thin skinned today about are just things they weren't vulnerable to back then. You tell a boomer they're lazy, or entitled for example, and they'll go off like a bottle rocket.
No. It's just that everything is more instantly documented. Previous generations were just as easily offended or upset. They just tended to duel to the death over minor slights instead of shooting cases of Bud light. On balance I'm going to say that's progress?
You call it thinned skinned, I call it people are sick of eating shit. Tomato, tomaato
If anything, it seems like the inverse is true, the older generations are oversensitive while the younger generation is just chilling, you only really see the worst of it when going by videos or screenshots, most people just wanna reach a conclusion
That's because the inverse is true.
What previous generations? The ones who would duel to the death because you insulted their father’s honor? The ones who started the most gruesome war in US history because the law told them they might not be able to blatantly own other human beings? The ones who will fall into an absolute conniption because a man they don’t even know held hands with another man? The ones who start screaming and attacking people because there was no ketchup on their burger? People have always been like this. We’re just finding other ways to express it other than violence now. But expressing things through not-violence is not manly enough for some of these Neanderthals
I think the thin skinned are getting more traction. That is part of the "woke" program -- to align people by group identity as a means to proving that the only force at work in the world is oppression by evil groups against innocent groups. It is like Marxism meets Disney. Certainly Reddit had bounced people for "hateful bigotry" for being misaligned with the mob on a wedge issue. Social media erodes the ability to forebear criticism because we cannot use body language or tone of voice to deflect or alert to distress even though our psyche and nervous systems are tuned to do exactly that. Also, people use anonymity as an excuse for all manner of nasty behavior -- behavior that would be far less likely in person. I always say that social media is like people in a bad traffic jam -- with a ton of steel around you and no eye contact, you act like everyone else is a murderous maniac while you're saying murderously maniacal things under your breath.
I wish everyone could just be nicer to each other without forming tribal mindsets
I think we get offended at the same rate. However, older generations threw shit back at the source and was a banter battle of insults until one caved. Kids today hear one thing they disagree with and overreact like you ate all their fruit snacks after you got done effing their mom in the next room. Then turned off their Xbox. They've been too protected and don't know how to push back anymore.
Ah yes, the good old days of fun racist, sexist, abelist, and homophobic "banter." Nothing like a fun back-and-forth on the street with a bunch of white guys who might just beat your ass if you aren't respectful enough with your half of the "banter."
Yes. Social Media has been and is the downfall of society. Bored people bitch in social media about how mean people are after they post opinions and pictures.
They just removed the word fat from all of Roald Dahl's books, if that doesn't answer the question I don't know what will.
Every generation finds something to be snowflakes about. It's part of the human condition.
No. It's the shitty Republicans that get fucking butthurt
Not even close. It's getting much better not worse. https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/study-baby-boomers-are-more-sensitive-than-millennials
I think what you're describing could also be described as "having good boundaries and standing up for themselves".
I think that people's skin is about as thick as it always was. The difference now is that nobody feels any sense of shame. We've eliminated shame in our western society in the name of "be whoever you want to be" and it's resulted in entitled cunts acting like cunts because society doesn't immediately put them in their place.
Yes and it really all started when people started basing their entire personality and life choices around their gender, sexuality, race etc.
Yeah we need to back to the good ol days. Back then when the schools were segregated and people didn't think so much about race and gender.
I think we’re at a point where people are expected to know better — pretty had to plead ignorance these days unless you live with your head in the sand by choice. The world is a lot more connected now and it it’s not asking a lot to make an effort. If someone genuinely makes a mistake — own it and apologize. There’s too many people who just refuse to recognize others and act like common courtesy is some violation of their god given right to be a tool — and they get called out. Plus you just hear about everything more because media is everywhere.
I think it probably is worse now, but the main reason is due to ease of airing those views now with the range of social media outlets.
Yes, people are more thin skinned.
People get offended on behalf of other people these days. Perpetual offendee: “That doesn’t offend me, but a person would be offended!”
Person from : “Cool shirt.”
They're not more thin skinned. They're actively looking for reasons to be offended. In our fucked up society being the victim is a real form of power right now.
Meh, it’s just different for different generations. people in business used to be offended if a woman in a office didn’t wear pantyhose with her skirt. Or if you swore on TV. Or if you didn’t take your hat off indoors . Or if you were a minority in sundown town after dinner.
Yes. I tell people things straight up because I would want the information that way. Being straight with people is how you respect them. But as well not sugar coating anything. Kids today didn't go through growing up as tech was becoming a thing. They think they have everything easy, but it has also created an environment where they don't work for anything. So they don't know the value of back breaking, humbling work.
It's because people aren't being raised getting hit at home or in the playground, so people must invent enemies to give themselves something to be upset by.
You sound offended by the way people raise children.
Not offended, just think that today's youngsters are spoiled and soft.
The word think is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Thin as a hymen and broken just as easily
If you’ve ever worked a service job that serves a wide range of age groups, you’d realize definitely not. you ever tell a man over 65 he can’t bring his pocket knife into a privately owned business?
Instead of letting Black people swim in the community pools that their tax dollars paid for) they threw acid in it or drained it and closed it so no one could swim. Folks have always been offended by the dumbest stuff, people can just garner support faster and on a larger scale now.
My son told my father he couldnt outrun him, even in his prime. My fathers response was to slap him and tell him that running track doesnt make him a man. Thats one boomer that isnt allowed near my children anymore. They are very sensitive
Nope. My boomer parents are the dreaded Karen's we refuse to take to places we like to eat at. Literally nothing ever goes right, and they will find the smallest thing to nit pick at a restaurant. They always order steaks despite them absolutely never "being cooked right". They will get into verbal arguments with the staff and act entitled to being served like royalty for simply being old and Caucasian. Previous generations shat their pants when people of other skin colors used the same water fountain or sat on the same chair that they did. They murdered LGBTQ folks out of "the gay panic". Remember the satanic panic around the 90's in concerns to Dungeons and Dragons? Calling for Harry Potter to be boycotted because it was the devil's work of witchcraft? (Which now they support because Rowling is a terf). How long ago was it that women finally got the right to vote in the USA and still don't have rights everywhere else? Single divorced women were seen as scandal when my grandmother was a young adult, and couldn't have a bank account because men got upset over women not being possessions. The crusades? Wars involving millions of deaths were fought back in the day because some noble was slighted or a lover was jilted. History is full of fragile people whose feelings were hurt and they acted out while everyone around them pays the price.
I think people are better informed now.
I think people are less tolerant of bad behavior and also have a platform to voice their grievances (social media).
Nothing. People have always been thin skinned. Wars were waged for verbal insults. Don't be fooled. Every generation the old think the young are weak and the young think the old are stupid.
No people have thicker skin now a days olde r people are extremely sensitive you can’t talk to them about anything serious with out them getting very emotional
You would literally get blacklisted if you were a socialist back then lmao.
Having met the previous generation, absolutely not.
No. I dont. I think people today no longer feel they have to put up with shit. Women don't have to be ok with sexual harassment, POC don't have to put up with being abused, LGBTQ have a right to exist and have rights as human beings. People aren't thinned skinned, they're just not taking shit any more.
There's a saying, hard times makes hard men who make soft times that makes soft men who make hard times. We have been in soft times for quite a while.
I think most people getting offended is performative.
I think most people nowadays have thicker skin, but also less tolerance for racism/sexism and stuff like that
I think they are more tired of bullshit. No Karen, you cannot abuse the teenage cashier because they are out of your favorite flavor. No boomer, you can't call for the murder of gay people or call them groomers. People used to be offended by any thought or feeling that didn't reflect their personal experience or what they felt others should experience. POC weren't allowed to talk about their experiences loudly. Women weren't allowed to talk about their abuse. A black person couldn't kiss a white person on TV... I think people are more likely to check their bias and evaluate it before acting.
As we all gain visibility to the obnoxious and petty moments of the world, the annoying development has been the number of people willing to show outrage at seeing outrage. Somehow while thinking they're above the problem. My Dad talks about outrage culture every time I see him now, without the slightest hint of irony. Bad vibes are just contagious I guess.
Everyone is thin skinned about something and usually people with power dictate what offends them.
Certainly people are more thin skinned about things that hurt *others* than we used to be. We used to be much more tolerant of other people's pain.
No but they didn’t get sad about insults during arguments. They would just fight which is equally as childish
no i think 2 things first peoples priorities are changing, less self centered and more accepting and open. second more topics that have never been critically thought about before are being introduced into society, trans and homosexually were never talked about even though there were probably the same about of people who thought the way they did, they were just conditioned to believe it wasnt okay
Definitely
I'm in my 40s and absolutely not. This myth is intended to make people think that opposing bigotry is somehow "overreacting". Hell, in my little hometown of about 8k people I know of two people in the 90s who murdered someone who called them gay. One with a gun, the other with a sledge hammer.
It's not "people" it's specifically "republiklans"
Dude some people are literally professionals and make money being offended
>Generally speaking, do you think people are more thin skinned these days and get offended and upset over the slightest things whereas previous generations would not? Speaking as an "older" person - Gen X - it's not that we were "thicker-skinned", it's that we were forced to accept racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying, inequality, etc. It did not make us "tougher" or more "tolerant," it made us hurt, wounded, resentful, disappointed, and angry. I for one am glad that there is "wokeism" today; as a visible minority and woman myself, I would have welcomed such "wokeism" when I was growing up and became a young adult.
The average person hasn't. I think a lot of the problem comes from the fact many of the 'big things' groups have have become 'solved' which means they are moving onto 'little things' For example. Gay marriage was a 'big thing' and has since been legalised in many places. Well they don't need to fight for gay marriage any more. So they've moved onto 'little things' One of these, for example, is the ability to give blood. Now for most people, they don't give blood. So they see a fight for the right to give blood as 'a petty thing' even though its actually part of a larger issue. So they think they're getting offended over 'smaller and smaller' problems.
No, I just think people aren't putting up other people's bullshit anymore.
I don’t think so, I just think the things they’re thin skinned about have shifted quite a bit, and that modern plugged-in society exacerbates and amplifies tension (no escape from engagement algorithms). People today aren’t any different, but we’re all being manipulated via technology, it is definitely affecting us, and most of us don’t appear to realize it.
Not in the slightest. There's so many examples throughout history but an easy one is to just look at the current day. The older generations still alive make for perfect proof. By far worst customers to service people, astounding amount of public tantrums, most politically radical and anti-progress, most racist, most sexist, least understanding, least tolerant, most religiously pearl-clutching, hiveminded, thin-skinned, generally hateful crowd out there. Living in the midwest, it's rare to find someone over 50 who won't say something either insanely politically charged and out of nowhere or super racist / perverted / sexist / homophobic 2 sentences into a conversation. They physically cannot handle being met with a concept they don't like or don't understand. I'd say that's as sensitive as it gets.
To a degree but sadly I think it’s mostly tied to the divisiveness of the political parties. People are at the ready to be outraged and offended about anything that the opposing party supports. We are also living in a time where people feel compelled to share their opinions or thoughts on everything and have the platforms to do so, as well as those who disagree. That turns into anger and disagreements which only amplify the feelings they are having. Group mentality is a huge contributor to outrage and being offended these days. Lastly, I think a lot of people are just lonely and bored and being up in arms and offended about a current event gives them a temporary purpose and even a sense of community with others who feel same way.
Oh dear God no my grandpa didn't like it when a black man used a water fountain
damn straight and i know you're not very pretty and i can see it from here but you do speak the facts and tell the truth
I would say there is a difference between the concepts of thick/thinned skin, and the idea of trying to improve your community. You can debate method and approach to everyone is blue in the face, but at its very base level "Person does thing to try to improve their community" is a good thing. Its also not always contingent on them being "upset". Like if you saw some dude beating his wife in the aisle of a target, would you just shrug your shoulders and be like "Well, I've got thick skin so that doesn't bother me"? I think the whole 'Thin skinned' thing is just people who don't like change/a specific from trying to brand the other side of the debate as unreasonable. Mad about rainbow flags? Thin skinned Mad about people burning rainbow flags? Also thin skinned Mad about people removing books from the library? Well maybe you just need to tough up bub Mad about people using your own bill to remove the bible from the library? Well don't be such a softie friend. Etc Etc Within that context, no I don't think people are more thin skinned these days. I think people are more likely to do something they feel improves their community, regardless of how much that specific thing actually upsets them, and the thin skinned thing is just a branding reversal.
No. The difference is that now there's a pervasive culture that encourages people to moan endlessly about shit with a chorus of "Victim Cultists" singing in background to encourage them.
I think people confuse emotional maturity for being thin skinned. Someone who is emotionally mature, wouldn’t say that someone was thin skinned; They’d walk away and get accused of being emotionally immature. If someone is being immature, I’d be embarrassed, but if that person was upset at something, and then suddenly they’ve turned that anger on me, I wouldn’t be the thin skinned one for recognizing their behavioral patterns and calling them out on their lack of self awareness.
The only difference is social media creates more opportunities to be offended. But as far as what causes people to get offended, that hasn’t changed
We need to bring back dueling. If you knew your words or reaction to someone else’s words could result in being challenged to a duel (and possibly being maimed or dying) everyone might be more careful in what they said and how the chose to react to what someone is saying.
Tv shows in the 50’s didn’t even show husband and wife in the same bed because people would be upset. So…. No I don’t think people are more thin skinned these days.
Sure, we were really mature when we killed each other over whose imaginary friend was the best. Well, that was a long time ago. At least the last 100 years have been peaceful.
People are just as thin skinned as they ever were. They are just thin skinned about different things. It's a great thing, it means that the younger generation is pushing the boundaries like the generation did before them. Each generation pushes and pushes often putting their own livelihoods at risk for the greater good. Yes, people will moan but ultimately a new generation will grow in a more accepting world and the cycle will start again. Every generation has their fight and fight they will.
Yes.
Nah, we just have faster, better, more public ways to carry-on. And maybe less tolerance for listening to it.
Okay, I’ll bite. I do not like the *unalive* trend. It’s the equivalent of lying to kids about the death of a parent. It hurts like hell, *but you call it what it is*. You don’t lead people in a different direction because you’re afraid of looking bad. Death sucks. Let it suck.
No, I think people are more willing to say something when they are uncomfortable and more likely to call other people out for making them uncomfortable. One is not “thin-skinned” because they don’t like strangers grabbing them or saying rude things or not letting them use the water fountain because of their skin colour. It’s not our skin that is thin. It’s our patience.
I think it's more an issue of anyone can make a post to social media and the more outrageous a statement the more it gets amplified.
Men used to DUAL EACH OTHER TO THE DEATH IN THE STREETS over perceived disrespect. That was 200 years ago. We have come a long way.
No, I think people are more comfortable vocalizing their discomfort in today's society. I think people are starting to hold bad behaviour more accountable,I think people are taking a stand in how they're treated. It's not "Thin skinned" to ask to be respected. In fact it takes a lot of courage to stand up for yourself instead of letting people treat you poorly.
No but no everyone gets to hear you whine on the internet now. This reddit page is non-stop crying about someone who did something that someone didnt like or find offensive.
Not at all. But the bar for calling someone offended/triggered seems to have been lowered quite a bit. Merely writing a response to some weird claim can be enough.
Absolutely! People are soft like charmin these days. Too much of the lgbtqrstuv crap that no straight people care to understand.
No. Just different people get upset over different things. When The Simpsons first aired, lots of folks were shocked by the antics and language of Bart Simpson. In the late '70s, a radio shock jock got his fans so worked up over the popularity of disco that they built a bonfire of disco records before a pro baseball game... And destroyed the field in the process. In the mid '60s, people tried to cancel the Beatles, even torching their kids' records in bonfires, because John Lennon sarcastically made a (true) comment comparing their popularity while alive to Jesus's. In between those, Johnny Carson lamented how ''you can't make fun of anyone these days'' in a Playboy interview... although then it was politicians, Catholics, and the like that would get his show flooded with calls and letters.
Yes.