FRNCC - "Wardrobe Malfunction" by Robert Hahn

Free Republic Network ^ | 2-3-04 | Robert Hahn

[Bob J]

I don't believe the strong public reaction to Sunday's halftime show at the Super Bowl is about a bared breast. It's about people being scared. On some visceral level, we all suspect that we're just a bunch of clever savages who have somehow stumbled onto this marvelous system for living together in enormous communities in relative peace.

We're not sure how it works, but we know it has something to do with self-restraint. Many of the things we "don't do" in our society (like baring breasts in public) are quite arbitrary. But they help us get across to children the concept of there being things that "you just don't do" and they also serve as a kind of "Identification Friend or Foe" that is essential as we navigate our way among strangers in our enormous communities.

Someone who accepts the generally-recognized taboos is displaying evidence of having accepted the restraints that go along with, and even help produce, the benefits of living in a civilization. It happens, but the man in a coat and tie who suddenly pulls out a knife and stabs you is a rarity. These little restrictions we place on ourselves may seem stupid and silly, but as a device for communicating "I am capable of self-restraint and I know basic civilized behavior," they save us a lot of time.

Secretary Rumsfeld is almost hilarious in the way he uses 1950's language to swear. His is an extremely sophisticated act, and one thing it shows us is how many of the taboos that used to restrain people's behavior are gone now. When I was a child, adults of a certain social class did not say 'Damn' or 'Hell' in public. All of that is gone now. We've all seen corporate CEO's spew the f-word in meetings as if it's an everyday word, the way Rumsfeld says, "Oh, goodness gracious no."

When 'Hell' and 'damn' entered the everyday lexicon, the signs were still saying "Savagery 110 miles."

A lot of people saw what happened on TV Sunday -- and it wasn't just Janet and her boob -- as the sign that says "Pavement ends 500 feet."

Is that an over-reaction? I don't think it is. The signs that there is a fundamental "self-restraint" problem out there are all around us. The Super Bowl halftime show just happened to hit us over the head with it in a very symbolic way.

Keeping certain, totally arbitrary body parts covered is not being prudish, it is broadcasting to those around us "I am not a danger to you because I know how self-restraint works and I practice it." At one time, not making certain arbitrary mouth-noises was another of those signals. These public displays of self-restraint exist in civilizations because they are useful. When they are all gone, we will not know friend from foe. We will not know who can be trusted, and who can't be. Our civilization will be impossible to conduct.

[Lexington Green]

Deep thoughts, Bob

[borkrules]

Good post. Interesting take.

[Paradox]

Wow, not bad! Pretty much a distillation of the things I have felt and been mulling over the past few days. As a recovering Libertarian, I see value in some kinds of "prudishness"..

[blam]

Good article...says it for me.

[Austin Willard Wright]

Apparently, you were associating yourself with libertines during your "pre-recovery" period rather than libertarians. Plenty of libertarians, such as Charles Murray and many others, recognize the value of "prudishness" as a cultural trait.

[Paradox]

Apparently, you were associating yourself with libertines during your "pre-recovery" period rather than libertarians. Plenty of libertarians, such as Charles Murray and many others, recognize the value of "prudishness" as a cultural trait.

Thats true, I guess I heard to much from the libertine-arians while I was hanging with that crowd. I still consider myself a small-l libertarian though.

[Stirner]

I think that you're really onto something, that there are somewhat arbitrary behavioral signs that are used as markers of a certain sort of reliability or trustworthiness. But sometimes the signs are not that arbitrary (such as courtesy or willingness to help others, especially when the cost to self is minor). And sometimes the signs are non-arbitrary in a different way, such as showing you are one of us by restraining yourself from showing sympathy for out-group members in distress. We need these rough and ready stereotypes, and their general decay is a dangerous loss, but even when they work, they have their downsides.

[Austin Willard Wright]

BTW, some of the libertine folks I have ever encountered pretended on the surface to be super-prudes.

[sarasota]

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I'm forwarding it to my daughter and filing it as a written reminder.

[Joe Brower]

Hmmmm... !

[Humidston]

On a side note: I would personally rather hear a vile curse word than "G.D." or "J.C." used as foul language.

Those two names, used as epithets, are totally offensive and WAY crude to me.

[OXENinFLA]

The artical isn't about Rummy, but I think you'll get a laugh out this part.

Secretary Rumsfeld is almost hilarious in the way he uses 1950's language to swear. His is an extremely sophisticated act, and one thing it shows us is how many of the taboos that used to restrain people's behavior are gone now. When I was a child, adults of a certain social class did not say 'Damn' or 'Hell' in public. All of that is gone now. We've all seen corporate CEO's spew the f-word in meetings as if it's an everyday word, the way Rumsfeld says, "Oh, goodness gracious no."

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

Thank you for the explanation. I have met people that don't seem to understand this principle.

[In_25_words_or_less]

Oustanding. Pro level. I'm impressed.

[meenie]

The bare breast was probably less offensive to many than the gyrations leading up to it. After traveling in Europe, the prevalence of breast feeding there has eased my concern over the sights of breasts. The gyrations would offend many over there.

[Malesherbes]

Since Christmas and Thanksgiving are now considered offensive, the Superbowl has become our national religious event, held appropriately on Sunday. Lesbian kissing on an awards show is okay, but a bare breast at the Superbowl is a sacrilege.

[Remole]

Very nice work. The ancient Romans had a word for it: "Pudor." It refered to that invisible shell or external skeleton that we put around ourselves such that we maintained some degree of self-restraint so that (speaking positively here) we would more naturally carry out our duties to God, family and Rome. There is a famous scene in Virgil's Aeneid (book 4) when Anna works to convice her sister Queen Dido to set aside her vows to never marry again and to, hey, take a flyer with that new hunk in town, Aeneas. Virgil said that Anna's words fired Dido's mind and "solvitque pudorem," that is, worked to dissolve away that shell of self-imposed self-restraint. As one could predict, Aeneas and Dido do not, shall we say, live happily ever after.

[Jaded]

Good post.

[MassExodus]

Excellent post Bob.

Intelligence and moral direction of Alan Keyes yet without the noise.