Ch...ch...changes

Do you think "the more things change, the more they remain the same?" How about "There's nothing new under the sun?"

Things are constantly changing. I was reminded of this as I caught a glimpse of a Cialis commercial while watching the golf tournament on TV. When I was a youngster, the raciest commercials were from Maidenform and the bras were either shown floating in the air or worn over cashmere sweaters. There were no condom commercials, no feminine products of a personal nature, and even bathing suit commercials were often done without live models. As a young boy, I was left with National Geographic magazines and Sears catalogs to satisfy my boyish curiosity. I won't mention my father's vast collection of what was once called "girlie magazines" which he did not hide very well.

Today, though, we have all kinds of personal hygiene products, revealing underwear, and sexual enhancement products being advertised on TV. It was shocking back in 1939 when Clark Gable said "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!" in Gone With The Wind. Now there is much stronger language used and even by young girls.

When I was a teen, we'd have sooner cut our own throats as uttered a profanity in front of a girl. Oh, mild expletives were tossed about freely, there was no problem with that. But the F-bomb? Not a chance in heck.

I sometimes miss those more innocent times. Society was much more polite. And smaller. Life was slower. You might be away from a phone for hours and hours at a time. You had maybe 3 TV channels unless you were in, or near, a major city. While we did lock our doors, it was only while we were out. Some say those were not all that innocent of times, that there was a a lot of ugly hidden under the surface. Maybe so. We were shocked to learned of an unwed pregnancy. They were quite rare in small towns, extremely rare. I suppose there were a few that we never heard of. Girls might be off "visiting an aunt" for most of a school year. Rumors would abound. But these were also rare. I can only recall one girl who disappeared that way in my teens. We all suspected but there was no proof, of course. And that was when I lived in south Florida, a more cosmopolitan area than my former home town of Farmingdale on Long Island.

Today, a lot of ugly is on the surface. People say it is better, that it should be exposed to the light of day. I don't agree. We get inured to it, we become tolerant toward it. Unwed mothers face no shame, thuggery is celebrated, life is cruder, and the ugly that is hidden is so much worse than what it once was.

I remember that the album "Blind Faith" had to have new cover art because the British version featured what appears to be an 11 or 12 year old topless girl. In more recent years, we have seen (or at least heard of) sex tapes featuring various celebrities. At first, these were titillating to the public and embarrassing to the celebrities. Now, they are de rigeuer and few seem to bat an eyelash about them. I should also mention something called "sexting."

So, with all that was bad about the 50's... and there was bad... I still wonder if we have improved or just progressed.