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...when someone previously explained his attitude with that idea (I was quoting them). I thought as you did that the 12-year-old boys I know would react quite differently. But then I thought about it and realized that Japanese society remains a bit more conventional and hidebound than ours in North America. For better and worse.
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Thank you for the reply. At least I can always count on your intelligent response.
But it does seem that, in general, we are presented with only two polar opposites for teenage Japanese boys. On the one hand, we have those who act like idiot boy, and cower in fear and blush to high heaven at seeing a female naked. Then we have the other side of the rainbow, the boys who peek at the onsen, grab boobs, and act completely lecherous towards females. Are either of these really the norm of the average, everyday Japanese teenage boy?
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As for the thing about people in the past being less kind, I say it not just because I believe it, but because it is so counter-intuitive. My moment of realization came when I watched a Marx Brothers and a WC Fields film back to back. The humour was quite cruel. And people 50-100 years ago certainly had stricter demands for conventional behaviour and less tolerance of outsiders of any kind. In 18th century England, executions were popular public entertainment. And in the time of Christ, people though mass crucifixions were a good idea, and slavery perfectly normal. That slavery thing kept going until 150 years ago.
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Oh, humor is still quite cruel. Ever watch
SpongeBob SquarePants? Although I don't watch it myself, I have been an ardent fan of
The Three Stooges for a very long time, and they leave the Marx Brothers and WC Fields way behind when it comes to cruel and unusual
slapstick comedy. After all, as you have said yourself before in one of these animesuki forums (I forget which one, and I'm paraphrasing because I'm too lazy to go look up the actual quote), "But it's just comedy." These shows are not a reflection of what people
actually do in their day-to-day lives. Maybe what they'd
like to do to certain people. I've never taken a hammer and a nail and driven it into someone's skull, though
thinking about doing it to a certain individual might put a smile on my face.
But, it's true that people seemed to have had stricter demands for conventional behavior in bygone days. My mother did when it came to raising her kids, but I was a little less so. But, oddly enough one of my daughters is a very loose and liberal parent, whereas the other is even more strict than I was.
Oh, and that slavery thing, it still goes on, though not on the grand scale as the African slave trade. But prostitution rings and guerrilla forces are prone to rely on "free labor."
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People may have been more polite in the past, but not necessarily kinder. Courtesy may be a form of self-defence in a society where everyone is actually afraid of each other (e.g., the origin of shaking hands as showing you held no weapon). I've always thought abject fear of lords and samurai was the origin of Japanese high courtesy and social discipline.
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You might just be right in some respects. But, meeting someone for the first time who happens to be courteous to you, regardless of the reason, is a far more pleasant experience than someone who is hostile and rude.