The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
The last two so called Taboos have been broken. Sex is on TV all the time (as long as you can find the channel…er, I mean you sometimes flick on to it), Death is being discussed on TV in a completely different light now as well. The breaking down of Taboos has become something of a shoulder shrugging moment, it seems.
There are no real Taboos left. Well, that’s not entirely true, there are elements of most Taboos left in society, but not anything that would cause as much of a stir as, say, Lolita did all those years ago. Why? Well, perhaps it’s that we live in a far more permissive society than we used to, or perhaps we are all just turning in to voyeurs of sex and gruesome death.
Of course, before these it was language and before that class, but whatever barrier you break, it can’t be fixed once you’ve pushed past the boundaries of what is ‘proper’. Why do we have these boundaries? Well, for one, they keep us safe from knowledge that we think may harm us. Other reasons are that society changes and the more we grow, the more we need to learn about everything.
Sex has probably been on most people’s lips at one point or another. Perhaps I should have rephrased that, but it is now more of a talking point than ever before. Orgasm, positions, teenage pregnancy, porn, paedophiles, they are all subjects which are discussed and even used to sell items in this day and age. Death, however, is still finding its feet in the world of the living and it’s this I want to concentrate on for now.
Death as a taboo has really puzzled me though. It’s something we all do sooner or later, but its also something we shy away from. Partly for religious reasons, the subject of death on a personal level has always be mumbled or whispered in dark corners. People know about death, but they don’t discuss it (unless you work as a coroner). It seems to be a subject that has gone backwards in our way of looking at it as well. In Victorian times, science thought nothing of dissecting a man or woman in front of a large auditorium of not only students but common people who paid a penny to see the ‘show’ and perhaps learn something. Now we have one man who does an autopsy on television and gets blasted by the media and almost put in prison. Granted, he perhaps set it up more as some sort of gruesome entertainment for the masses, but it does prove a point that we are still uncomfortable about what the human body means after it has died.
People put dead people in the ground, in expensive sealed cases. They then morn for them. This is all natural to us. Of course, morning is good for those that are left and I feel that a wake to remember their life is of equal importance, but it is only in the last century that people have been remembered after death in this way. My own grandfather passed away two weeks ago and I feel the loss for him, but strangely I couldn’t say goodbye at the funeral. It was only when I had a chance to sit in his house alone that I could say goodbye. It wasn’t the body that was important, but the image of the man, some may say that it was his spirit I felt in the house that day.
Still we can feel much remorse for those that die in countries like our own, but little for those that would be classed as our enemies. I do not share this emotion, like others I know, because any death for war, land or any other un-natural reason seems wrong. When one woman dies (Diana) many people feel saddened for someone they do not know, while the same people just flick the channel and think nothing of the thousands dead in lands far away, for people who they possibly knew just as well as that one woman. Death is a funny thing in a morbid way.
So, though the taboo has been lifted, perhaps we are only getting started on death and its varying forms. For something that happens every day, it seems strange that it is such a personal thing which we find hard to discuss.
There are no real Taboos left. Well, that’s not entirely true, there are elements of most Taboos left in society, but not anything that would cause as much of a stir as, say, Lolita did all those years ago. Why? Well, perhaps it’s that we live in a far more permissive society than we used to, or perhaps we are all just turning in to voyeurs of sex and gruesome death.
Of course, before these it was language and before that class, but whatever barrier you break, it can’t be fixed once you’ve pushed past the boundaries of what is ‘proper’. Why do we have these boundaries? Well, for one, they keep us safe from knowledge that we think may harm us. Other reasons are that society changes and the more we grow, the more we need to learn about everything.
Sex has probably been on most people’s lips at one point or another. Perhaps I should have rephrased that, but it is now more of a talking point than ever before. Orgasm, positions, teenage pregnancy, porn, paedophiles, they are all subjects which are discussed and even used to sell items in this day and age. Death, however, is still finding its feet in the world of the living and it’s this I want to concentrate on for now.
Death as a taboo has really puzzled me though. It’s something we all do sooner or later, but its also something we shy away from. Partly for religious reasons, the subject of death on a personal level has always be mumbled or whispered in dark corners. People know about death, but they don’t discuss it (unless you work as a coroner). It seems to be a subject that has gone backwards in our way of looking at it as well. In Victorian times, science thought nothing of dissecting a man or woman in front of a large auditorium of not only students but common people who paid a penny to see the ‘show’ and perhaps learn something. Now we have one man who does an autopsy on television and gets blasted by the media and almost put in prison. Granted, he perhaps set it up more as some sort of gruesome entertainment for the masses, but it does prove a point that we are still uncomfortable about what the human body means after it has died.
People put dead people in the ground, in expensive sealed cases. They then morn for them. This is all natural to us. Of course, morning is good for those that are left and I feel that a wake to remember their life is of equal importance, but it is only in the last century that people have been remembered after death in this way. My own grandfather passed away two weeks ago and I feel the loss for him, but strangely I couldn’t say goodbye at the funeral. It was only when I had a chance to sit in his house alone that I could say goodbye. It wasn’t the body that was important, but the image of the man, some may say that it was his spirit I felt in the house that day.
Still we can feel much remorse for those that die in countries like our own, but little for those that would be classed as our enemies. I do not share this emotion, like others I know, because any death for war, land or any other un-natural reason seems wrong. When one woman dies (Diana) many people feel saddened for someone they do not know, while the same people just flick the channel and think nothing of the thousands dead in lands far away, for people who they possibly knew just as well as that one woman. Death is a funny thing in a morbid way.
So, though the taboo has been lifted, perhaps we are only getting started on death and its varying forms. For something that happens every day, it seems strange that it is such a personal thing which we find hard to discuss.
Homosexuality, even.
divinely said, darling
Homosexualism is the last taboo.
Ah, Mr Black Glove beat me to it - Religion is the reason for taboo. Stout tradition handed down and enforced by overbearing leaders of men and women. It's quite sad really that it's taken this long for taboos to be broken, but they wouldn't be taboo if they were never enforced!
Death is the obvious taboo to mention because it effects everyone at some point in their life. I'm pretty content with knowing that everyone I know now will be dead within 100-120 years. That's fine, it's what happens in nature. What should be discussed is what happens after. Not ghosts and stuff, but people's attitudes and respects to burials, bodies, etc. People are two things - a mind and a body. 2 people can have similar mindsets, but different body shapes. If you recognise someone because of the shape of their body, you might be more affected by seeing their corpse in a coffin, or in the street, or what-have-you. Someone you get to know, you'll miss them for conversations and laughter.
No-one knows what happens to your mind after you die. Are we just a series of nerves and tissue, or is there something more? Religion, again, likes to think it holds the answers, but it is just really the best reason to keep mourners happy. Except when someone goes to Hell. Some religions believe that we get born again in a new body, the slate wiped clean. This is near to what I believe in, but I'm certain there is a bit more to it. Empathy. The mind's ability to feel what others feel without saying a word. Might sound a bit cooky, but I really do think we have the ability to think as another person does and see through their eyes. Not in a stupid psychic way...even though that is the sort of ability I'm trying to explain. Maybe I shouldn't try and explain it until I know what I mean myself. I'm not a psychic. I can't even bend a spoon. But I do believe we have an ability, that's not used, to enter into another plane using just our minds.
Oh, and Ghostwatch came in the post today - Woohoo!
Death is the obvious taboo to mention because it effects everyone at some point in their life. I'm pretty content with knowing that everyone I know now will be dead within 100-120 years. That's fine, it's what happens in nature. What should be discussed is what happens after. Not ghosts and stuff, but people's attitudes and respects to burials, bodies, etc. People are two things - a mind and a body. 2 people can have similar mindsets, but different body shapes. If you recognise someone because of the shape of their body, you might be more affected by seeing their corpse in a coffin, or in the street, or what-have-you. Someone you get to know, you'll miss them for conversations and laughter.
No-one knows what happens to your mind after you die. Are we just a series of nerves and tissue, or is there something more? Religion, again, likes to think it holds the answers, but it is just really the best reason to keep mourners happy. Except when someone goes to Hell. Some religions believe that we get born again in a new body, the slate wiped clean. This is near to what I believe in, but I'm certain there is a bit more to it. Empathy. The mind's ability to feel what others feel without saying a word. Might sound a bit cooky, but I really do think we have the ability to think as another person does and see through their eyes. Not in a stupid psychic way...even though that is the sort of ability I'm trying to explain. Maybe I shouldn't try and explain it until I know what I mean myself. I'm not a psychic. I can't even bend a spoon. But I do believe we have an ability, that's not used, to enter into another plane using just our minds.
Oh, and Ghostwatch came in the post today - Woohoo!
I'm not sure that death is or ever has been a tabooed subject.
Over the centuries the thoughts and outlooks of people have been dominated by religions whose philosophies are built near totally around what happens after death.
Furthermore, how many men in world history have marched into war starring the stark reality of death in the face.
And things such as babies/mothers dying during childbirth have until quite recently been shockingly commonplace.
Surely we've always had no option but to face the reality of death and deal with it?
Maybe how we deal with death has the rags of taboo attached to it, in that many are 'uncomfortable' to talk openly and express emotions on personal experiences of death.
And maybe this is what you mean: that instead of looking death in the eye and accepting it's utter and complete finality, we instead always try to make it more bearable by diluting its impact with superstitious/religious beliefs [?].
Or maybe death has become a taboo only recently in this modern 'forever-young' society [?]
But it's early in the morning and I'm just thinking aloud, trying to respond to an excellent post....
Over the centuries the thoughts and outlooks of people have been dominated by religions whose philosophies are built near totally around what happens after death.
Furthermore, how many men in world history have marched into war starring the stark reality of death in the face.
And things such as babies/mothers dying during childbirth have until quite recently been shockingly commonplace.
Surely we've always had no option but to face the reality of death and deal with it?
Maybe how we deal with death has the rags of taboo attached to it, in that many are 'uncomfortable' to talk openly and express emotions on personal experiences of death.
And maybe this is what you mean: that instead of looking death in the eye and accepting it's utter and complete finality, we instead always try to make it more bearable by diluting its impact with superstitious/religious beliefs [?].
Or maybe death has become a taboo only recently in this modern 'forever-young' society [?]
But it's early in the morning and I'm just thinking aloud, trying to respond to an excellent post....
But even after that there were signs of an impending court case and the possibility of jail for the german doctor under some old rule that had been dragged out simply for that purpose.
People in power seem to be very edgy about death, it seems.
People in power seem to be very edgy about death, it seems.
It's very true what you said about us going backwards when it comes to death.
Good post, I especially enjoyed the first 4 paragraphs. ;-)
Seriously though, it is strange, death. It's such a hushed word, yet sooner or later (hopefully later) we all face it.
And I understand what you were saying about your grandfather, and about how you couldn't say goodbye. I'm sorry to hear about his death. But then bang, there it is, the thing you were saying where you mentioned Diana.
It was the same when my grandfather died a few months ago now.
Good post, I especially enjoyed the first 4 paragraphs. ;-)
Seriously though, it is strange, death. It's such a hushed word, yet sooner or later (hopefully later) we all face it.
And I understand what you were saying about your grandfather, and about how you couldn't say goodbye. I'm sorry to hear about his death. But then bang, there it is, the thing you were saying where you mentioned Diana.
It was the same when my grandfather died a few months ago now.
with regards to the disection...there was a huge furore whenthe disection thing first happened in london and it got stopped. It was only allowed to continue when the "dr" (and this was undersome debate) got a tramp to sign his body away for after he died that he was actually allowed to go ahead with it.
The last two so called Taboos have been broken. Sex is on TV all the time (as long as you can find the channel…er, I mean you sometimes flick on to it), Death is being discussed on TV in a completely different light now as well. The breaking down of Taboos has become something of a shoulder shrugging moment, it seems.
There are no real Taboos left. Well, that’s not entirely true, there are elements of most Taboos left in society, but not anything that would cause as much of a stir as, say, Lolita did all those years ago. Why? Well, perhaps it’s that we live in a far more permissive society than we used to, or perhaps we are all just turning in to voyeurs of sex and gruesome death.
Of course, before these it was language and before that class, but whatever barrier you break, it can’t be fixed once you’ve pushed past the boundaries of what is ‘proper’. Why do we have these boundaries? Well, for one, they keep us safe from knowledge that we think may harm us. Other reasons are that society changes and the more we grow, the more we need to learn about everything.
Sex has probably been on most people’s lips at one point or another. Perhaps I should have rephrased that, but it is now more of a talking point than ever before. Orgasm, positions, teenage pregnancy, porn, paedophiles, they are all subjects which are discussed and even used to sell items in this day and age. Death, however, is still finding its feet in the world of the living and it’s this I want to concentrate on for now.
Death as a taboo has really puzzled me though. It’s something we all do sooner or later, but its also something we shy away from. Partly for religious reasons, the subject of death on a personal level has always be mumbled or whispered in dark corners. People know about death, but they don’t discuss it (unless you work as a coroner). It seems to be a subject that has gone backwards in our way of looking at it as well. In Victorian times, science thought nothing of dissecting a man or woman in front of a large auditorium of not only students but common people who paid a penny to see the ‘show’ and perhaps learn something. Now we have one man who does an autopsy on television and gets blasted by the media and almost put in prison. Granted, he perhaps set it up more as some sort of gruesome entertainment for the masses, but it does prove a point that we are still uncomfortable about what the human body means after it has died.
People put dead people in the ground, in expensive sealed cases. They then morn for them. This is all natural to us. Of course, morning is good for those that are left and I feel that a wake to remember their life is of equal importance, but it is only in the last century that people have been remembered after death in this way. My own grandfather passed away two weeks ago and I feel the loss for him, but strangely I couldn’t say goodbye at the funeral. It was only when I had a chance to sit in his house alone that I could say goodbye. It wasn’t the body that was important, but the image of the man, some may say that it was his spirit I felt in the house that day.
Still we can feel much remorse for those that die in countries like our own, but little for those that would be classed as our enemies. I do not share this emotion, like others I know, because any death for war, land or any other un-natural reason seems wrong. When one woman dies (Diana) many people feel saddened for someone they do not know, while the same people just flick the channel and think nothing of the thousands dead in lands far away, for people who they possibly knew just as well as that one woman. Death is a funny thing in a morbid way.
So, though the taboo has been lifted, perhaps we are only getting started on death and its varying forms. For something that happens every day, it seems strange that it is such a personal thing which we find hard to discuss.
There are no real Taboos left. Well, that’s not entirely true, there are elements of most Taboos left in society, but not anything that would cause as much of a stir as, say, Lolita did all those years ago. Why? Well, perhaps it’s that we live in a far more permissive society than we used to, or perhaps we are all just turning in to voyeurs of sex and gruesome death.
Of course, before these it was language and before that class, but whatever barrier you break, it can’t be fixed once you’ve pushed past the boundaries of what is ‘proper’. Why do we have these boundaries? Well, for one, they keep us safe from knowledge that we think may harm us. Other reasons are that society changes and the more we grow, the more we need to learn about everything.
Sex has probably been on most people’s lips at one point or another. Perhaps I should have rephrased that, but it is now more of a talking point than ever before. Orgasm, positions, teenage pregnancy, porn, paedophiles, they are all subjects which are discussed and even used to sell items in this day and age. Death, however, is still finding its feet in the world of the living and it’s this I want to concentrate on for now.
Death as a taboo has really puzzled me though. It’s something we all do sooner or later, but its also something we shy away from. Partly for religious reasons, the subject of death on a personal level has always be mumbled or whispered in dark corners. People know about death, but they don’t discuss it (unless you work as a coroner). It seems to be a subject that has gone backwards in our way of looking at it as well. In Victorian times, science thought nothing of dissecting a man or woman in front of a large auditorium of not only students but common people who paid a penny to see the ‘show’ and perhaps learn something. Now we have one man who does an autopsy on television and gets blasted by the media and almost put in prison. Granted, he perhaps set it up more as some sort of gruesome entertainment for the masses, but it does prove a point that we are still uncomfortable about what the human body means after it has died.
People put dead people in the ground, in expensive sealed cases. They then morn for them. This is all natural to us. Of course, morning is good for those that are left and I feel that a wake to remember their life is of equal importance, but it is only in the last century that people have been remembered after death in this way. My own grandfather passed away two weeks ago and I feel the loss for him, but strangely I couldn’t say goodbye at the funeral. It was only when I had a chance to sit in his house alone that I could say goodbye. It wasn’t the body that was important, but the image of the man, some may say that it was his spirit I felt in the house that day.
Still we can feel much remorse for those that die in countries like our own, but little for those that would be classed as our enemies. I do not share this emotion, like others I know, because any death for war, land or any other un-natural reason seems wrong. When one woman dies (Diana) many people feel saddened for someone they do not know, while the same people just flick the channel and think nothing of the thousands dead in lands far away, for people who they possibly knew just as well as that one woman. Death is a funny thing in a morbid way.
So, though the taboo has been lifted, perhaps we are only getting started on death and its varying forms. For something that happens every day, it seems strange that it is such a personal thing which we find hard to discuss.
Freeola & GetDotted are rated 5 Stars
Check out some of our customer reviews below:
Thank you very much for your help!
Top service for free - excellent - thank you very much for your help.
Everybody thinks I am an IT genius...
Nothing but admiration. I have been complimented on the church site that I manage through you and everybody thinks I am an IT genius. Your support is unquestionably outstanding.
It appears you are using an old browser, as such, some parts of the Freeola and Getdotted site will not work as intended. Using the latest version of your browser, or another browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera will provide a better, safer browsing experience for you.