I've been studying the actions of modern-day Feminists (because when you want to study controversial topics, I'm stupid enough to throw myself into the deep end) like Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn, Laci Green, Bell Hooks, etc. I've been looking at Social Justice Warriors, Religious outbreaks, the presidential debate, and a wide variety of controversial focuses covered in each. I've also been studying the people who challenge these people and groups directly, and it got me thinking:

Have people lost their nerve in the last few decades?

Why do people CARE about if someone's nice or mean? Who CARES about if something OFFENDS you or not?

In the Debate section of EVEN THIS FORUM, there's a thread about someone who might get offended they were called the wrong GENDER. Who cares?

College Safe Spaces, Rally Rioters, $500 fines for insulting someone on Facebook, a week's jail time for telling someone they can't possibly have PTSD from a Twitter post (and they're right), etc!

Why has America gone so soft?! It's an embarrassment!

This is so true, not just in America but here in Sweden too!

There is literally no serious debate at all in today's media. I have a really good example of this:

The European migrant crisis.

Sweden is one of the countries in Europe that has let most migrants come here. I wouldn't have a problem with this at all if it wasn't for the crappy polluted debate that has been going on here about this. When the migrant crisis started getting serious last year, it was on the news everyday. We saw our politicians saying how everyone was welcome and that Swedish borders would always stay open for those in need.
At the time all the media consistently agreed with our politicians and no one, I repeat;

No one questioned this at all.

Late 2015 we had almost 2000 refugees come here everyday and suddenly the debate did a 180. We got border controls and suddenly no one without an ID was allowed to come here. The media started questioning things like was it really a good idea to let so many people come here, or how will it affect Swedish economy.And today all political parties are discussing how we should make less refugees come here (not that bluntly, but that's what they're trying to do). 

And this is what I hate about this. Everyone was so afraid of appearing racist so no one dared to question things. Many serious journalists apparently got censored during that time as well just because of this. I'm not trying to point any fingers or attacking refugees, but I just think that the debate should be FAIR. This just doesn't seem like a democracy anymore, whenever I watch the news the media just isn't honest.

We're so scared of offending people or seem racist or something that we just don't speak our minds anymore!

Zeldisaster : I completely agree america really needs to get its backbone again no doubt probobly the worst generation,and the crap that anita pulled,she tried saying fallout shelter was sexist because you could impregnate woman to keep the human population alive and that right there is rediculess saying a basic human function is sexist just rediculess I believe these girls are reffered to as 3rd wave feminists.

Offending people is bad, and you should probably apologize. However..

People who are easily offended shouldn't be treated normally. If they get upset over stupid bulls***, it's their problem.

If you misspoke to a friend and offended them in a way, the right thing to do is to say sorry, because you'd probably want the same thing if you were on the other end.

tl;dr offending people shouldn't be considered OK unless it's their fault for getting offended in the first place. if you said something that was intended to be offensive (e.g your mom smells like a bag of onions) then you should probably say sorry but if you had no ill intent then it's no big deal


tl;dr tl;dr yes america is oversensitive and soemtimes offending people does matter but not if it involves crybabies

I agree with you, my generation has gotten soft and I mean really soft. The only reason I'm not one of them is because I grew up in a house with extremely strict parents, thus I learned to see from their point of view. I am pretty embaressed to have been born in this time since I'm part of a bunch of easily offended people even if I'm the exact opposite of that.

18mlivingston :
As I see the situation, it boils down to these two things: on the one hand one has a duty to be respectful, on the other hand no one has the right not to be offended.



I believe this to be connected to the lack of critical thinking skills and devaluing of critical thinking.


When critical thinking is lacking expression becomes less clear as does interpretation.
This means that one could say something rude without meaning to.
Also, when one hears something one doesn't like it can be difficult to uncover what it is that one doesn't like rather than just perceiving it as a personal attack. 

Because of love. People have feelings, and while people shouldn't generally (if ever) become offended by things, many people do take offense to things. It's a challenge, sure, but if you can persuade someone to join the Jedi instead of pushing them to the Dark Side, then it's worth it. There are, however; times that offense must be given to serve a greater cause. I support the activity of many "trolls". They can bring attention to hate speech, and cause the haters to reveal themselves to be fools. I believe certain of such activities will offend many people, but will push the world into a more keen, light-hearted direction.

The worst thing about this is people wanna get you fired and ruin your life if your opinion offends someone or if something you say can be remotely offensive. America has become a country of entitled sissies.

I'm with you 100% Zeldisaster. If it's not a direct threat (physical, financial, etc.) then it shouldn't matter what anybody says. Saying "I'm going to hurt you / people" is one thing, but otherwise, why give a crap what someone says or thinks. If you're not secure enough to be able to hear and see things you don't like or disagree with, that's you're own problem. The vast variety of the masses will never see eye to eye on every issue and we're crippling people's ability to cope by forcing things to be "politically correct."

Honestly this is a subject that doesn't have a clear answer, it depends on the scenario and the people involved.

As we all known humans flock together like sheep when it comes to issues... so most of the time people fight for stuff that isn't actually their own opinion to begin with. It's usually down to social pressure. 

But before i rant on let me just state something. 

THE WORLD IS NOT A FAIR PLACE, NOBODY IS BORN EQUAL, YOUR FIGHTING AN ENDLESS BATTLE. 

A prime example is a lot of people hating on Bernie Sanders who is trying to make things a bit fairer (i think.. i don't follow american politics fully) 

TO put it in one sentence

HUMANS COMPLAIN ABOUT EQUALITY WHEN IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY GET AN ADVANTAGE. 

it's almost like a weird version of survival of the fittest... except instead of fighting, people just moan/

Saying something awful isn't ever okay. But I do believe that people are severely oversensitive nowadays.

When you say something offensive, you better make sure to apologize to who you offend. Although it's okay to be mean to certain people because it is politically correct. And what is considered "offensive" nowadays can be a bit ridiculous.

It is also getting insane. Places can throw you in jail for saying "I disagree with you" over the internet. You can also OFFICIALLY be banned from Twitter for saying you disagree with someone. There are college "safespaces" that are just where anything other than the popular opinion is prohibited. It is insane. There is a legitimate offense, and then there is...The crap that is happening now.

I agree.People get way too touchy over the dumbest things.And practically anything you say can be insulting.

For instance, I was talking to my brother the other day about how people take anything and everything as deliberately offensive.I spilled hot coffee on myself a few days ago, and, while it wasn't pleasant, it dosen't mean I'm going to say that no one can joke about someone spilling coffee on themselves, talk about an actual person spilling coffee on themselves, or even talk to me about it just because, it happened to me.

It's gotten to the point where you can't even say your opinion about something without about a dozen people saying your wrong because your opinion offends them.As if just because they disagree with you and decided that they wont tolerate anyone else's opinion that means you can't have your own.

Where did it all go wrong?

I agree that people are very thin skinned these days. I blame feminists for creating soft males and screwing everything up. I blame idiots for not reading or understanding something before they do something or hurt themselves. I blame minorities (now hold on,before you get the noose ready for me) that abuse the system and use their "status" as protected citizens to cause mayhem and to demand they be treated better than anyone else.

It might have gone wrong with the large absence of 2 parent families. Back then people actually raised their kids and taught them things,chief among them is how to care for themselves. I think SJW and PC morons further eroded whatever was left and made it so we must accept diversity through conformity. Like that freak Caitlyn Jenner. They made such a big deal how "it" was brave to be a freak of nature. I say it,because it is confused to what it is supposed to be. Now,being around those Kardashin freaks can screw anyone up,but how is being a freak brave? And it killed someone in a car accident,no one is raising an outrage for the victim.

I do not want to be told to be happy or accept someone for being a freak or oversensitive. Everyone is different,everyone has their own thoughts,there is no cookie cutter mold for life,people. Now I am not saying go out and be a d-bag to whomever you want. Someone may not like it and express themselves in good old fashioned violence to show their disapproval.

This applies in basically every first world country and more not just America.

Thanks to media shaming and SJW's you can't so much as say mailman without discriminating and excluding women from an occupation.

I've taken to a habit of dialing down my filter and not caring. Granted this has landed me in A LOT of trouble. If I tell anyone that Caitlin Jenner is not a good person they tend to act like I just told them homosexuality is wrong.

Changing this is futile. Maybe it's pessimistic but I say all we can do is learn to live with it. You want to make fun of people who get overly offended, well that's what /r/tumblrinaction is for.

Because human beings, despite not agreeing with everything, are curious towards the opinions of others, and will criticize arguments they find illogical and defend what they believe in. It's human nature to want to win; which is why we try to "win" arguments. We just like admitting intellectual superiority and being "right" in any given debate or argument. Thanks for listening, ladies and gentlemen.