Oh for the love....

It's funny sometimes the things that remind me about the origins of our country and how conservative we are as a culture.

You always hear about the freedoms we have in our country and freedom of this and freedom of that. I can't tell you (and I'm sure you can't either) the number of times I've heard the phrase "This country was founded on freedom!" and we talk about how our troops die for freedom and we need to fight to preserve our freedoms, etc. Every so often something happens that makes me chuckle about our freedoms. Yes, this country was founded and grew on people who came here for freedom of religion. But what people often forget is that the people who were coming here for freedom of religion wanted a more conservative church and government than the good old Church of England was providing. Remember the Puritans?

Whether it is a direct result of the initial religious background here in America (specifically New England) or not, what has developed over the last 200+ years has been a country that many Europeans consider very, very prudish. Now, I love our country and personally wouldn't be comfortable with the stream of sex being thrown in people's faces in some parts of Europe (if you want to see some risque European commercials, just fish through YouTube sometime). But for a country that's so proud of their freedoms and how "free" they are, every so often something pops up that reminds me that we are not quite as "free" as some people like to think we are. We used to discuss this in my French classes in college and in high school because every so often we would watch a movie that the teacher/professor would need to warn us about sexual content. This would inevitably spark a conversation about how conservative we are here in America versus in Europe.


I was listening to the radio on the way into work this morning, and the DJ was talking about how the double-decker buses in London have put new advertising on the side panels in support of breast cancer. The signs read "For the Love of Boobs". The other DJ said, "Now, if that was done here a lot of people would consider that crass." Which is SUCH a true statement! I personally find that kind of a billboard very funny and a great way to relate to the layperson (think about it, more people on a day to day basis use the word "boobs" rather than "breasts") but I completely agree that if such a sign popped up here loads of people would be up in arms about it. You can't say "BOOBS" in a serious manner of advertising! *Shock, awe, disbelief*

It's just funny, is all. Because I'm sure all of the people who are offended to see the word "boobs" in print clearly NEVER did the 80085 calculator trick in middle school. I think there are tasteful ways to do things, like attract more people to be healthy with their breasts, without crossing moral boundaries. Good work, British Bus people! May more people be healthy with their breasts because of your advertisements. As someone who had a lump scare last year ('twas nothing, as it turned out) and who has known people with breast cancer - bravo to any efforts to get women to be healthy.

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Current Music: The Cure, "Love Song"