February 22, 2009
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Prudish Old Mrs. Grundy
A dictionary tells me that Mrs. Grundy is, “conventional prudery,” which is excessive or priggish attention to propriety or decorum. Wikipedia says she is a character in Speed the Plough, a late-eighteenth century play by Thomas Morton, but I don’t know why anyone would make such a claim. Mrs. Grundy never appears in the play. I would say she is a person referred to by the characters.I will never be mistaken for Mrs. Grundy. She is always focused on what’s wrong. If you know me, you may recall that when I first logged into Xanga almost seven years ago, I was on a quest to transcend dualistic judgment. I am pleased to report that I have made some progress. I now seldom ever think in terms of right versus wrong or good versus evil. What I have done is to acknowledge the relativity of this finite observable universe, and to fine tune my observations of it.
I may never totally transcend judgment in this lifetime. Currently, I must admit that I derive some satisfaction from my lack of tolerance for intolerant people. I occasionally have fun censuring the censorious among us. So sue me. If it is bad to take pleasure in my imperfections, then I’m an evil bitch, but you said it, I didn’t. Bitch or bad or whatever, one thing I am not is a prude.
I reflexively want to boo and hiss or bite and scratch when some fool says that something is, “of course, offensive.” That is bullshit. First of all, it is equally spiritually unevolved to take offense as deliberately to give it. Furthermore, nothing is intrinsically offensive. Nothing has the power to offend us unless we take offense upon ourselves by choice. Most of us choose to be offended by things our culture has taught us are offensive. Some of us choose to think for ourselves.
Mrs. Grundy is fearful, twisted and as repugnant to me as nature is to her. She is unable to see the beauty in nature, and particularly in human nature. She and others who think like her devised a definition of nature that excluded humanity, thus setting in motion some processes whereby mankind has damned near made its own home planet uninhabitable. Mrs. Grundy is just plain scary because through her twisted vision and oppressive mission she has perverted her children.
Mrs. Grundy doesn’t see the beauty in a naked human form, and she is appalled by the sex act through which pairs of humans and all mammals bond with each other and perpetuate the species. Thank God we are hard-wired to procreate, and blame Grundy for the perversions her oppression has produced.
Oh, shit. That’s enough for now. I have said this, and more, before. If you haven’t gotten enough of this rant yet or, especially, if it offends you, read on:
How Sex Got So Perverted
Curing Cultural Corruption
How important is sex?
Honesty, Honor and Truth
Censorship
Vulgarity, Profanity, Cursing and Swearing
Romance
Some of the posts linked above contain more links. Following some of those links could be an eye-opening experience for Mrs. Grundy, but if there is one thing Mrs. Grundy wants, it is to keep her blinders on.
Comments (15)
I think Mrs. Grundy is BEAUTIFUL and I can’t help it if I think normal sex is perverse and the naked male body is gross. I like my porn like I like my coffee- all girl.
On the other hand I think it’s okay to get offended about things, so long as you think through logically why you are offended; I mean yeah, if someone raped me, I would probably be pretty offended right there… and then afterwards if someone made a joke about me getting raped, I would probably be again be offended… and not feel bad about it.
@ScarletMoth - Censorship kills. Live a while, learn a little, then get back to me on this issue. Reality is more complex, layered, and nuanced than you have been led to believe.
Oh I don’t know. I just live it one day at a time and consider every day an adventure. I am definately not a Mrs. Grundy either. There is definately nothing prim and proper about me and probably never will be. I am 60 and to old to change so instead I just accept me as me, and get on with it.
@stixandstonz - What is it you “don’t know” about? I’m at a loss to discern whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing, or just drive-by dropping comment.
@SuSu - I feel like any version of “grow up” tends to be a cop out in arguments…
even if reality is layered; does that mean in 10 years I’ll find rape unoffensive? I’m thinking no…
@ScarletMoth - Maybe ten years won’t be enough for you, and maybe you’ll never get there. I have been raped and tortured. Have you? I was offended at the time, but I was quite immature and unevolved back then. I transcended it and I no longer take offense. This does not mean that I let people walk all over me without making an appropriate response. I don’t consider being offended helpful or appropriate in any circumstances.
So you don’t like being told to grow up. Only an immature person would have such a problem. Will it be any more acceptable if I offer you an alternative? Grow up or get out of my face. Go be obtuse, immature, judgmental and imprecise on your own turf.
Mrs. Grundy *is* beautiful.
She just hasn’t realized it yet.
When she does, she’ll be quite powerful indeed.
@HomerTheBrave - Everything is beautiful. That is what Mrs. Grundy doesn’t realize.
Transcending dualistic…something that hasn’t been put in front of me in a long time, and something which I have forgotten. “…but thinking makes it so.” I dont’ usually get offended. Sometimes I feel intimidated when people are gossip-bullying another person where I am working. As if they will find out that I think they are being cruel and they will turn their cruelty on me as a result. Does that make sense? People say and do things because that is what they do based on who they think they are and the experiences they think are reality. It takes a special person to remember that and be a Buddha. I certainly get caught up in the warp and woof of life and forget my noself. Especially when a guy is involved. Agghhh.
Well. I’m no Grundy, for certain. I’m not easily offended and certainly have no problem with the naked human form. I rather enjoy that, actually.
I just find it odd that so many people only want to see two colors in the world, when it’s such a colorful place.
@SuSu - @SuSu - Sorry I was agreeing but didn’t say it right.
@butshebites - Guys were my downfall in that way for ever so long, and now my two guys are my joy and my upliftment. Does cowering when predators are feeding nearby make sense? Sounds like survival instinct to me.
@stixandstonz - Thanks for clearing that up.
@warweasel - Odd, indeed, but understandable in a bipedal and bisexual species with bilateral symmetry, evolved on a planet that rotates in relation to its light source so that it has darkness alternating with light… and a satellite with the same apparent size as its primary, on top of all that. Duality is everywhere we look, until we look deeper.
I have tried pretty hard to be honest with my kids concerning nudity and sex; at ages 5 and 9, they know exactly where babies come from. They know what a woman’s period is, and why she has it. On occassion, we like to watch Youtube videos of animals and people giving birth (because I think it’s beautiful, and my daughter agrees; however my son is at that stage where girls are “gross”—meaning he’s beginning to like them—, and so he isn’t so keen on it, lol). Mrs. Grundy, the idea of her, is repulsive to me, as well. However I know have some proper-ness and etiquette hang-ups somewhere along the line that I need to work on; in fact I am beginning to overcome one of them (concerning my house and familial opinions towards it/what a “proper” house should look like). I’ve come a long way with that one, I think.
As always, interesting blog.
@SuSu - right… anyhow… I think you’re confusing two separate issues here. Censorship and being offended are not synonymous. Just because I’m offended by what someone says, doesn’t necessarily mean I think they shouldn’t be allowed to say it.
I don’t have a problem being told to grow up, I just realize it tends to be the answer people give when they don’t have anything better way to say than “I’m smarter than you, nyaaaa.”
@ScarletMoth - You are mistaken in thinking that I am confusing censorship with taking offense. It is possible to hold more than one thought in one’s mind at a time, and to hold a single thought through several exchanges in a conversation. You would censor child pornography, would you not? Everything you have said here suggests that.
Please read your last paragraph above. Proofread it. Does it look right to you? Are you aware that you can edit your comments for fifteen minutes after you post them? Have you ever considered reading what you write, PROOFreading it?
I don’t need oblique ways to say I am smarter than anyone. All I need to do is talk about intelligence test scores, High-IQ organization membership and shit like that. Smarts wasn’t the issue, anyway. I asked you to go live a while and learn a bit because you are not thinking about what you are writing about. You react from your emotions, and your emotions are programmed by dogma and fairy tales. I enjoy discussing differences of opinion with people who think for themselves, but not with those who don’t think clearly or write coherently.
How many times do you need to be told to go away and stop spewing your words at me? You are behaving like a troll. If I wanted to deal with trolls, I’d be on some popular forum, not blogging.