The dichotomy of violence in today's culture.

The dichotomy of violence in today's culture. 

Is the American pop culture more violent now than it was 50 years ago?  This question came to my mind I as watched a social media post of two high school aged girls fighting in a neighborhood park. Upon pondering that question, I came to the realization that our society is somewhat hypocritical in if you compare what we preach/teach and what we consume.  50 years ago corporal punishment was a common and socially accepted form of discipline/punishment most American households.  In contrast to that, the amount of violence actually shown in TV and movies was far less than what we see today.

Today gratuitous violence is the norm in television and movies. I'm sure that the producers of these programs argue that it is fueled by consumer demand.  The part that I find interesting though, is that we have zero tolerance policies in schools for violence.   It is no long socially acceptable to spank or use corporal punishment  with our children and there is  big movement to eradicate all bullying.  I'm not writing to make the point that the aforementioned should be embraced, but more so to shine some light on what seems to be a bit of a contradiction in American Pop culture.  We say we are anti-violence yet mixed martial arts fights are growing exponentially in popularity while it is a far more violent sport than boxing is. We have violent video games, we have social media post of violent acts that go viral.  This all begs the question in my opinion.  Are we "really" as anti-violence and we may claim to be. 

I would say we are a much more violent culture.  We have even begun to embrace female violence.  I'm not implying that women should not have the right fight professionally if they choose to do so.  Instead, I am pointing out the shift in our culture's appetite for violence as manifested by us now consuming a women's fight where that would have been such a taboo in the not so distant past.  All the while we are make stiffer laws and applying more social pressure against all types of violence, whether it be in schools, at home or anywhere else.  Bottom line is that we don't practice what we preach!