What's still taboo?

Not as far as SJ is concerned, but for society at large?

I'll give you an example. When I was in high school, even into my college years, masturbation was a subject no one brought up ... ever. The mere idea of public discussion, jokes, or anything about masturbation was verboten. If some wisenheimer told a jerk-off joke, unless it was a real close friend, it could be grounds for getting pissed. Or at the very least, it made someone look at you or the person telling the joke funny.

Now? Masturbation is as a part of the fabric of our culture as, I dunno, Law & Order or something. I told a masturbation-related joke at work the other day among co-workers I knew would be cool with it, and no one batted an eye.

I'm not criticizing this, mind you, I'm glad masturbation isn't taboo. I ask this question not from a nostalgic place, but out of curiosity.

So what's still construed as off-limits? And I don't mean stuff like making fun of 9/11 or something like that, that's just in poor taste. I mean something that makes everyone uncomfortable at its mere mention.

Is it public discussion of menstruation? Boogers? Bodily smells? I'd like to know what SJ thinks.

 

That's not funny.

 

My friends and I talked openly about jerking off in HS, albeit when we were upperclassmen.

One day it just seemed silly to pretend like we weren't all doing it, I guess.

 

No ATM reference? You're slipping, my brother. I can tell it's a rough night at work for you.

 

Four posts in and this is already going to be the greatest fun with quote function thread ever.

 

Hetero anal sex?

Something tells me a storyline on anal wouldn't make it past the standards and practices folks at NBC like the masturbation stuff did on Seinfeld. Even if there phrases like "backdoor" were substituted. I mean, can you imagine making a joke about anal with the wife or girlfriend around the office? I can't. But then, they did talk about it on Sex and The City, so I don't know.

 

The lighthearted joke I made about scat porn at my family reunion was met with stony silence.

 

Hey, nothing kills the water cooler buzz quite like these 11 words: "Yeah so I fucked my wife in the ass last night..."

 

Wotta buncha soreheads!

Probably, fucking the boss's hot 20-year-old daughter on his desk, video-recording the ATM part and posting the clip on the company website would be frowned upon, despite the general permissiveness of our times.

 

That just made me laugh...on several levels.

 

Also, I lost a few friends over the time I decided to see if masturbation really did kill kittens.