If comments or questions on a given subject are offensive to the reader or observer of actions or occurrences that actually happens in the community or society and is not made up, what does that say about society?

It says nothing about society. It says tons about the person who brings up an obnoxious, perky, creepy, debased issue or subject.

Just because something is occurring does not make it fully worthy of discussion. It is not denial; denial is saying it is not occurring. But discussion in a manner of accepting as just something that is happening is a form of condoning and encouraging otherwise taboo behavior.

An example: discussion of sex with underage kids is repulsive on this site, because even though it occurs, it is repulsive behavior. And such discussion is shunned by most people.

@zenvelo Just because something is occurring does not make it fully worthy of discussion.
There are many things that do and don’t really happen, because they are not real, that are spoken of when the breath used to mentione them would be better spent in a loud burp, but they are mentioned.

It says nothing about society.
So if men went around using unflattering terms to describe women it would have no connection to how that society functions or conducts themself? I would certainly like to see how what a society talks about, or doesn’t have no bearing on that society at all.

An example: discussion of sex with underage kids is repulsive on this site, because even though it occurs, it is repulsive behavior. And such discussion is shunned by most people.
The BLANK could be anything, but we will go with what you decided to bring up. To many it is a subject and occurrence that is most stomach churning. The operative thing you said to me was ”this site”. Imagine if other subjects people found hard to deal with such as women’s suffrage, prostitution, the Holocaust, Jim Crow laws, slavery etc. no one ever mentioned for fear of offending someone. To say, “yeah, it happens, but don’t , mention it”, if it is not denial it must be a choice to stay blissfully ignorant. If it were thought of to be rude, disrespectful, and the likes to even question the police or the authorities misdoings by them would never come to light because no one spoke of it. It would still have some leaning to the culture and society where it lay. For someone to merely, mention there is discrimination against Hispanic in such and such area, etc. is just a person pointing out what is there, because it is there.

It says more about the person reacting in that manner than the one who brought it up in the first place. People are free to bring up any subject they feel like since that is one example of freedom of speech in action.’

However, those who respond have full control over how they respond. I contend that how a person responds to a discussion of an icky subject reflects more about their own level of maturity and (perhaps) emotional stability than the subject itself. It can also be a reflection of how varied the respondent’s life experiences have been.

Likewise the “oh, we mustn’t mention that for fear of offending someone” mantra is overused and, in my opinion, way overused. When people take offense whenever blank is mentioned, that is their choice and their choice alone.

Now, ehat does that say about society in general? Nothing.

@sahID However, those who respond have full control over how they respond.
True, but to some that is a selection made with a very narrow brush, and only the stroke they like. Since it was brought up as this site, how one reacts or decides to view something is not so much freedom of speech but something else, of which I do not even know what to call it.

I contend that how a person responds to a discussion of an icky subject reflects more about their own level of maturity and (perhaps) emotional stability than the subject itself.
I had to lurve that. However, there have been many subjects no one wanted to speak of and then somehow it hit the media and people started acknowledging that it actually does happen, then dialogue was possible about what can or could be done. Hedda Nussbaum was way before Nichole Brown Simpson as the face of domestic abuse but kind of want dormant over the years. She and Nichole were far from the only ones. If it was known someone was beating his wife, to know it was going on but no one wanted to mention it even among them much less their coworker doing it, how would anyone less they try to be a one-man activist, formulate any plan to deal with it? If it was so disgusting that men beat women that it could never be mentioned without some knee jerk visceral reaction, I am sure many laws that now protect women would never be on the books.

When people take offense whenever blank is mentioned, that is their choice and their choice alone.
Now, ehat does that say about society in general? Nothing.
What if the US in speaking about illegal immigration constantly used unflattering or derogatory terms to describe Hispanics coming across the border, which would say nothing about the society of the US or at least those bordering Mexico?

It really depends on how said question or comment is based. I have been known to be offended because people seem to relish bringing up a difficult subject to simply satisfy their sadistic nature.
I also think some things are talked to death but nothing is ever accomplished by talking about it.
Lets take facebook as an example. People will tag, share and like a topic, but when they are asked to sign a petition. Then you can see lots of likes and even lengthy discussions but maybe one quarter signed the petition.
And of course some things can be talked to death and petitions signed but you know nothing can truly be done.

Lets take as an example of a terroirst cell that kills women and children. You can talk all day about beheadings but if it was so easy just to change their minds with talk, you could sign me up. But it’s sadistic to talk about actual torture or beheadings for most people who cannot wrap their mind around such hatefulness. It’s not about burying your head in the sand. It’s about not deciding to make your every waking moment about the ugliness of life. You do that long enough, and you will find it difficult to find the beauty that also exist.

Just because a person can be realistic doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings and sometimes the empathy you feel towards your fellow man can be a bit too much to handle. Look into the sun long enough and the world becomes blurry and if you continue after that, you may even burn your retinas.

@Pandora Lets take as an example of a terroirst cell that kills women and children. You can talk all day about beheadings but if it was so easy just to change their minds with talk, you could sign me up. But it’s sadistic to talk about actual torture or beheadings for most people who cannot wrap their mind around such hatefulness. It’s not about burying your head in the sand. It’s about not deciding to make your every waking moment about the ugliness of life
When it comes to atrocities done by foreign governments or citizens on their own citizens it can be easily ignored, Darfur is a good example. Then again, somethings that has nothing to do with the society one is in because it is not happening there, people want to get huffy about like when captured women and girls were said to be raped by soldier in the Bosnian War. It was a civil war; it really had nothing to do with the US, there was plenty here, and still is, to worry about. What about things that are going on in the US, some might not be tasteful, but it is happening here, to get upset because someone points it out is somewhat hypocritical. To want to speak on and shout from the roof tops something distasteful but happening ”over there”, yet not want to talk about your own garbage is disingenuous.