Dear Editor:
I lived in Toronto during the 1970’s, and so, this is my first introduction to Bill Smiley – Country Living by Maynard van der Galien, Feb. 15, Whitewater News.
In the industry, you have to catch the reader’s attention, make them think and get a reaction. One writer described it as a zing . If the buzz word that was trending in that era was the old battle-axe , I can only presume the columnist was using this phraseology to incite humor. His wife, a compelling woman in her own right, no doubt gave him the license to use it.
If you compare stand up comedy artists, they rant on the subjects of politics, cultures and sex. Some of their material is short of being vulgar and offensive, at the same time, they are endeavoring to shock us and make us laugh. There is a difference, however.
Fifty years ago walking on the street, a young woman might either be in receipt of a whistle or she could be referred to as a cow or a dog . When it is person-to-person, those words are reflected right back to the rude individual. Immediately, they are labelled as crude, not refined or absolutely absurd. With time, trends do run their course and hit a plateau. The subject matter and sometimes the behavior, eventually dies out and it is replaced with something more nippy, provocative or progressive.
Joy Monk,
Ottawa
