# They wouldn't fly now **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825 "2022-04-14T14:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/1 "2022-04-14T14:24:39Z")
What things were very popular at one time that would never fly now? I’ll start it off with a couple of my own. A man singing in a gravely voice, or any voice, really, “Thank heaven for little girls.” A male photographer, or artist, say like Degas, hanging around backstage recording the rehearsal of 14-year-old ballerinas. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/2 "2022-04-14T15:22:50Z")
> [@cincinnatus](#): > > What things were very popular at one time that would never fly now? [Meganeura](https://www.geologyin.com/2018/01/the-largest-insect-ever-existed-was.html?m=1). ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/3 "2022-04-14T15:55:23Z")
Honestly, I like Darren\_Garrison’s take on the subject better than the OP’s oddly exclusive focus on forms of artistic creation that might nowadays be perceived as sexualizing children. Can this whole thread be about the disappearance of flight capability in formerly flying objects or animals, please? I’ll submit the [New Zealand kakapo](https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/k/Kakapo.htm) and the [Spirit of St. Louis.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_St._Louis#Later_history_and_conservation) [self-threadbanning for gratuitous hijackery, bye all] ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/4 "2022-04-14T16:02:15Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > the OP’s oddly exclusive focus on forms of artistic creation that might nowadays be perceived as sexualizing children And indeed, the notion that OP’s two specific cases are examples of things that were once “very popular” is… a little odd. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/5 "2022-04-14T16:03:14Z")
Calling Brazil nuts n\*\*\*\*r toes. Didn’t know what they were really called until I was a teenager, but damn mom said a lot of things that would be considered racist today. A lot of racist sayings and stereotypes wouldn’t fly today, which is why Disney will not re-release Song of the South again in North America and Gone With Wind now starts with a disclaimer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/6 "2022-04-14T16:11:50Z")
Not following you, do you think [Thank Heaven for Little Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TqSyvdqn9c) was not very popular? I’m not sure what is meant by the Degas reference, his works were very popular at times. Anyway, in some forms the sexualizing of children was once very popular and does not fly today. Or at least has to fly a lot lower these days. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/7 "2022-04-14T16:14:46Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > not sure what is meant by the Degas reference, Me either. People still take pictures of young girls performing ballet. It’s not like they are nude. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/8 "2022-04-14T16:16:25Z")
I got into an argument with another kid when I was in the 4th grade in the 50s over that very thing. His parents were fairly progressive for the time and had taught him not to use the “N” word. They had a bowl of nuts on a table and I referred to a Brazil nut as a n\*\*\*\*\*\* toe, which is what I learned at home. He glanced toward the kitchen where his dad was and said "No, they’re called “Negro toes”. And a heated discussion ensued because one’s parents are never wrong, right? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/9 "2022-04-14T16:16:29Z")
I don’t know much about Degas, was he known as some kind of pervert? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/10 "2022-04-14T16:20:06Z")
I would think that parents would pay Degas good money to paint their children performing ballet today. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/11 "2022-04-14T16:21:05Z")
Degas was just obsessed with dancers and dancing. The singer you are thinking of is Maurice Chevalier. That song was popular when I was a child. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/12 "2022-04-14T16:23:17Z")
In the 1980s one of the most requested songs on the Dr. Demento Show was **Kinko the Clown**. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/13 "2022-04-14T16:28:27Z")
Minstrel shows. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/14 "2022-04-14T16:39:27Z")
Cramming kids into cars without car seats. We I was a kid in the UK we had a big estate (station wagon in the US) Peugeot with three rows of seats (there were four of us kids), when we had to carry other kids (e.g. the church youth group my mum ran) my folks would just cram us in there, no seat belts for most of us. I can’t remember our record, but it was well over 10 kids (including at least one kid in the trunk). Especially funny as my mum was generally ahead of the curve when it comes to health and safety (she forced us to wear bike helmets long before it was a thing, causing all sorts of mockery from other kids). Nowadays that would not fly on either side of the Atlantic. I wouldn’t surprised if you’d end up with a felony and/or being referred to CPS in the states if a cop pulled you over with 10+ kids squeezed into your station wagon. I can barely fit my three kids into my SUV, which has three rows, with their car seats. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/15 "2022-04-14T16:41:58Z")
Jokes about domestic violence (just saw an episode of Andy Griffith - Otis is in jail overnight because he hit his mother-in-law hard enough to require s dentist’s treatment; he’s out later that day) ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/16 "2022-04-14T16:47:08Z")
A whole bunch of stuff that would rightly be considered sexual assault today. Anyone remember “goosing”? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/17 "2022-04-14T16:48:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not following you, do you think [Thank Heaven for Little Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TqSyvdqn9c) was not very popular? I’m not sure what is meant by the Degas reference, his works were very popular at times. Fair enough on the first example in terms of the popularity of the song itself, but the way it was expressed (and more so in the second example) seemed to be focused on the behavior of the artist, that’s what I found confusing. Is the suggestion that Degas is an example of a popular practice among visual artists to use minors as subjects in a creepy manner? Or that Degas’ ballerina paintings have declined in public popularity because they are seen as tainted by his creepy behavior? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/18 "2022-04-14T16:50:34Z")
Casual corporal punishment in kids comic books: > ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/19 "2022-04-14T16:54:51Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Cramming kids into cars without car seats. Riding in the back of an open Pick-up truck. We did it all the time back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825/20 "2022-04-14T16:55:32Z")
Yes, that makes sense. His second statement was very directed toward the behavior making the OP unclear in it’s intent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-wouldnt-fly-now/962825.md?page=2)