# Will America ever get over its Puritanism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 4, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677 "2001-03-04T02:03:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/1 "2001-03-04T02:03:28Z")
(I wasn’t sure if this should go in GD or GQ, so it was a tossup.) There’s been a wave of neo-Puritanism the past several years. In parts of America, the old Puritanical attitudes never went away. It’s hard to believe that this country has held onto it for over 350 years and it remains so entrenched that it seems they’ll never get over it. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/2 "2001-03-04T02:19:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*(I wasn’t sure if this should go in GD or GQ, so it was a tossup.) > > There’s been a wave of neo-Puritanism the past several years. In parts of America, the old Puritanical attitudes never went away. It’s hard to believe that this country has held onto it for over 350 years and it remains so entrenched that it seems they’ll never get over it. \*\* Perhaps listing some specific examples of the neo-Puritanism (or exisiting old Puritanical attitudes) might make it easier to respond your question. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/3 "2001-03-04T02:23:29Z")
Are you referring to “Puritanism” or “Protestantism”? I’m not exactly sure how the two are related. But “Puritanism” seems less entrenched in American culture, while “Protestantism” is a tad more accepted throughout the country. Or maybe I’ve just got my "-Ism"s crossed… ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/4 "2001-03-04T03:09:44Z")
I dunno… We’re not at the point where we see tits on TV like on other countries, but I think that we ain’t exactly putting scarlet letters on adulterers and not permitting ladies to go out showing ankles. Many folks on the other side scream that we’ve gone _too far_ in our liberal and cavalier attitudes towards things like sex and violence in the arts. Six of one… ---
**Author:** ![dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f19dbf/32.png) [@dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/5 "2001-03-04T14:06:12Z")
What you mean inbetween all the porn ? I live in liberal england and your porn laws are wider than ours ( 1st amendment and all that ). ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/6 "2001-03-04T14:16:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Satan \* > \*\*I dunno… We’re not at the point where we see tits on TV \*\* Soooo…you don’t have cable? ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/7 "2001-03-05T03:30:12Z")
But we don’t have the hardcore sex on TV like they do in France. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/8 "2001-03-05T23:36:17Z")
We almost did, but The Wife was concerned about possible damage to the set… ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/9 "2001-03-06T10:26:43Z")
> [@](#): > > We’re not at the point where we see tits on TV like on other countries I saw a nipple on “The Beat” once. A female nipple. It was the happiest moment of my life. (I’ve had a shitty life). ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/10 "2001-03-06T21:59:57Z")
Actually, the Puritans were not as prudish as they are typically represented nowadays. In fact, a Puritan husband was _required_ to have regular sex with his wife, so that they’d increase their odds of making more little baby Puritans. It was the popularity of **Victorian** morality in the United States that was the real impetus for modern U.S. prudishness. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/11 "2001-03-06T22:59:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrFidelius \* > \*\*We almost did, but The Wife was concerned about possible damage to the set… \*\* Your “set” or hers? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/12 "2001-03-07T01:32:40Z")
…electricity is not always your friend… ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/13 "2001-03-07T03:36:29Z")
Why should anyone expect the country to “get over it”? ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/14 "2001-03-07T04:50:35Z")
What Puritanical attitudes? Those relating to sex? religion? nonconformism? Personally, I think that we left those behind a long time ago, but it would help clarify the discussion if we knew what we were talking about a bit more specifically :). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-america-ever-get-over-its-puritanism/56677/15 "2001-03-07T23:37:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*It was the popularity of **Victorian** morality in the United States that was the real impetus for modern U.S. prudishness. \*\* Was it really all that popular? 🙂 I mean, your “public” face was all moral and upright, while in private you could have tons of sex. Or was that just in Europe?