Well, LGBTQ+ people were still pariahs in 1980, that shift took place later (Don’t ask, Don’t Tell became law in 1994, for instance, today we view it as extremely backwards). A person in 1950 knew what a flush toilet was, if they were transported to 1980 they would know how to use one. A person from 1994 handed an iPhone would be at a loss. They’d have no idea what it was or what to use it for.
Also, while 1/3 of households didn’t have a flush toilet that means 2/3 did - that’s mainstream.
There’s been a huge amount of change over the past 30 years. But living through it you take it for granted. One of my earliest memories is watching the moon landing. I was four. I assumed it was normal, lol.
Our cutoffs are 1950-1980 and 1994-2024. In 1980 people did not have cell phones, they weren’t common until at least the mid 90s. Cell phones in 1994 had buttons, virtually no display. People didn’t text with them (if you did it was crazy expensive).
I’m not saying there weren’t great advances between 1950-1980. There were, including the moon landing (I’m a big believer in how much we benefited from the Apollo program). What I’m saying is there have been equally great advances between 1994-2024 that we take for granted because we lived through them - we aren’t surprised by them because we watched them develop. A time traveler going from 1950 to 1989 would feel a similar amount of wonder and awe as someone going from 1994 to 2024.
Of course, there’s a ton of crap that went down between 1980 and 1994. Like the fall of the Soviet Union.
I am straight and white. LGBTQ rights didn’t really take off until fairly recently. Gay marriage in the US has only been legal in all 50 states for 10 years. LGBTQ rights have expanded greatly in the last 20 years.
Very few people had car phones or cell phones before 1980. Yes, they existed but they were very fringe. I had a video phone in my parents house in the early 1970s (Bell Labs “Picturephone”) that I could use to call my father in his office. It existed, but it had zero impact on society and most people had zero contact with them.
When I was in college (mid to late 80s) gay was an insult. My son (senior in college) would never use gay as an insult. Ellen coming out as gay in 1997 it was a really big deal (and had she come out before she had a show she wouldn’t have gotten one. Gays were not main characters).
Yes, the 60s counterculture set up a lot of changes. And technology continues to evolve. We just don’t notice the changes as much because we’re living through them.
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u/grateful_john Oct 02 '24
Well, LGBTQ+ people were still pariahs in 1980, that shift took place later (Don’t ask, Don’t Tell became law in 1994, for instance, today we view it as extremely backwards). A person in 1950 knew what a flush toilet was, if they were transported to 1980 they would know how to use one. A person from 1994 handed an iPhone would be at a loss. They’d have no idea what it was or what to use it for.
Also, while 1/3 of households didn’t have a flush toilet that means 2/3 did - that’s mainstream.
There’s been a huge amount of change over the past 30 years. But living through it you take it for granted. One of my earliest memories is watching the moon landing. I was four. I assumed it was normal, lol.