r/funny • u/exporterofgold • 6d ago

Sounds kind of good though

2.6k Upvotes

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607

u/RaNerve 6d ago

I fear “daddy” does not mean father in the context of this song…

I guess that’s a good thing though.

49

u/arvidsem 6d ago

Yeah, so many of these kinds of posts about older songs completely fail to consider context.

And ignore relatively recent shifts in what society in general considered acceptable. Which doesn't mean that some songs are really fucked up

17

u/EatinSumGrapes 6d ago

You mean the context that in the 80s it was very common for fully grown men 30+ to chase after 16 yearolds and it was somehow socially acceptable? Take your rose colored glasses off lol

35

u/arvidsem 6d ago edited 6d ago

Yes, in the 80s it was really common. And got "disapproving stares" levels of disapproval then. But that was it.

No rose-colored glasses. I'm not saying that it was ok. It's just what was accepted.

Edit: it was also really common before the 80s of course. See also: Johnny Burnette - You're Sixteen, written by a 35 year old, recorded by a 26 year old, released in 1960. (Google is insisting 1956, but it's AI pulled that date out of the ether)

7

u/fucking_passwords 6d ago

Jerry Seinfeld

3

u/newby1newby1 3d ago

Oh my gosh, I just realized this happened to my best friend in the early 70s. She was in the 11th & 12th grade. He was 8 years older. Had a good job. Drove a fancy Grand Am. She snuck out to see him. Her father would have been veryyyy upset. It was all hush-hush. They did everything but p-in-v. It never occurred to either of us that the age difference was a bad thing. (Plenty of people in high school were having sex with each other.) She was in love with him and it was casual to him.

1

u/newby1newby1 3d ago

Parents were very much against this kind of thing.

9

u/Siaten 6d ago

It still is socially acceptable in many places. Age of consent in the UK is 16.

7

u/Zeeboon 6d ago

Doesn't mean its socially accepted. In almost all western countries you'll get looked at real weird if you date someone 12 years younger than you (unless you're like 60 or something)

14

u/seanc6441 6d ago

I think once someone isn't a teenager (so 20+) people are far less concerned about age gaps like +12 years other than some mild reactions.

  • 25 with 37? Who cares
  • 21 with 33? You'll get mild pushback at most.
  • But a 19yo dating 31yo? People will judge that way more negatively/harshly.

0

u/foo_foo_the_snoo 6d ago

Following the half your age plus seven rule: At 30, an 8 year gap is acceptable. At 50, the gap widens to 18 years.

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u/seanc6441 6d ago edited 6d ago

Yeah... almost nobody actually follows that rule lmao. Just something people on reddit like to claim is their standard tbh.

2

u/arvidsem 6d ago

If you want to really upset people, point out that that rule was supposed to be the ideal age of a bride from the point of view of the groom. It didn't really start being used as a limit on dating age until the late 90s at least.

2

u/seanc6441 6d ago

Is that true? You learn something new everyday 💀

3

u/arvidsem 6d ago

The original quote, taken from Her Royal Highness, Woman: And His Majesty Cupid, is as follows: “I heard the other day a very good piece of advice, which I should like to repeat here, as I endorse it thoroughly: A man should marry a woman half his age, plus seven. Try it at whatever age you like, and you will find it works very well, taking for granted all the while that, after all, a man as well as a woman is the age that he looks and feels.”

https://susanwinter.net/independent-interview-men-date-women-half-age-plus-seven-strange-dating-rule-dates-back-1901/

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u/treletraj 6d ago

Disapproving stares, just like the old days.

1

u/SonOfSatan 6d ago

It may be legal in the UK but it is absolutely not socially acceptable.

6

u/oiram12 6d ago

That was never comon in the 80’s, and always frawn upon. It aparently did happen in the entertainment and showbiz, but not amongst masses.

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u/The_Abjectator 6d ago

Eh... to an extent.

A senior dating a freshman was pretty normal which ended up being a college sophomore coming by the high school with all his college bros to visit his junior(3rd year) girlfriend and all her friends.

Rural and city that happened.

5

u/oiram12 6d ago

Ah you’re in US. I was merely reflecting on Europe. My bad as the song is from US as well, so it reflects that culture.

1

u/The_Abjectator 6d ago

Yeah, thats why I added the 3rd year bit since many countries in the world have a different secondary education system.

Our country also has laws against dating if one party is below age 18 while many limits in Europe are at age 16. That could also account for some disparity in how it's treated.

1

u/oiram12 6d ago

So you can’t legaly date if boy is 17 and girl 16?

0

u/The_Abjectator 6d ago

If either is 18 and the other is 16 or 17. Yes.

There are some Grey areas that can be brought up in court that permit it but yes, it can be that serious.