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Times are constantly changing. In the majority of the world, women have way more opportunities than they did a century ago, and the technological advancements we've seen in recent decades are mind-blowing. But at the same time, saving up enough to purchase a home is nearly impossible for many young people today, even if their parents had no issues buying a house in their twenties. We all seem to be living in a completely different world than our grandparents had when they were young, but one of the best changes we’ve seen is a decreased tolerance for toxic behavior.

Redditors have been calling out the worst actions that they’ve heard people attempt to justify by noting how common they were in the past, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts below. From tactics parents used to discipline their little ones to casually driving home after a few beers, be sure to upvote the behaviors that you’re glad have finally become stigmatized!

#1

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) I pointed out that the Mayan and Aztecs' child sacrifice practices weren't any less barbaric because they happened a long time ago, and I got downvoted to hell here.

angrymonkey , Luidger/wiki Report

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#2

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) How many witches were burned at the stake during the salem witch trials?

None. There’s no such things as witches, they burned innocent girls and women. Awful.

Grouchy-Range-9032 , unattributed Report

#3

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Open sexual harassment, unwanted touching, SA, etc against secretaries, female assistants, etc by their bosses. Woman were supposed to just grin and bear it.

TheVendingMachineWas , Sora Shimazaki/pexels Report

#4

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Doctors going on duty for more than 24 hours straight.

Young_Old_Grandma , Mulyadi /unsplash Report

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#5

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Child marriage.

TrickySeagrass , Manoj Chauhan /unsplash Report

#6

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) The way some people treated pets. Leaving them outside. Hitting them.

shutupandevolve , Pranidchakan Boonrom/pexels Report

#7

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Spousal r*pe. It was legal up until 1983 in Canada. It wasn’t until 1993 that it became illegal in ALL of the US; prior to that it was only illegal in 3 as of 1975. I’ve heard some men reminisce about the days when they didn’t need consent from their wives. I’ve even heard women condemn other women for having the “nerve” to ever deny their husbands sex. It’s disgusting.

MamaKit92 , Inga Seliverstova /pexels Report

#8

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Bull fighting in Spain.

Outrageous-Yak4884 , @coldbeer /pexels Report

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#9

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Hitting children. Beating up children badly.

Flat_Ad1094 , Lucas Metz /unsplash Report

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#10

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Definitely slavery, not just because it's a horrible thing to justify but also because people try to justify it *so often*.

One of the most popular lies in America is the lie that the so-called "founding fathers" can't be judged for owning slaves because that was accepted practice back then. In fact, the judge in the British Somerset case called slavery an "odious institution" in 1772: well before the US constitution was written. The abolition movement was very much in full swing in the anglosphere at the time. The Somerset ruling banned slavery in the British Isles in 1772. Canada banned slavery in 1793.

And yet Americans persist in pretending that slavery was widely accepted with no concerns at the time of the country's founding, just because they don't want to admit that the US founding fathers were bad people. They have their very own mythology, complete with heroes and villains, and they will not tolerate harsh criticism of those heroes.

Bizarre_Protuberance , John Trumbull Report

#11

Just yesterday i had someone try telling me they regretted taking the covid vaccine and that "back than no one took vaccines".

I replied with "and people got polio".

whelplookatthat Report

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#12

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) "My parents whipped my butt and screamed at me. I turned out fine."

Umm... no you didnt. You need therapy, boundaries, and a healthier friend group.

texaslucasanon , Monstera Production/pexels Report

#13

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Open misogyny and sexual harassment in the workplace. I’m a 64 yo professional woman and the behavior of some my male colleagues and superiors was horrible. And no one batted an eye.

Monalisa9298 , Polina Tankilevitch/pexels Report

#14

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Forced marriage.

anon , Aastha Bansal/UNSPALSH Report

#15

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Adult musicians sleeping with puberty-aged groupies. Guarantee every single one of your faves did it or was in a band with someone who did.

rougecomete , Pavel Danilyuk /pexels Report

#16

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Throwing rocks at Ruby Bridges.

TwincessAhsokaAarmau , Uncredited DOJ photographer Report

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#17

Genital mutilation of children.

qmriis Report

#18

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Automatically needing to respect your elders (and anyone older than you) just because it's the 'right' thing to do, not because they deserve your respect or did anything to earn it, but just because.

PickleFluffy1387 , Andrea Piacquadio/pexels Report

#19

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) All forms of bullying. It looked cool from people in high school according to my classmates. Now some of my classmates were now gone due to bullying. It’s not cool.

AetherealSubject , Keira Burton/pexels Report

#20

Genociding Native Americans.

Jack-of-Hearts-7 Report

#21

Horrific mistreatment of disabled people. It’s still not great on a general global scale, but at least we don’t get left in the woods as infants or stuck in freak shows to entertain the masses.

an_ineffable_plan Report

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#22

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Ownership and the subservience of women. "Back in my day the women didn't vote or work, they waited on their knees for the husband to come home with a hot meal in one hand a strong drink in the other" along with a litany of other female slave fantasies men have of modern women.

BeeMyHomey , cottonbro studio/pexels Report

#23

Lynching black people for failing to show the proper deference to a white man on the street.

Get_It_Hexyy Report

#24

Smoking everywhere--even hospitals.

Grouchy-Display-457 Report

#25

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) My grandma was telling us about some random stuff about her life as a kid, the usual, and then she dropped that her neighbor would give her a quarter to see her underwear? when she was like 5-6? wild s**t 

also cheating on your spouse .

coffeedr1nk3rrr1 , Hobbies on a Budget/flickr Report

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#26

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Listening to stories from older colleagues there is so much stuff that was considered standard practice that would give Health and Safety an aneurysm these days. S**t like handling asbestos with zero protective equipment, even after people started realizing how bad it was for your health! Or guys working with natural gas lighting up a ciggie on the job site and it being perfectly fine because "we're not smoking near where people are working with gas at the moment".

ConstableBlimeyChips , Valiant Made/unsplash Report

#27

Hazing, overworking and basically bullying new employees. C**p like “it’s character building” or “well, I had to do it”. I think people perpetuate this nonsense because they are basically trying to get some sort of revenge.

Puzzleheaded-Swan824 Report

#28

Gay jokes. Go watch movies from the 80's & 90's. Or just watch "Friends," there were cheap gay gags in basically every episode. .

Upstairs-Storm1006 Report

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#29

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) I take care of a 95 year old woman with dementia who had a black lab as a child. The dogs name was “n**ger”. She sometimes talks about her dog and calls it by name, and everyone reacts how you’d expect, and she always says, “He needed a name! A dog needs a name!”

Not sure if it quite fits this thread, but I was reminded of it so I shared.

Informal_Flight_6932 , cottonbro studio /pexels Report

#30

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Hitting a spouse. My favorite tv show of all time is “I Love Lucy” and I have such a hard time watching Ricky put Lucy over his knee. Makes my stomach turn.

DotsSpotsBots , CBS Report

#31

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Maybe riding around in the open bed of a pickup truck all over town and highways when I was a kid in the 70s.

captn_morgan951 , FourthAge/reddit Report

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#32

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Cat calling. Honestly can’t remember a time it was okay, but I’m always confused when guys try to justify themselves with “it’s just a comment. It’s always been like this” when I (a woman) get upset. Like I know my a*s is amazing but keep it to yourself, you know?

Brilliant-Hurry-5479 , Ashinia Junior Miller/pexels Report

#33

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) My friend quite seriously told me she didn’t understand the issue with Bill Cosby because quaaludes were all the rage and this is just how it used to be for women around men. Never thought I’d see myself storming out of a Los
Angeles McDonald’s in anger but sure enough it did indeed happen.

ExperienceInitial875 , Andrea Piacquadio /pexels Report

#34

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Not back then, but in the present.

I have heard from a relative that pregnancies of indigenous children in my country are normal because it is "part of their culture".

The_Good_Guyy , ermias Tarekegn/pexels Report

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#35

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Drinking and driving. Every adult over 60 wants me to understand why those were the good ol days.

AtomAntvsTheWorld , energepic.com /pexels Report

#36

Enforced poverty.

Objective_Soil_4054 Report

#37

Racism.

hBoBh Report

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Urbangirlatl
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think I understand where Strings is coming from. When the CEO of Barilla pasta made a neg comment about including LGBT in their ads, I thought something along the lines of "thanks for letting me know where you stand so I can buy your competitor's product". It's not endorsing hate speech, but it's how we know we are dealing with @-holes.

Brian Droste
Community Member
1 month ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Racism has been around for thousands of years. It is will be here until God brings Satan system to an ending brings his kingdom to the earth. Probably get dowm voted for this, but this is the truth.

Strings
Community Member
1 month ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

I will agree. However, I wish we wouldn't make such a big deal out of racial slurs... they provide an easy way to identify idiots (the folks who use such language)

Jane Jayne Jain Jeign Jein
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do you think we should bring back groping in the workplace too so you can spot the mysoginists?

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#38

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) Physical abuse.

aesthetic_kiara , Uriel Mont/pexels Report

#39

“What's The Worst Thing People Have Tried To Justify With ‘It Was Normal Back Then’?” (40 Answers) "When I was starting out, our bosses abused us 10 times as badly as what you get pampered with, you don't know how good you got it".

areUgoingtoreadthis , Yan Krukau/pexels Report

#40

Smoking at 12.

Temporal_Somnium Report

Note: this post originally had 45 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.

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