Values
Hugh Jackman personifies the ideal modern Australian male
As part of our latest study The Modern Male we asked Australian men who best personifies the ideal man and it is Hugh Jackman’s name that was mentioned most often. Jackman possesses the qualities they admire most – he ticks a lot of boxes!
An Optimistic 2013 is Just too Optimistic
Content, relaxed and comfortable would not be the best words to describe the outlook of Australians in 2012. And it looks like this year will be even worse. It won’t be until 2014 that the tide will turn.
Jones Faces Social Media’s Coming of Age
Public reaction to Alan Jones’s recent comments should have dissipated by now. Yet the issue has taken on a life force of its own. It’s become about far more than Jones.
The public now has the inclination to shout and the tools with which to do so powerfully.
Complaining About Ads Can Increase Their Appeal
The complained about ad was for a cake
mix. It featured two girls in the playground eating lunch side by side. The one
asks what the other is biting into and she tells her it’s a bakery treat. The first
then launches into a diatribe about her perfect mum who bakes everything
herself from scratch. Once she completes the diatribe the second girl says her
mum also likes the “real home baked taste” before adding the punch line “but at
least she’s got a life,” indicating the product offers her a short-cut which
allows her to get on with other things. Following complaints by some
stay-at-home mums this last line was cut from the ad when it next appeared on
television.
I showed this to several groups of women and they responded by
expressing their displeasure and annoyance. Not at any offence caused by the
ad, but by its censorship. And the most vocal of these were stay-at-home mums.
“Who are these people who complain?” one asked.
The art of selfish giving
Young Australians are determined that they are generous, giving and civic minded. They recognise that the rest of society views them as selfish and self-absorbed and are resentful of such perceptions. It is an inherently unfair label and very far from the truth as they see it.
The Growing Values Divide
The Boomers once thought they were hip and cool. Mostly they still think they are. They were edgy, liberated and rebelled against their parents’ outmoded social mores and values. They spoke openly and behaved in ways their own parents would not have dreamt of. Their media was cutting edge. Their fashion and music were once considered outrageous and pushing society beyond its comfort levels. Recall that the Rolling Stones were forced to sing “Let’s spend some time together” instead of “Let’s spend the night together” on the Ed Sullivan show in 1967.
Fast forward to today and suddenly the Boomers echo sentiments of their own parents’ generation. However far they may have pushed social boundaries , it is nothing compared to what their grandkids have done. They have gone much too far for their sensibilities. Prolific swearing, skimpy clothes, sexualised imagery, laughing at inappropriate things have turned the Boomers into relative conservatives.