Pop Culture

It's time for a few pet peeves. Feel free to ignore this rant.

I've been hearing the phrase "It is what it is" a lot lately. Just what does that mean? Mostly it seems to be a means of avoiding talking about something, an outright refusal to evaluate that situation, to make any judgment or take any responsibility. "Mr. Sullivan, you just killed three people in cold blood. Do you really think that's acceptable?" "It is what it is."

It's as if they're saying that the facts speak for themselves, so feel free to interpret them how you like--but you'll be wrong because you're not me and therefore not entitled to judge. It's taking advantage of the current state of society which, on the surface at least, insists that we not apply any particular moral viewpoint without knowing the full context. "You can't judge me without context, and I outright refuse to provide you with context by suggesting the context is self-evident, thus presenting you with an irresolvable dilemma.

Goody for me that I don't buy into society's amoral attitude. What "it is," just for the record, is wrong.

My other pet peeve (or perhaps just something to be dismissed with an eye roll) is the ads for the latest online dating service, True. They're a frequent advertiser over at User Friendly (just keep hitting refresh. It shouldn't take more than one or two times to see the ad). Their slogans read "Love is just a click away" or "dive into love" or "Find love now." But then what do the pictures show? Ample, barely clad bosoms.

I'd like to do a little more research on this. Their default home page looks fairly innocuous and reasonably romantic. It's like a totally different site. Click on the ad at User Friendly (a geek cartoon, and so most likely considered to be a male-frequented site), and you get this. I'm not sure where to find a women-frequented site to see what the female audience ads and sign-up page look like. I'll bet they're not showing bosoms.

I'll also bet the women would not be so comfortable knowing how they're dragging men to the site.