Makenzie Mooney

URWT 1104
Mrs. Thomas
11/27/16
Why Morals?
Morals are a persons standard of beliefs that help them decide what is
right or wrong. On a daily basis people are judged for their lack of morals or
for having a bit too many. Although there is one set definition of morals there
are many different viewpoints pertaining to morals. The conversation of
morals is something that has always interest me. I understand some parts
morality like, it is morally wrong to kill someone or hurt another person but
there are also some baby boomer morals that I dont understand like being
conservative with the things you wear. Moral standards vary depending on
age, and differ a bit when debating where morals derive from.
If someone is to say that the morals that we have, or do not have,
come from our religion they wouldnt necessarily be wrong. Different
religions hold people to different moral compass. Like in the Christian
religion some see others as less moral if they wear revealing clothing, in the
Muslim religion women are expected to wear a hijab to cover their hair, to
retain their morals. Even if you look at someone with no religion at all they
will still have some moral values. Is this because the impact of religion is so
wide that over time it has rubbed off on society making a more morally
sound world? What about the loss of morals that is happening? If all of

morals derived from religion does this mean that the millennials lack of
morals means a decline in religion? A lot of this decline has to do with the
perceived political entanglement of religion. There may be a decline in
religion when comparing generation Y to generation X but millennials do not
lack in spirituality. Charles Darwin had a belief that religion and spirituality
while going hand in hand makeup very different sides of the same spectrum.
One's spirituality is a sense of connection to something bigger than ones
self. Charles Darwin proposed that morality was a byproduct of evolution, a
human trait that arose as natural selection shaped man into a highly social
speciesand the capacity for morality, he argued, lay in small, subtle
differences between us and our closest animal relatives. (Esfahani 2015) As
people change and develop so do morals. The morals that are needed to
survive stay in tact while the ones that hold less meaning are slowly
forgotten and new ones arise. In my studies, I found that both of these ideas
are right in some way or another. Religion even for non-religious people has
had an impact on ethics, the world as a whole and what we deem right and
wrong but like as said in, Is human morality a product of evolution?, morals
that dont contribute to survival are fading out. The morals that are being
carried on are the practical ones.
Day after day the things that are allowed in society become more
flexible. If you watched an R rated movie 50 years and compared it to one
today, there would be a world of differences. Things today are becoming
more acceptable. In some ways thats a good thing, less judgement placed

upon others, and in other ways it can be a bad thing, younger children being
introduced to violence at an early age. Video games such as Grand Theft
Auto where violence is normal is having an influence on the way children are
acting. Many adults seem to think that the violence that children are exposed
to on a day to day basis is what is causing some of the moral decrease. The
more that children are exposed to violence and harmful acts the more likely
they are to accept these acts as being okay. Adina L. Roskies is a strong
believer that morals are taught. In her peer-reviewed article Neuroethics:
The Origins of Morality, she talks about how a child's development changes
their moral standards and affects their "physical and verbal violence." The
type of household that a child grows up in and the types of things that they
are exposed to will have a dramatic effect on how the child will act in the
future, according to this ideology. If a child is around violence when they are
younger they are more likely to see violent acts as being just another thing.
Much like Roskies, In James Garbarino's book lost boys: why our sons turn
violent and how we can save them, Garbarino believes that morals are
taught and are held to a different standard depending on where you are. He
brings up the southern states saying that "America's big cities had murder
rates lower than the national average because southern states had the
highest rates and were predominantly rural." he states that this may be due
to the fact that the south has a history of racism and hate crimes. These
qualities have since been handed down from generation to generation. The
evolution of southern states hasnt changed much over time this could be

why southern people place so much morality on religious views. The bible
belt has always placed religion and morality in the same category. Some say
that acceptance is a moral rule, to not judge others and let everyone lead
their lives however they feel, but many times the first people to attack
someone for being different are religious people.
Thinking more about violence and other things being acceptable for
people to see, I assumed that all things in life could have effect on
someones morality. This brought me to the question, could the constant
moral loss in millennials be caused somewhat by the media? Generation X is
constantly talking about how Generation Y doesnt respect themselves
because of the things that they choose to wear. Every time I go to my
grandmothers house with a pair of jeans on that has a hole in them shell
giggle, couldnt you afford a good pair of jeans or do you need me to
patch those up for you. Millennials go with the trends. The steady incline of
ads and influence of celebrities has created a mass cycle of style. Celebrities
have a huge impact on Generation Y. The media's portrayal of these people
has caused stereotyping of girls constantly. This makes girls think that they
have to act, look, or be a certain way to fit in. If the only role models that
teenage girls are getting to see is someone that they are not, then of course
they are going to try and change to fit the mold. If you watch a TV show
today the actors that are playing 16-19 year olds are most likely in their 20s.
Because this type of thing is occurring teenage girls are trying to make
themselves resemble what they see, TV's perfect 16 year old. As younger

girls begin to follow the trend of things, Generation X complains about the
physical maturity of girls, but what they are failing to seeing is the media
constantly objectifying young girls making this become a typical thing. The
pressures on girls are exacerbated by the medias increasing tendency to
portray very young girls in sexual ways. (Signorelii 1997) The concept of
virginity is based on religion but is held to a moral standard. Women are
frequently ridiculed on the loss of virginity and now many sexual partners
they have had. We are putting a greater weight of responsibility on young
girls today than they ever had to bear in the past for their own sexual
conduct; and at the same time, we demand that they preserve the chastity
which earlier generations of older people value virginity so highly, we should
construct social institutions to protect it; if we think independence a higher
value than chastity then we must expect heterosexual experimentation.
(1961) There is dependency on girls to maintain their virtue while trying to
keep up with the standards of society. Shayla Thiel-stern, in her book From
the Dance Hall to Facebook: Teen Girls, Mass Media, and Moral Panic in the
United States, says that teenage girls and young women punished for being
in the eye of the public and this sexist narrative places them in the position
of being the victim and blamed for it. (Thiel-stern 2014) How do you expect
the girls to react? To Generation X it is a loss of morals. To Generation Y it's
fitting in. Not only does the media affect girls, it affects the family values. In
chapter four of Jennifer Shermans article, Those Who Work, Those Who
Dont: Poverty, Morality, and Family in America, she talks about the loss of

male breadwinners. Society is changing and women are starting to provide

more for the household, rather than be the typical stay at home mom. The
media is helping to normalize the working woman. There was a lot of talk
about the 2016 presidency, I tried to stay away for all the buzz but one tweet
caught my eye. Just like the bible says that a woman should not lead as a
priest I believe he means the same for president. No women should lead.
Once again religion comes to play. Could the inequality of women in caused
by the moral standards of religions? While the corruption of millennials
seems like a bad thing there are some good things that have come out of it.
Not all sources of media are bad, I am a strong believer in that social media
is expanding people's mind and bringing people from around the world
together. The constant flow of information is making people understand more
and look beyond what we see. Its hard for millennials to find a place in their
lives for morals because they feel as if theres more important things to think
about.
A common idea among Generation X is that because of the little
amount of time that 'children' have been alive, they have a " weak
understanding of the social world and their egocentrism account for their
weaker forms of ethics, morals, and social capacities and their higher
preference for physical and verbal violence." (Roskies 2011) The thing about
Generation X/ Baby boomers is they always want to find a problem with the
way millennials are living. Millennials: the most technologically advanced,
cant hold a conversation with the aunt they see once a year that only likes

to talk about school. They just want to get back to that phone. Millennials:
reads more than any other generation. Not because they enjoy it, no,
because they have the time to read I work all day! They sit around with
nothing better to do. Millennials: the most accepting. I care about everyone
(who benefits me), why wont you listen Im just trying to tell you how to live
your life something racist, homophobic etc. all of you kids are entitled. It
seems that caring less about the right way to dress and caring more about
how you treat people is becoming the new trend in Millennials. Ive worked in
many restaurants in my life and I can honestly say that not once has a
Millennial fussed at me over an order, complained over the time, or made me
feel uncomfortable. I cant say as much for the other generations. Being nice
to you waiter and standing up for things that one believes in holds more
importance to me than judging someone over their sexuality or even the
holes in their jeans. Generation X thinks less of moral standards and more of
what is the best for others. The outcome of these attempts isnt always want
is wanted. many of the ways that emerging adults often think poorly
about moral issues are misguided attempts to achieve some good. (Smith
2011) Many older generations think that while millennials are trying to help
develop a better future the loss of morals is going to hurt in the long run.
Morals have been around since the beginning, if morals are forgotten
completely the world will run out of rule.
It doesnt matter where morals began because thats almost
impossible to know. All sources are going to tell you different things about

where they came from and how cultures have differed morals. I think the
bigger picture here is that there isnt one right answer. Moral variation is
exaggerated. The thing that differs in people is not their values but rather
their factual beliefs or things that have occurred in their life. Many African
children are married at a young age and while this is seen as wrong and
illegal it had been a part of their society for a very long time. To them,
marrying children young is an act of morality. They marry their children
young so that they can maintain their virginity and/or have a good future.
They are afraid that if they wait too long then the males will start to become
sexually active and break the bond of virginity or the child will marry into the
wrong family and have a troublesome life. In my research, I found that the
tradition of child marriage has been going on in African culture for a very
long time. As a child, my grandmother once told me that she was very
young when she got married to my grandfather. Evaluating her statement in
the context of child marriage, I can safely say that my grandmother married
when she was a child. (Kumi 2015) In no way do these people see what they
are doing as an immoral act because they are doing as they are always done.
Morality is something that society tells people that they need but some
people are deciding not to listen. While some people believe that the loss of
morality is hurting society I believe that some loss can be a good thing.
Although how much of a decrease in mortality are we going to allow before it
gets out of hand? And who is going to be the judge of that? With religion
going out and spirituality coming in what are we going to base morals off of?

What is right or wrong? All of these questions I cannot answer because the
future's a mystery but I can say that there is change to come.

Works Cited
Emily Esfahani Smith, Is human morality a product of evolution? The Atlantic,
December 2, 2015. Internet resource.
Garbarino, James. Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save
Them. New York: Free Press, 1999. Print.
Kumi, Weedor, "Telling my story sets me free': Liberian child marriage victim speaks
out, A World at School, July 14, 2015. Internet resource.
Roskies, Adina L. "Neuroethics: The Origins of Morality." Nature. 472.7342 (2011).
Print.
Sherman, Jennifer. Those Who Work, Those Who Don't: Poverty, Morality, and Family
in Rural America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Internet
resource.
Nancy Signorelli, A Content Analysis: Reflections of Girls in the Media, The Kaiser
Family Foundation and Children Now, April 1997.
Smith, Christian, Kari M. Hojara, Hilary A. Davidson, and Patricia S. Herzog. Lost in
Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2011. Print.

"Teenage Morals." Canadian Medical Association Journal. 85.17 (1961): 952-4. Print.
Thiel-Stern, Shayla. From the Dance Hall to Facebook: Teen Girls, Mass Media, and
Moral Panic in the United States, 1905-2010. Amherst and Boston: University
of Massachusetts Press, 2014. Internet