this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2025
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Memes

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A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.

An Internet meme or meme, is a cultural item that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. The name is by the concept of memes proposed by Richard Dawkins in 1972. Internet memes can take various forms, such as images, videos, GIFs, and various other viral sensations.


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[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Let's check out the lyrics of some popular rock songs from that time period...

Or what the age of consent was...

[–] VerilyFemme@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

By all means, check out the lyrics of some popular rock songs from the late 80s. I think you'll find the pedophila vastly underrepresented.

Now, that's not to say songwriters like Steven Tyler didn't exist, but a large part of the lyricism you're talking about is from around a decade or more earlier.

On the age of consent, I'll give you this: they're definitely weird in Georgia. Georgia's age of consent was 14 until 1995.

However, the kids in the Losers Club were 11 in the first part of IT, which is still below even that threshold. With the exception of Georgia, the age of consent in America has been at least 16 since 1920. Plus, 23 states actually set their age of consent at 18 back then as well.

Maybe it was a little less weird in 1986 than it is now, but it was still far from the cultural norm. That's all.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 2 points 1 month ago

Motörhead – Jailbait (1980): Lemmy’s vocals directly reference wanting an underage fan, with explicit references to ignoring her age

Aerosmith – Jailbait (1982): Aerosmith released their own song titled "Jailbait" exploring a similar theme

KISS – Christine Sixteen (1977, still popular into the 1980s): Focuses on a fascination with a sixteen-year-old girl, and gets repeated mention for its controversial spoken section

Winger – Seventeen (1988): Describes a romantic obsession with a seventeen-year-old girl

The Police – Don’t Stand So Close to Me (1980): Explores forbidden attraction between a teacher and his student

Benny Mardones – Into the Night (1980): The lyrics reference a young girl separated from the singer by age