Remember something; (despite the mom's anachronistic 1980s perm), this was the 1940s, when people in Middle America were HUGE prudes when it came to cuss words. This was an era where even substitute swear words were not allowed. Being polite was very important, and it was NOT okay for kids, teenagers, and women in particular to be spouting off what they referred to as "sailor language," pretty much every dirty word in the book. The unwritten rule applied to men too, but the problem is, you were less likely to find such decency among blue-collar assholes like Ralphie's dad, and yes, he was a big fat hypocrite for saying that word in front of his son and not taking into account that his kid might one day say it.
One thing a lot of parents [even today] don't think about is, kids are like parrots or little recorders; they'll repeat whatever they hear at home, and if you have a household where one or both of the parents cuss like a sailor, chances are, the kids will eventually start doing that too, thinking it's okay, and then get in trouble with the world outside their home.
This was also an era where it was the mom's job to govern the kids' behavior (an exception to this would have been a widowed dad who hadn't remarried yet), and sometimes, even if it wasn't her fault, she would be blamed for not curtailing any bad behavior, despite it being the dad's fault. Many dads (and this happens today too) let the mom do all the raising of the kids while they are the breadwinner, working all day at their shitty job, and lazily go off to have a beer, not at all taking responsibility for the kids unless forced.
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