Times are constantly changing. In the majority of the world, women have way more opportunities than they did a century ago, and the technological advancements we've seen in recent decades are mind-blowing. But at the same time, saving up enough to purchase a home is nearly impossible for many young people today, even if their parents had no issues buying a house in their twenties. We all seem to be living in a completely different world than our grandparents had when they were young, but one of the best changes we’ve seen is a decreased tolerance for toxic behavior.

Redditors have been calling out the worst actions that they’ve heard people attempt to justify by noting how common they were in the past, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts below. From tactics parents used to discipline their little ones to casually driving home after a few beers, be sure to upvote the behaviors that you’re glad have finally become stigmatized!

#1

Doctors going on duty for more than 24 hours straight.

Image credits: Young_Old_Grandma

#2

Definitely slavery, not just because it's a horrible thing to justify but also because people try to justify it *so often*.

One of the most popular lies in America is the lie that the so-called "founding fathers" can't be judged for owning slaves because that was accepted practice back then. In fact, the judge in the British Somerset case called slavery an "odious institution" in 1772: well before the US constitution was written. The abolition movement was very much in full swing in the anglosphere at the time. The Somerset ruling banned slavery in the British Isles in 1772. Canada banned slavery in 1793.

And yet Americans persist in pretending that slavery was widely accepted with no concerns at the time of the country's founding, just because they don't want to admit that the US founding fathers were bad people. They have their very own mythology, complete with heroes and villains, and they will not tolerate harsh criticism of those heroes.

Image credits: Bizarre_Protuberance

#3

My grandma was telling us about some random stuff about her life as a kid, the usual, and then she dropped that her neighbor would give her a quarter to see her underwear? when she was like 5-6? wild s**t 

also cheating on your spouse .

Image credits: coffeedr1nk3rrr1

#4

Open sexual harassment, unwanted touching, SA, etc against secretaries, female assistants, etc by their bosses. Woman were supposed to just grin and bear it.

Image credits: TheVendingMachineWas

#5

How many witches were burned at the stake during the salem witch trials?

None. There’s no such things as witches, they burned innocent girls and women. Awful.

Image credits: Grouchy-Range-9032

#6

Spousal r*pe. It was legal up until 1983 in Canada. It wasn’t until 1993 that it became illegal in ALL of the US; prior to that it was only illegal in 3 as of 1975. I’ve heard some men reminisce about the days when they didn’t need consent from their wives. I’ve even heard women condemn other women for having the “nerve” to ever deny their husbands sex. It’s disgusting.

Image credits: MamaKit92

#7

Ownership and the subservience of women. "Back in my day the women didn't vote or work, they waited on their knees for the husband to come home with a hot meal in one hand a strong drink in the other" along with a litany of other female slave fantasies men have of modern women.

Image credits: BeeMyHomey

#8

Child marriage.

Image credits: TrickySeagrass

#9

Hitting children. Beating up children badly.

Image credits: Flat_Ad1094

#10

Listening to stories from older colleagues there is so much stuff that was considered standard practice that would give Health and Safety an aneurysm these days. S**t like handling asbestos with zero protective equipment, even after people started realizing how bad it was for your health! Or guys working with natural gas lighting up a ciggie on the job site and it being perfectly fine because "we're not smoking near where people are working with gas at the moment".

Image credits: ConstableBlimeyChips

#11

Adult musicians sleeping with puberty-aged groupies. Guarantee every single one of your faves did it or was in a band with someone who did.

Image credits: rougecomete

#12

Automatically needing to respect your elders (and anyone older than you) just because it's the 'right' thing to do, not because they deserve your respect or did anything to earn it, but just because.

Image credits: PickleFluffy1387

#13

"When I was starting out, our bosses abused us 10 times as badly as what you get pampered with, you don't know how good you got it".

Image credits: areUgoingtoreadthis

#14

Forced marriage.

Image credits: anon

#15

I pointed out that the Mayan and Aztecs' child sacrifice practices weren't any less barbaric because they happened a long time ago, and I got downvoted to hell here.

Image credits: angrymonkey

#16

Open misogyny and sexual harassment in the workplace. I’m a 64 yo professional woman and the behavior of some my male colleagues and superiors was horrible. And no one batted an eye.

Image credits: Monalisa9298

#17

The way some people treated pets. Leaving them outside. Hitting them.

Image credits: shutupandevolve

#18

Cat calling. Honestly can’t remember a time it was okay, but I’m always confused when guys try to justify themselves with “it’s just a comment. It’s always been like this” when I (a woman) get upset. Like I know my a*s is amazing but keep it to yourself, you know?

Image credits: Brilliant-Hurry-5479

#19

Gay jokes. Go watch movies from the 80's & 90's. Or just watch "Friends," there were cheap gay gags in basically every episode. .

#20

Bull fighting in Spain.

Image credits: Outrageous-Yak4884

#21

Drinking and driving. Every adult over 60 wants me to understand why those were the good ol days.

Image credits: AtomAntvsTheWorld

#22

I take care of a 95 year old woman with dementia who had a black lab as a child. The dogs name was “n**ger”. She sometimes talks about her dog and calls it by name, and everyone reacts how you’d expect, and she always says, “He needed a name! A dog needs a name!”

Not sure if it quite fits this thread, but I was reminded of it so I shared.

Image credits: Informal_Flight_6932

#23

All forms of bullying. It looked cool from people in high school according to my classmates. Now some of my classmates were now gone due to bullying. It’s not cool.

Image credits: AetherealSubject

#24

Maybe riding around in the open bed of a pickup truck all over town and highways when I was a kid in the 70s.

Image credits: captn_morgan951

#25

Not back then, but in the present.

I have heard from a relative that pregnancies of indigenous children in my country are normal because it is "part of their culture".

Image credits: The_Good_Guyy

#26

Physical abuse.

Image credits: aesthetic_kiara

#27

Hitting a spouse. My favorite tv show of all time is “I Love Lucy” and I have such a hard time watching Ricky put Lucy over his knee. Makes my stomach turn.

Image credits: DotsSpotsBots

#28

"My parents whipped my butt and screamed at me. I turned out fine."

Umm... no you didnt. You need therapy, boundaries, and a healthier friend group.

Image credits: texaslucasanon

#29

My friend quite seriously told me she didn’t understand the issue with Bill Cosby because quaaludes were all the rage and this is just how it used to be for women around men. Never thought I’d see myself storming out of a Los
Angeles McDonald’s in anger but sure enough it did indeed happen.

Image credits: ExperienceInitial875

#30

Horrific mistreatment of disabled people. It’s still not great on a general global scale, but at least we don’t get left in the woods as infants or stuck in freak shows to entertain the masses.

#31

Hazing, overworking and basically bullying new employees. C**p like “it’s character building” or “well, I had to do it”. I think people perpetuate this nonsense because they are basically trying to get some sort of revenge.

#32

Taking my social security number and taking loans out when I was a toddler but not my brother or half sister. When I confronted my mom about it, she said everyone else was doing it. Um no, most people aren’t stealing one of their children’s identities selectively and then taking hundreds of thousands in loans out. Lolz.

#33

Circumcision.

#34

Just yesterday i had someone try telling me they regretted taking the covid vaccine and that "back than no one took vaccines".

I replied with "and people got polio".

#35

Doctors getting female patients to undress to listen to their heart. I was 20 and had to strip off for this male specialist to be a perve. Lots of other instances with a doctor at my clinic when I was 15 - 16 being a creep.

#36

Genital mutilation of children.

#37

Doctors did not appreciate being told to wash their hands before touching a patient once upon a time.

Image credits: boredtxan

#38

Throwing rocks at Ruby Bridges.

Image credits: TwincessAhsokaAarmau

#39

Smoking everywhere--even hospitals.

#40

Racism.

#41

Smoking at 12.

#42

Lynching black people for failing to show the proper deference to a white man on the street.

#43

Genociding Native Americans.

#44

Enforced poverty.

#45

Eugenics.