Yay! The new Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage is out! Woo hoo!
What? You don’t know what that is? Well, for the class challenged, it’s THE book for British high society. Yeah, I had no idea either. Meet at my trailer at 10 for happy hour (that’s AM, people).
Anyway, I found this story on Yahoo! today: Etiquette guide offers sleaze tips for posh girls
What we have here is a book that has been published since 1769 as a guide on manners and how to be civilized in the company of blue-bloods. Apparently the notions in this book are not hip enough for the times we live in and the editors have opted to bring it into the 21st century. How? Well, I’ll tell you. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
(A)ccording to its editor, Jo Aitchison, the new book
"Etiquette for Girls" is a sign that the traditional arbiters
of civility are catching up with the times."It’s a nod to the modern day," she told Reuters. "We’re
pulling Debrett’s out of Victorian times and trying to make it
relevant to today." The book’s advice ranges from how to
conduct a sleaze-free office fling or a disease-free one night
stand, to how to smoke at social occasions and what to do when
you meet a celebrity."Avoid dark-alley gropery and unladylike fumbling in the
back of a cab," the guide says on the subject of one night
stands. "Discuss the necessaries to avoid planting any love
children or disease, and you’re away."On smoking it decrees: "Always use a proper ashtray –
never a wine bottle, flower pot or used plate — and avoid
allowing smoke to billow out of the nostrils. It is also
inelegant to leave the cigarette unsupported in the mouth…"But Aitchison insists the book is not all about sex, lies
and partying. The core values of Debrett’s remain — elegance,
composure and dignity are all important, whether you are dining
with the Queen or cheating on your husband."We are trying to give girls confidence to behave in the
correct way," she told Reuters. "It’s a bit like a survival
guide for modern life, so we have had to include certain
subject matters that are new for Debrett’s."
What?!? I’m all about empowering our youth. Confidence is the way to go! The confidence to have an elegant affair? Not so much. I mean, really. Is it even possible to have a "sleeze-free office affair"? The short answer is NO for those who have to ask (and apparently blue-bloods have to ask).
Is this really our modern society? All debauchery and immediate gratification? I see it on TV and in the movies. I read it online. I hear it on the radio. I don’t see it my life, though. Neither do my children. I think we’re letting the media and a handful of promiscuous celebrities dictate what "our society" is. I’m not ready to hand over that responsibility. Are you?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This makes me sick. I cannot believe the depths to which the world in general and morality in specific have sunk.
Please visit my blog for a comment on the music industry that falls right in line with your post.
OH MY WORD!! I knew what Debrett’s was – because I am an AVID romance novel reader and prefer those set in England in 1800′s _ I didn’t even realize it was still published LET ALONE the “advice” it gives today — Cosmo is more ladylike! (not by much!)
Sometimes when I hear about these kinds of things I feel as if my husband and I are the only sane ones left on the planet. But then I read a post like this and I realize others feel the same way, that there’s still a lot of decency left–thanks for taking a stand.
Clearly I’d never make it in high society. My etiquette’s way out of whack. I get all hung up on values and stuff.
Shocking, this manners book!! I know the posts that I’ve been commenting on of yours are older ones, but I’m navigating around your site today, and these posts are good! No, I’m not handing the responsibility of dictating to my child what’s appropriate to our society at all!! Evidently, their values don’t line up with ours and they just don’t know, while they obviously think they do. That’s the world for you though, doing all they know to do.