Etiquette: Are Your Table Manners a Good Custom or a Legacy of Oppression?

You’ve heard it before: “Don’t stare at strangers!” “Don’t play with your food!” “Chew with your mouth closed!” A lot of the norms we’re taught at a young age establish common courtesy, but who exactly decides those norms? And what causes us not to trust others to know what’s best for themselves? This week, Mory and Melissa take a close look at the balance sheet of etiquette: both the social good it’s connected to and its role in maintaining hierarchy. They discuss two articles by David Brooks and Michael Waters (linked below) that decry the moral decline of our society. How much of that “moral decline” is true? And is the best way of addressing that decline really to dictate rules from the top-down? Tune in for a letter from the Earl of Chesterfield, impassioned monologues, and a lot of bad manners.

• "The Decline of Etiquette and the Rise of Boundaries,” by Michael Waters: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/11/people-oversharing-tmi-friendship-boundaries/671970/
• “How America Got Mean,” by David Brooks: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/us-culture-moral-education-formation/674765/
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