"Has Your Daughter Seen This Before?"
That was what was said to my mother during intermission when I attended my first performance of Phantom of the Opera in Philadelphia. That lady clearly forgot how she scolded me for singing along to the music in the beginning of the musical. Why is it so important that we uphold the proper "etiquette" at theatres and where did they come from?
The second question I think developed over time due to social standards because parents would bring their kids to a highbrow culture. I don't think there's anything I will be able to read on how that came about and why, though, so let's go right to why should we uphold proper etiquette.
Let's face it, if you've been to Broadway or a theatre of equal renown the majority of the audience is middle aged to elderly. According to Koen van Eijck and Wim Knulst, "The number of purists that only engage in highbrow culture is very small in both 1983 and 1999 with two and three per cent, respectively. Among the higher educated, this proportion is somewhat higher among the 40-80 year olds (four or five per cent) than among the 16-39 year olds (zero to one per cent)" (517). The audience of something in the category of "highbrow culture" (for example: theatre performances, art exhibits, symphonies, etc) can be measured. The higher educated you are and the older you are, the more likely you are going to attend something that makes you seem "sophisticated." Eijck and Knulst explain, "It is conceivable that, today, the interest does not appear until people are prepared to acknowledge that their younger, wilder years are over, or until their children have left the parental home" (518). That means when people are ready to look mature and of a higher social status, they stop partying, going out every night, and doing things they might regret, and start attending highbrow events. If they have children, even when their wild years have been over, people have children, they might have a hard time going out so they have to wait until their offspring has moved out on their own. So to look more sophisticated you have to be mannerly. Following "proper etiquette" won't offend anyone and especially the old people who attend the theatre.
The second question I think developed over time due to social standards because parents would bring their kids to a highbrow culture. I don't think there's anything I will be able to read on how that came about and why, though, so let's go right to why should we uphold proper etiquette.
Let's face it, if you've been to Broadway or a theatre of equal renown the majority of the audience is middle aged to elderly. According to Koen van Eijck and Wim Knulst, "The number of purists that only engage in highbrow culture is very small in both 1983 and 1999 with two and three per cent, respectively. Among the higher educated, this proportion is somewhat higher among the 40-80 year olds (four or five per cent) than among the 16-39 year olds (zero to one per cent)" (517). The audience of something in the category of "highbrow culture" (for example: theatre performances, art exhibits, symphonies, etc) can be measured. The higher educated you are and the older you are, the more likely you are going to attend something that makes you seem "sophisticated." Eijck and Knulst explain, "It is conceivable that, today, the interest does not appear until people are prepared to acknowledge that their younger, wilder years are over, or until their children have left the parental home" (518). That means when people are ready to look mature and of a higher social status, they stop partying, going out every night, and doing things they might regret, and start attending highbrow events. If they have children, even when their wild years have been over, people have children, they might have a hard time going out so they have to wait until their offspring has moved out on their own. So to look more sophisticated you have to be mannerly. Following "proper etiquette" won't offend anyone and especially the old people who attend the theatre.
In today's society the economy is harsh and moving out on your own takes a good deal of saving unless you have a very high paying job. The "internet generation" seems to be living at home longer than any other generation. I know my mother always says that she was married and living with my father on their own at my age, but times are different and more difficult than when she was my age. However, my parents and I have attended performances of the theatre since I was at a young age. Why is that? My parents raised me in a highbrow culture because they had the money to do so due to good paying jobs. "Van Eijck (1999) demonstrated that, indeed, social climbers entering the higher classes participated less in traditional highbrow culture than people who had been socialized in those classes from childhood on. These differences were largely due to the differences in socioeconomic family background" (Eijck and Knulst, 522). If you had already been raised in a family with good standing who liked to participate in highbrow culture, then you tend to continue participating while those who move up in social classes, tend to not participate in highbrow culture. Since they aren't interested in it from a young age, they aren't interested in it (for the most part) when they mature.
"During the last quarter of the twentieth century, socializing agents such as school, newspapers, or broadcast companies have renounced this belief in the supremacy of the Western elite culture...because an exclusive preference for traditional highbrow culture no longer represents the current ideal" (Eijck and Knulst, 523). This shows that the younger generation is no longer interested in highbrow events because they are not taught to care. What is the current ideal then? Hanging out with friends, surfing the web, and social media.
"During the last quarter of the twentieth century, socializing agents such as school, newspapers, or broadcast companies have renounced this belief in the supremacy of the Western elite culture...because an exclusive preference for traditional highbrow culture no longer represents the current ideal" (Eijck and Knulst, 523). This shows that the younger generation is no longer interested in highbrow events because they are not taught to care. What is the current ideal then? Hanging out with friends, surfing the web, and social media.