WEBVTT - How Have Funerals Changed Since the '60s?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here you know the image of a standard American,

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<v Speaker 1>usually Christian funeral. It takes place at a funeral home

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<v Speaker 1>with attendees dressed all in black. An open casket with

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<v Speaker 1>an embalmed body rests in front of the crowd. After

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<v Speaker 1>the service, a hearst takes the casket to a cemetery

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<v Speaker 1>for burial. This was a conventional funeral in the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>but this sort of send off of the dead has

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<v Speaker 1>undergone adjustments over the decades. We spoke Gary Ladderman, chair

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<v Speaker 1>of Emory University's Department of Religion and author of two

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<v Speaker 1>books on death. He said that perhaps the most significant

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<v Speaker 1>change is the rising popularity of cremation. Some religious beliefs

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<v Speaker 1>have long worked to convince people of the importance of

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<v Speaker 1>physically preserving loved ones, and it was more profitable for

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<v Speaker 1>the funeral industry too, so burial remained prevalent. Latterman pointed

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<v Speaker 1>to the psychology of it too. He said, it's historically

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<v Speaker 1>rooted in American culture. That is, the idea that we

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<v Speaker 1>can preserve the body. That's an important concept and how

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<v Speaker 1>we respond to and think about death. But the idea

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<v Speaker 1>of preserving the body started changing with the publication of

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<v Speaker 1>a seminal book, Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death,

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<v Speaker 1>a nineteen sixty three best selling expose a of how

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<v Speaker 1>some members of the U. S. Funeral home industry were

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<v Speaker 1>fleecing mourners. Creation provided alternative ideas to consumers. In the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixties, the cremation rate was only three but today

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<v Speaker 1>Creation's outpaced burials, if only slightly. As of seen, according

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<v Speaker 1>to the Cremation Association of North America, the US cremation

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<v Speaker 1>rate was fifty one point six percent. By two the

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<v Speaker 1>rate is projected to jump by more than six percentage points.

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<v Speaker 1>Cremation has raised questions about the importance of the body

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<v Speaker 1>and its role in funerals. Lattiman said, clearly the idea

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<v Speaker 1>that somehow the body needs to be preserved for all

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<v Speaker 1>time and a casket intervolt no longer holds. We have

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<v Speaker 1>different ideas about symbolic religious meanings of the body, but

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<v Speaker 1>Midford's expos a isn't the only reason for changing funeral norms.

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<v Speaker 1>In the nineteen sixties were a time of cultural upheaval,

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<v Speaker 1>which extended to analyzing accepted death customs. Ladderman said it's

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<v Speaker 1>also in tandem with the whole spirit of the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>challenging authority, new forms of spirituality, new ways of thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about the afterlife. All these things, in addition to the politics,

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<v Speaker 1>that too, contributes to a major shift in people's thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about death, how they experienced death, and what they do

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<v Speaker 1>with a corpse. Also, consumer culture has shifted since the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixties, allowing people more opportunities for customization. According to Taste,

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<v Speaker 1>you might recognize this in the myriad ways funerals have

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<v Speaker 1>gotten personalized requests for mourners to wear non black clothing,

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<v Speaker 1>music liked by the deceased playing at the funeral, or

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<v Speaker 1>tombstones they pay homage to the person's hobbies. These days

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<v Speaker 1>are loved ones don't have to lean as much on

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<v Speaker 1>tradition or guesses about what the dearly departed would have

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<v Speaker 1>wanted for their funeral. Until the nineteen sixties, people might

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<v Speaker 1>include funeral recommendations in their will, but didn't usually get

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<v Speaker 1>more specific than that. And now people have gotten more

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<v Speaker 1>comfortable with planning their own funerals, further driving the trend

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<v Speaker 1>towards personalization. Organized religions lessening influence has also taken its

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<v Speaker 1>toll on funerals. According to a Pew Research Center study,

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<v Speaker 1>in about of US adults marked themselves as unaffiliated religious

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<v Speaker 1>nuns of people who are atheist, agnostic, or nothing. In particular,

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<v Speaker 1>in two thousand seven, only sixteen percent of people were nuns.

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<v Speaker 1>Traditional religions began losing their grip after the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>which has created more freedom to choose other styles of funerals,

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<v Speaker 1>another opportunity for personalization. Laderman said to me, it's not

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<v Speaker 1>a symptom of secularization or religion being absent. It's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of new forms of religious expression that get bound up

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<v Speaker 1>in the most religious moment for any of us, which

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<v Speaker 1>is when we have to face death. Even the terminology

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<v Speaker 1>of funerals has changed over the past few decades. It

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<v Speaker 1>used to be called a funeral service, but that morphed

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<v Speaker 1>into memorial served us and finally a celebration of life

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<v Speaker 1>meant to showcase the deceased personality, poppies and accomplishments. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Adina Solomon and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other lively topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit our home planet, How stuff Works dot com,