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I keep hearing certain people complain about the term as if it's a bad thing. What's wrong with using language without offending a particular group of people? Those who have a problem with "PC" seems to demonstrate that it's a threat to free speech and has an affinity to tyranny. First of all, free speech only protects you from state persecution. It doesn't protect you from public backlash.
What's wrong with using language without offending a particular group of people?[/b]
1. Trying to keep language so neutral that nobody ever gets their feelings hurt (ever) is not realistic.
2. The target keeps changing - what was not offensive yesterday suddenly is offensive today
3. It reinforces and encourges victimization - poor little gay person, black person, muslim person, woman (fill in the blank) got their feewings hurt (we MUST jump in to save them)
4. It gives words more power than they should have
5. Too many people use offense at language as an excuse for inappropriate behavior, as an excuse to threaten people with financial or physical retaliation, as a political tool, as a tool to get what they want
6. Political correctness has made people afraid to say anything about anybody for fear of being misinterpreted or called a racist, homophobe, sexist, fill in the blank
7. It uses euphemisms to "tone down" what is - to make it more palatable and acceptable. Think 1930s-1940's. Think Final Solution. I would say just call a spade a spade but I would be accused of being a racist.........
8. It creates ridiculous words and phrases that just sound stupid in conversation - people of color, the black community, hispanic community, construction community, fill in the blank community
The workings of the folly called "Political Correctness" is best illustrated by the story of group of six-year old boys who found a turtle, voted it male becasue they had no means to tell its sex, and then didn't know what to do when it started to lay eggs.
1. Trying to keep language so neutral that nobody ever gets their feelings hurt (ever) is not realistic.
2. The target keeps changing - what was not offensive yesterday suddenly is offensive today
3. It reinforces and encourges victimization - poor little gay person, black person, muslim person, woman (fill in the blank) got their feewings hurt (we MUST jump in to save them)
4. It gives words more power than they should have
5. Too many people use offense at language as an excuse for inappropriate behavior, as an excuse to threaten people with financial or physical retaliation, as a political tool, as a tool to get what they want
6. Political correctness has made people afraid to say anything about anybody for fear of being misinterpreted or called a racist, homophobe, sexist, fill in the blank
7. It uses euphemisms to "tone down" what is - to make it more palatable and acceptable. Think 1930s-1940's. Think Final Solution. I would say just call a spade a spade but I would be accused of being a racist.........
8. It creates ridiculous words and phrases that just sound stupid in conversation - people of color, the black community, hispanic community, construction community, fill in the blank community
^^what this poster said.
how ridiculous is it that 'people of color' is OK, but 'colored people' is not*?
There is nothing wrong with the idea of not using words to offend in legitimate examples. The problem was zealots made the idea into a joke. When certain people decided that things like "manhole" was offensive they allowed P.C. to become a running joke.
1. Trying to keep language so neutral that nobody ever gets their feelings hurt (ever) is not realistic.
2. The target keeps changing - what was not offensive yesterday suddenly is offensive today
3. It reinforces and encourges victimization - poor little gay person, black person, muslim person, woman (fill in the blank) got their feewings hurt (we MUST jump in to save them)
4. It gives words more power than they should have
5. Too many people use offense at language as an excuse for inappropriate behavior, as an excuse to threaten people with financial or physical retaliation, as a political tool, as a tool to get what they want
6. Political correctness has made people afraid to say anything about anybody for fear of being misinterpreted or called a racist, homophobe, sexist, fill in the blank
7. It uses euphemisms to "tone down" what is - to make it more palatable and acceptable. Think 1930s-1940's. Think Final Solution. I would say just call a spade a spade but I would be accused of being a racist.........
8. It creates ridiculous words and phrases that just sound stupid in conversation - people of color, the black community, hispanic community, construction community, fill in the blank community
Back in the 90's when Clinton was still in office the Air Force came down with a list of things that were not politically correct to do. On that list was that if a service member witnessed two other service members kissing and complained the two service members kissing would be punished up to and including being kicked out of service.
What this meant was that I could not kiss my wife who was also in the Air Force during duty hours because someone might get upset.
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What's Wrong With Political Correctness?
