Political Correctness

[Fryk]

If your toilet paper chaps your ass, you should switch brands.

[protege]

Personally, I'm atheist and I don't give a toss if someone wishes me happy Christmas, Quanza or Hanakka; it's the thought that counts.

Around here, we get to celebrate "Sparkle Season." My feeling on that? Are you fucking kidding me? But, I understand the reasoning behind it. When that shit started, some idiot complained that the menorah on the city-county building steps wasn't "prominent" enough. At the time, the city was already dealing with that, and not wanting more "offended" people, chose to call Christmas "Sparkle Season." Stupid as hell, but at least they soon quit that. It's now the "holiday season,"and everyone's happy

I too don't get the "African-American" thing either. I mean, not all black people come from Africa, dammit! I'm sure someone from Jamaica, Trinidad, or any other Carribean island would get pissed if I called them "African-American." Oddly enough, why can't people from Algeria, Egypt, and the white folks in South Africa...use that label? Aren't those places in Africa?

Can you tell the PC crowd pisses me off yet? Why is it that nobody in whatever group gets offended over a term. Yet, people *outside* the group have to 'reclassify' things because *they* seem to have some guilt over things?

[KnitShoni]

Can you tell the PC crowd pisses me off yet? Why is it that nobody in whatever group gets offended over a term. Yet, people *outside* the group have to 'reclassify' things because *they* seem to have some guilt over things?

Some people just need to be offended by something, and they seem to think what offends them HAS to offend everyone else.

And yes, I don't get the necessity to call American Blacks "African-American," either. Most of us didn't come from Africa, and don't have ancestors who came from Africa going back 400 years.

Oh, and KitterCat? Be aware, most of us do not like Blacks using the "N" word anymore than we like others using it.

[linguist]

The medical PC drives me nuts.
Blind = visually impaired.

visually impaired is often a more accurate term, as "blind" has a connotation of 100% loss of sight. many people classified as "blind" still have some sight, even if not enough to be functional.

[Boozy]

Thanks for pointing that out, linguist.

"Visually impaired" is a diagnosis, and its important from a legal perspective. People who have lost 80% of their sight often need some assistance from government programs, but they can't be called "blind".

Some of the examples here of political correctness are over-the-top, but everytime I hear someone say "I hate having to be politically correct!" there's at least a chance that they really mean "I hate having to be aware and sensitive to other people's feelings."

A good example from the OP is calling adult diapers "undergarments" and bibs "clothing covers". Having watched a family member die after years of suffering from a degenerative disease, I know how important these terms can be in preserving someone's dignity.

Not all so-called PC terms are "bullshit".

[Amanita]

infinitemonkies, I pretty much agree with what you said, regarding PC terms and race/cultural relations. Thanks to PC, I am much more hesitant to ask somebody of a different culture or religion honest questions for fear of offending. I don't mean prurient questions- I'm not going to go up to a Mormon and ask "So, do you wear that magical religious underwear?" But if the subject of race or religion comes up in conversation, it would be nice not to have to worry whether even the most seemingly innocuous comment or question is going to cause mortal offense and get me labelled a racist or something else nasty.

Sometimes I think that excessive PC is doing the cause of race relations more harm than good.
Like I said, it makes it harder to ask honest questions, or discuss things openly for fear of causing offense.

[Hobbs]

I myself hate the racists who think they aren't. For instance, when I first met my girlfriend's family at her birthday party (her family is way redneck) her aunt asked me, "So what kind of Hispanic are you?" I sort of gave a "wtf" face (darnit, no smiley) and she added, "Oh, don't worry, I love Hispanics. I love Mexican food!" Um, that's nice...so do I. But you don't see me asking, "What kind of white are you?"

For the record, I'm an American. Mexican-American denotes a Mexican who has emigrated to the US.

[Rageaholic]

I think we've gone overboard with the PC. It's fine to be tactful of others feelings, but it's taken too far when we can't even say something without fear of offending others. A good example, "Merry Christmas". Anyone who gets offended over someone wishing them a merry christmas needs to see a proctologist. Same with a lot of other examples here. There reaches a point when we become so cautious of offending others that we're walking on coals.

On the flip side, I do know exactly what boozy is talking about. Some people hide behind the "I'm not gonna be PC" card just so they can say something blatently offensive. When called on it, they'll act like they are only saying stuff nobody else has the courage to say. I usually see this with street preachers, conspiracy theorists, and various other wackos who have bizare unfounded claims, but there are others who are just assholes.

We need to draw a line between the stuff that is blatently and intentionally offensive and the stuff that people take offense to "just because". It's easier said than done and there are grey areas, but I think in most instances, it's easy to tell the difference.

[Rapscallion]

A good example from the OP is calling adult diapers "undergarments" and bibs "clothing covers". Having watched a family member die after years of suffering from a degenerative disease, I know how important these terms can be in preserving someone's dignity.

Not all so-called PC terms are "bullshit".

I would go so far as to say that the above example (which stuck out for me as well) isn't even political correctness. It's focussing on the actual dignity of the individuals, not on a perception of possible insult of a racial or social demographic. Some of the others looked to be along those lines as well.

Rapscallion

[protege]

I think we've gone overboard with the PC. It's fine to be tactful of others feelings, but it's taken too far when we can't even say something without fear of offending others. A good example, "Merry Christmas". Anyone who gets offended over someone wishing them a merry christmas needs to see a proctologist.

That's how I see it too. I'm all for being *respectful* of others. That is, I don't go around *intentionally* trying to offend people. However, if someone gets upset because I've wished them a "Merry Christmas," I'm going to respond by telling them to go fuck themselves

On the flip side, I do know exactly what boozy is talking about. Some people hide behind the "I'm not gonna be PC" card just so they can say something blatently offensive. When called on it, they'll act like they are only saying stuff nobody else has the courage to say.

Yep, some people just want to be assholes for the hell of it...and hide behind the "PC Card" as an excuse. Their sole aim in life seems to be pissing off as many people as possible.

We need to draw a line between the stuff that is blatently and intentionally offensive and the stuff that people take offense to "just because". It's easier said than done and there are grey areas, but I think in most instances, it's easy to tell the difference.

...but along those lines, I find the "offensive" comedy, such as South Park, and Family Guy to be downright hilarious. Mainly, because they go after *everybody.* Sure, there aren't any 'safe' areas...but it does make people think about things.

[blas87]

I don't think everyone or even a lot of people whom are anti-PC are insensitive to others. I think that's a gross generalization.

[Plaidman]

I don't think everyone or even a lot of people whom are anti-PC are insensitive to others. I think that's a gross generalization.

True. Very true. To alot of anti-pc people it's the INTENT of the word rather then the use. For alot of people with no hate in their heart or mind, it's just a word. Or asking questions because they are really just curious about other stuff. We were all taught at young age to learn by asking. It's innate trait of all humans to want to learn.

[blas87]

I only posted that because I read earlier in the thread someone had said that people who are anti-PC are insensitive people. It's just not true.

I'm not the nicest person, but I'm not anti-PC because I want to call people niggers and spics or cripples and all those other words freely. That's just an extreme.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Same here.

Someone else also said that people in the group tend not to care about a word, say; it's people outside who are insisting on the PC bullshit. For example; I once talked to this guy in the pub all night; he happened to be Irish. We spent a good portion of the night exchanging Irish jokes. His were better; he said that his and others method with Irish jokes was not to get offended, but to top them. I've followed that advice with blonde/anti women jokes, in fact and it works a hell of a lot better than wetting your pants and getting offended.

[aurelemsrealm]

I'm not easily offended, so I could care less about being PC. I call it as I see it, but I go about it as honestly and respectfully as possible. Unfortunately, the truth is not always pretty. I'm nice enough to those who are nice to me. I treat others the way I want to be treated, and then modify my behavior toward them according to how they treat me in return. I figure anyone who is going to get riled up that easily is most likely a waste of my time, anyway.

Like someone else posted about the holidays, I could care less if you say, "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy Holidays!" The thought means the same thing however you say it. If I say one to someone, and they try to correct me, I'll probably resort to, "Go to hell!" or something to that effect as my response.