What Is Political Correctness?

J

Jorah Lavin

New member
Note: This is a cross-post, a repeat of a post I made on the Firing Range board
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Hi, All

I'm curious about "P.C." language. I feel as if I know it when I see it (and it generally makes me ill) but some people online seem to brand any sort of call for polite behavior as being Political Correctness.

I'd like to hear your take on P.C.
  • Should it exist?
  • What is it?
  • Should it be fought against?
  • How is it different from being polite?*
I've seen people rail against speech they branded as P.C. nonsense, who demanded similarly protective language be used when discussing their favored political or religious stance; is there any way to get away from such (to me) hypocrisy?

After thinking this over, I'm about as confused as I was before I thought it over. I'm also not expecting that we will "nail down" a definiton that we will all agree on and use from here on out. I'm more trying to get a feel for the "landscape" of thought around P.C. issues.

One aspect of P.C. is the "spoilage" factor. Take the situation around people whose bodies aren't... well, right in the middle of the bell curve of "normal" human bodies.

Years ago, to get away from using the word "cripple," we were urged to use the term "handicapped." Now, "handicapped" is "bad," and we are urged to use the term "differently abled." "Disabled" was in there somewhere, too.

I object to "differently-abled" for at least two reasons; it seems like plain old P.C. to me, and it also is terrible English. "Cripple" sounds crude to me, but at least it is a strong English word.

You can see a similar evolution in other cases; in race issues, we went from "Negro" to "black" to "African American" to "People of Color."
In mental health we have "different," "slow," "retarded," "developmentally disabled," "learning disabled," "challenged," and so on.

What seems to me to be attempts to be Politically Correct may just be attempts to be polite to real people who are facing some tough challenges. But... if being African American is important, should I insist that I be referred to as part of the European American Community? I'd prefer to just be an American, and it wouldn't surprise me if a whole bunch of black people feel the same way.

In the firearm community, we are sometimes urged to refer to "Victim Disarmament" while the other side uses "Sensible Gun Control." Or how about "clip" vs "magazine" in discussions of auto pistols? Is it just accuracy in terminology, or is it a sort of technology-based P.C.? (Would we call it T.C?)

Anyway, I'd love to see your take on it; I often find that by hearing various arguments, my own thinking is clarified.

-Jorah

For total disclosure purposes, (so that you can evaluate my bias):

  • Political: I lean toward a libertarian stance ( I'm right at the center-top on The World s Smallest Political Quiz ).
  • Religion: I'm agnostic/atheist, with a traditional Episcopalian childhood and a Pagan/agnostic/Discordian adulthood.
  • I feel that language partly defines reality for the individual, and hence is worth examination... since the words we use are important, I want to be sure that I'm using them correctly to meet my aims.[/LI]
  • What people do is more important than what they say. If you preach tolerance, but are intolerant, then I'll believe that as a true picture of you.
  • I'm aware that I've my own prejudices; I try to confront them in forums such as this. Feel free to PM me if you catch me being bigoted, and I'll consider carefully what you tell me.

Some background links that I've found valuable in thinking about this issue:

Freedom of Religion: http://www.thisistrue.com/rfree.html
Zero Tolerance (related to P.C., I think): http://www.thisistrue.com/zt.html
Language defines reality; and one way to reshape your reality: http://libarynth.f0.am/cgi-bin/view/Libarynth/GeneralSemantics

*footnote: I'm all for being polite; it is the lubricant that helps us reduce the friction of living in large groups. I'm not at all for building a fog of language, where nothing is called what it is... but who gets to define "what it is," or even what "is" is? (I'm mostly joking here!)



.
 
"Years ago, to get away from using the word "cripple," we were urged to use the term "handicapped." Now, "handicapped" is "bad," and we are urged to use the term "differently abled." "Disabled" was in there somewhere, too.

I object to "differently-abled" for at least two reasons; it seems like plain old P.C. to me, and it also is terrible English. "Cripple" sounds crude to me, but at least it is a strong English word."


If you're going to call them anything, the phrase person with a disability is generally accepted because it puts the person before the disability...person with a spinal cord injury, person with a visual impairment, etc. The opposite of this is mentally ill person, mentally retarded person, etc., that puts the disability first.

I always liked tab, as in "You're just another tab." = Temporarily Able Bodied.

John
...just don't call me late to dinner.
 
To me, PC is the moral cowardice which refuses to allow discussion of reality. For instance, we know who commits the greatest amount of violent crime in the U.S on an "events/100,000 basis). It is politically incorrect for an Old White Guy to point out that CDC statistics say that blacks are the perpetrators. It is only alright for a conservative black guy to say so--and he is ignored by the media.

It is the sort of moral cowardice that says that spendthrift behavior is "negative savings". (Yes, that's the way it's described by government sociologists.)

PC is yapping that a school teacher can somehow create self-esteem in a kid by avoiding any challenge in any homework. By accepting "close" answers in math problems, where calling an answer wrong would somehow "hurt" the student...

PC is using waffle-words, weasel-words, in efforts to justify race-norming of test scores. Or to say that "under representation" by race in a school or workplace is not a call for quotas. And other insults to various minority groups.

It's also known as "hypocrisy".

Art
 
PC is the ability to communicate using absolutely no word, phrase, symbol or gesture that might possibly offend any individual or group on the planet or any individual or group that may some day occupy the planet. This includes ignoring or re-writing history to prevent the same classifications from being offended.

There are four exceptions to this rule:

1. Any "Civil Rights" personality anywhere in the world can say anything they want about anyone they want at any time. This comment is not necessarily required to be based on any truthful fact.

2. The "Liberal News Media" may likewise make any statement regarding any individual without reference to truthfulness.

3. Any person from any country may make any comment regarding the United States and it's governing body without regard to truthfulness. The only limit is that the comment must in no way be praising any action made by the United States or it's designated representative.

4. Anyone may make any comment, with absolutely no restrictions, about anything relating to the utterly detestable species known as "White Republican Conservative Male." Extra credit is given if you can make any member of this species stand up in public and humiliate themselves by renouncing and apologizing for some action, not necessarily an action which violates the PC code.
 
PC is very recognizable when you translated documents for government before the soviets fell. When communists speak they go to great length to avoid any word , phrase or historical useage that might brand them as "antirevolutionary" . The resulting language becomes "new speach" that was referenced by George Orwille and other cultural observationists. It is a socialist driven phenomena that is a blatant example of using "useful idiots" and other "fellow travelers" to subvert the infra structure of a republic. Hence it is PC to view the constitution as a "living document". We can rationalize away any concrete actions by being "sensitive" to any issue so we become impotent sheeple(socialist residents).:barf:
 
PC speech is language that, for political purposes, creates new sub-categories for politicians to exploit. It shatters the "great melting pot" of America into small groups that can be bought off by their votes. And it gives the most conniving pol a tool to further divide the populace by saying that his opponent opposes legislation that would benefit Group A (subcategory B) (sub-subcategory C).

PC language also absolves the responsible for the responsibility of their actions. After all, it's not the individual's fault, it's because he belongs to Group A.
 
Off thread but serious question

If the piece of equipment that David slew Goliath with was a "slingshot" (pouch tied between 2 pieces of string) what do you call the piece of equipment made like a Y with elastic material attached to the top of the arms with a pouch in between? In PC speak they are both called a slingshot.

When I was a kid I tried to use a David/Goliath slingshot but couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with it. But I was a real marksman with the Y type shooter, whatever you call it.

Guess I'm just too old to learn a new language so I'll just continue to "call a spade a spade". That's probably non-PC too. ;) So sue me or is it now "legally challenge" me.
 
Is P.C. strictly a Liberal phenomenon, then?

Or do we have any Conservative examples? Or is it based on weasle-type behavior, regardless of party?

slingshot.jpg


Westex, I must be P.C. then, because I've always called shot-slingers of either type slingshots...

-J.

PS: P.C. revisionists probably would have tried to show that David was picking on a person with glandular challenges...
 
A particular pet-peeve of mine is the whole "african american" thing. BULL&^%#%$#%!!!!

What African language(s) do you speak?

What part of Africa are you from?

What, don't know the answers to the above two questions? GUESS WHAT? YOU ARE NOT AFRICAN IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.

/rant.

Sorry, it just drives me NUTS. I AM GREEK because I speak Greek (my first language) my grandparents were all born in Greece, I have relatives in Greece, I've visited Greece on several occasions. I am Greek.

You cannot really, IMO, claim stake to any ethnic background if you cannot name exactly where your ancestors are from, and cannot speak the native language.
 
First, I don't think simple manners are "PC" .. they're just manners. Politeness is one of the hallmarks of a healthy society. :)

Second... I think the "running terminology" game (Negro, no, Colored, no Black, no, African American, no, Person of Color[again]) is merely an attempt at outrunning perceived scorn. It's a surface-level attempt to cure a much underlying sickness. But what those pushing it don't realize is that you can't legislate manners merely by offering new magic words... they will inevitably take on the context of the old over time.

Third, I think "PC" speak is an attempt at advancing a political agenda through language. Doesn't matter if the agenda is "Victim Disarmament" or "Common Sense Gun Control".... in either case I'm not too fond of it, but things don't dissappear just 'cause you're not fond of 'em...thankfully.


-K
 
"Politically correct" is a phrase used by people who are afraid of change to belittle others' efforts to do the right thing in their use of language. It's a great zinger for use by those who have no valid, logical argument against a concept.

True, some efforts to make the language amenable to those who do not dominate society are convoluted and inept, but to degrade the intention because the result is imperfect is like bitching your kid out for a swing and miss in Little League.
 
eye o' the beholder

It could be argued that all speech is "an attempt at advancing a political agenda through language."

IMO, many of the people who seem to be pushing PC firmly believe they are merely insisting upon being treated equally—with manners as firmly in place as homogeneous people use among themselves in public, polite forums. OTOH, PC has itself become a name of derision from another sector for the need to think twice before speaking.

It all ends up being strategic... if you want to actually discuss an issue, it's good strategy to do what you can to avoid giving secondary insult. If you use words well known to be insulting, I can only assume that giving insult was among the purposes of what you said.

No words oughtta be verboten... they all have meanings, therefore, they all have uses. But some are so fraught with meaning (denotative and connotative) as to have become useless in and inherently distracting from polite discourse.
 
Looking back, I realize I should've used "tactical" where I have "strategic." Even as committed to polite and clear discourse as I am, I err.

BTW, I always thought David ben Jesse used a sling (the long thingie) and Huck Finn used a slingshot (the Y-shaped thingie).
 
PC is the ability to communicate using absolutely no word, phrase, symbol or gesture that might possibly offend any individual or group on the planet ...
Click to expand...

Except the people who see through it are offended as all heck! :mad:

I think Art covered it pretty well with his definition of "moral cowardice" and examples from the real world.

What the PC crowd are probably looking for is the adoption of their "values" by everybody else. In other words, "none."
 
David, nualle: A little forethought, a serious amount of courtesy and politeness, and one need not use ANY "PC" language, no matter the subject.

PC is NOT just in the words. The thoughts behind the words create the structure of Political Correctness. I repeat that it is the refusal to see and understand the real world of real people that is most contributory to the attitudes behind PC.

I further believe that there is a refusal to consider basic human nature--as observed over centuries--in much of modern laws and regulations, not to mention the views of the PC crowd. And I will add that the proponents have an elitist view of society. The silly twits have the same attitude toward Joe SixPack as the Supreme Court's views of blacks in the Dred Scott decision.

Art
 
"Politically Correct"is an oxymoron. It is also social censorship and moral cowardice. It is also ca ca del toro.

Civility is the luricant of society, and as several have pointed out, good manners are always correct and proper for everyone. 'Nuff said.
 
Art, I think you and I agree that common courtesy obviates PC. I think we disagree about what PC is trying to accomplish in those cases in which courtesy has already proved absent. Frankly, it's probably already a lost cause by then. Someone who's rude isn't going to learn manners by someone else's pointing out that they were rude.

I honestly don't think PC is essentially about refusing to deal with reality. I think it is a backlash against the slowness of language patterns to change to reflect changing reality—and, more to the point, the stubborn retention of those language patterns as a positive means of quelling or reversing those changes.

I readily agree that PC has its excesses... like associating "niggardly," a word that (according to my OAD) is probably of Scandinavian etymology, with "nigger," which comes from Latin. They're both pejorative (though of different qualities) and they sound similar, so I suppose the conflation may have been inevitable. Still, I find it unfortunate.
 
Politically correct

Doing what looks/sounds good when reported in the Times or on CNN, rather than the right thing.

If people remembered the basic societal rules we all learned in kindergarten, "Mind your manners, and keep your hands to yourself" things would be fine.

DrJones, you would like talk radio host Roger Hedgecock (spelling?) that is his pet peeve also. When callers use the phrase on his show he corrects them. "You are an American of African descent. Not an African American"
 
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