H
Halo
Guest
Everyone here is discussing political correctness as it has become, rather than what it was intended to be (okay, to be fair, @Jorick addressed this to some extent). It's like when you get responses to a thread about feminism that are a tirade against misandry and the oversensitivity of 14-year-olds on Tumblr. Those people aren't actually representing feminism; they're hijacking that ideology for different causes and motives.
It's pretty flawed to address a concept whose very definition has now become "too much of...". That's how we are all defining political correctness - as whatever the individual speaking feels is "too much/too far". Of course nobody is going to like "political correctness" if the way they see it is as whatever goes beyond what they consider the point of reason. The question "what do you think of political correctness" becomes meaningless. The real question then becomes "what is legitimately being respectful, and what is politically correct bullshit?" Everyone's line will be different.
In my opinion, political correctness as it was originally implemented in the public view wasn't such a bad idea. It's a concept that generally aims to enrich conversation with more understanding, by pointing out which words are considered offensive - 'buzz words' of a type, that distract from the message attempting to be conveyed. In a debate or discussion, it's very easy for someone to pick at your words rather than your content and meaning, and having an idea of what is or isn't acceptable to say present in the public mind means that that sort of non-productive nitpicking could hopefully be eliminated.
Somewhat ironically, it became the opposite, which @Brovo's post summed up wonderfully. That's where my line is drawn between "PC bullshit" and "general decency/an awareness of the use of offensive words being counterproductive". The moment at which its purpose was almost reversed so that people were so strangled by red tape about their vocal chords that whatever message they were trying to say became stifled: that's when the concept of "political correctness" had been hijacked, and made a detriment to rather than an aid for conveying meaning.
But it's important to remember that it's somewhat dodgy to argue about a concept solely based on the hijacked version or definition. You see a tonne of people rejecting feminism because of Tumblrites and SJWs completely misinterpreting and misrepresenting its ideals in a very vocal manner; and those same people rejecting it because of that kind of crap often fully support male and female equality and, therefore, are feminists to some greater or lesser extent. Feminism as a movement is being stifled because all anybody discusses is the extreme and misguided version. The same goes here, with the concept of political correctness - it's important not to reject the notion out of hand just because it has been taken to a misguided extreme. That can very easily lead to a broken rubber band-esque snap back too far in the other direction, where we dismiss any concept of the fact that offensiveness is generally counterproductive as "PC bullshit", and we end up with Frankie Boyle as our guide for how to express ourselves because to do otherwise is "suppressing free speech".
There is a place for that concept in our lives, and we all acknowledge it, even if we no longer call it "political correctness" because that term has been diverted from its original intention/definition. It's not really as black and white as either throwing the concept out the window completely or suffocating freedom of expression. A balance is needed, both for the sake of human decency as well as for productivity of conversation.
It's pretty flawed to address a concept whose very definition has now become "too much of...". That's how we are all defining political correctness - as whatever the individual speaking feels is "too much/too far". Of course nobody is going to like "political correctness" if the way they see it is as whatever goes beyond what they consider the point of reason. The question "what do you think of political correctness" becomes meaningless. The real question then becomes "what is legitimately being respectful, and what is politically correct bullshit?" Everyone's line will be different.
In my opinion, political correctness as it was originally implemented in the public view wasn't such a bad idea. It's a concept that generally aims to enrich conversation with more understanding, by pointing out which words are considered offensive - 'buzz words' of a type, that distract from the message attempting to be conveyed. In a debate or discussion, it's very easy for someone to pick at your words rather than your content and meaning, and having an idea of what is or isn't acceptable to say present in the public mind means that that sort of non-productive nitpicking could hopefully be eliminated.
Somewhat ironically, it became the opposite, which @Brovo's post summed up wonderfully. That's where my line is drawn between "PC bullshit" and "general decency/an awareness of the use of offensive words being counterproductive". The moment at which its purpose was almost reversed so that people were so strangled by red tape about their vocal chords that whatever message they were trying to say became stifled: that's when the concept of "political correctness" had been hijacked, and made a detriment to rather than an aid for conveying meaning.
in my mum's colleague's girlfriend's office, which was a part of the Glasgow city council, they received a flyer telling them what terms were okay and not okay to use in the office. Yes, seriously. And hilariously, the term "politically correct" was on the fucking flyer. It said that the term "politically correct" implies that whatever somebody else said could be or was politically "incorrect" - and telling people that their political views are incorrect is, apparently, wrong and offensive to that person. They were told they had to use the term "situationally appropriate", instead. I swear I simultaneously burst into laughter and tears at hearing this bullshit.
But it's important to remember that it's somewhat dodgy to argue about a concept solely based on the hijacked version or definition. You see a tonne of people rejecting feminism because of Tumblrites and SJWs completely misinterpreting and misrepresenting its ideals in a very vocal manner; and those same people rejecting it because of that kind of crap often fully support male and female equality and, therefore, are feminists to some greater or lesser extent. Feminism as a movement is being stifled because all anybody discusses is the extreme and misguided version. The same goes here, with the concept of political correctness - it's important not to reject the notion out of hand just because it has been taken to a misguided extreme. That can very easily lead to a broken rubber band-esque snap back too far in the other direction, where we dismiss any concept of the fact that offensiveness is generally counterproductive as "PC bullshit", and we end up with Frankie Boyle as our guide for how to express ourselves because to do otherwise is "suppressing free speech".
There is a place for that concept in our lives, and we all acknowledge it, even if we no longer call it "political correctness" because that term has been diverted from its original intention/definition. It's not really as black and white as either throwing the concept out the window completely or suffocating freedom of expression. A balance is needed, both for the sake of human decency as well as for productivity of conversation.
