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BrandonC | Irwin, PA • United States , Age 18

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Political Correctness Offends Me

Feb 13, 2008 - 20:46 PM PST

So what exactly is political correctness?

Political correctness (PC or politically correct) is a term used to describe language, ideas, policies, or behaviour seen as seeking to minimize offence to groups of people.

Well that underlined statement in my personal opinion, is a tad ironic if you ask me. Personally, I think the idea of political correctness, is actually offending more groups of people, and causing more problems then it's actually solving. Once upon a time, saying "Merry Christmas" was not frowned upon. Once upon a time, saying "Under God" or putting "In God We Trust" on our currency, was nothing to be ashamed of. So what is this world, in-which we have to watch every other word that comes out of our mouth, in an attempt to avoid offending people. Is it a type of "evolution"? Are we becoming more sophisticated by simply saying what should and shouldn't be allowed to be said in public? Or are we just creating a new group of people who reserve their right to say "That fucken offends the hell out of me." and not care left or right, whether or not they offended anyone with their choice of words. Hell, if anything, they were more so proving a point and used words they otherwise wouldn't have used.

I don't know about you, but I truly think that if anything, political correctness as it stands, is more or less a way to remind people that we truly do not have as much control over our life, as we are promised by the constitution. The words "Freedom of Speech" come to mind, when I have something I want to be said, but when it comes to trying to avoid offending people, I start to wonder if what I say is going to touch anyone, or just piss people off. When it comes down to it, half of the stuff political correctness claims to be wrong, I never considered to be even remotely off the island of a simple joke. To this day, the word "fat" hits me in the chest like a brick, when it shouldn't! It wasn't until I was actually in 5th grade, that I knew any other description other then fat, existed! This is not to say that I want to go around calling fat people fat, and still reserve the right to say that I shouldn't offend anyone by doing so, but think about it for a second. I don't know about you, but if I'm over weight, the words "Morbidly Obese" are probably going to be a tad more offensive to me, strictly because now scientists have actually created a set of words to describe my classification of weight! What about being "mentally challenged." I don't know about you, but I would find it a tad offensive, if the description given to me as a mentally challenged person, is a description that chances are, I'm going to lose focus in the middle of saying!

The whole "Happy Holidays" thing alone, is enough to send someone over a cliff if you ask me. For more then half of my entire life, people had absolutely no problem saying Merry Christmas to each other. It was nothing but a simple, tis the season, Merry Christmas, Happy New years. Now I have to worry about saying Merry Christmas, then getting raped by some person verbally, because he's not Christian, but either atheist or Jewish or some other religion. Fact of the matter is, if I see someone sneeze, I'm going to say "God Bless You", not because I snickered under my breath and thought to myself "Oh boy, I'm going to offend this person, and it's going to be so funny." but because he sneezed. Half of the phrases this world is becoming offended of, are simple stuff that we were taught as kids, and the only reason anyone is just now finding them offensive, is because we damn well can. That doesn't mean we should though!

So I guess what I'm trying to say here is, political correctness offends me. By all means, please post your comments on this and tell me what you think on the subject, I'm interested in seeing how many people agree or disagree, or have totally different views. I walk away from the podium and hand it over to anyone interested.

Title: Political Correctness Offends Me

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Added: 02-13-2008

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RurouniJT

Feb 23, 2008 - 09:07 AM

As for the whole "Happy Holidays" thing, I don't care. Anybody should be able to say whatever they want to whomever they want on an individual basis. If one celebrates Winter Solstice and another celebrates Christmas, why can't one say to the other "Merry Christmas" And "Happy Winter Solstice"? Just because you say so isn't imposing your belief on the other person.

RurouniJT

Feb 23, 2008 - 09:05 AM

I agree with Dex, that there is typically a reason for PC terms to exist. Some of it is ridiculous. But I honestly think that the separation between church and state is a big deal. Now you put up some examples that dealt directly with this issue. But as far as I'm concerned, God has very little place in politics. Especially since the people He or She chooses to represent Him/Her are really doing a terrible job. So when people use God to confuse people's politics we can get things like Hitler's Germany. Granted that's an extreme example, but it was fueled by religion. So I feel, to be a successful nation, we should be Godless. Religion is too sticky for politics. So separation is good. Mind you, I have nothing against religion when I say this. I simply think that religion should be religion and government should be government. But having things like "under God" in the pledge of allegiance is a subtle way of ostracizing someone for not believing in the same god as the rest of us. Same with "In God We Trust".

jha

Feb 14, 2008 - 08:06 AM

I agree with Dex, the origins of PCness were noble, but it's moved beyond that today and we're slowly being pushed closer and closer to that cliff you mention. However, I do find it entertaining to have arguments with strict PC followers, they spend most of the time stammering and stumbling, and end up eating their words no matter what the end result.

halflifer

Feb 14, 2008 - 01:34 AM

I don't see why you have to say anything at all if someone sneezes. I mean he just sneezed, that's all. Unless you want to say "OMG, should I call 911 ?" or something.

dex2988

Feb 13, 2008 - 21:16 PM

Perhaps the politically correct movement has gone beyond its original intention. The way I see it, society starting stressing PC awareness to avoid incidents arising from comments like:

"Man, there's too many fucking niggers in here. Let's go somewhere else."

or:

"Why the hell are Jews so goddamn cheap?"

or:

"Bitch, get in the kitchen and make my dinner."

Obviously, there is no place for statements like that in our world. Unfortunately, I think that political correctness focuses on what you can't say and to whom you can't say it instead of WHY it's offensive in the first place.

For example, Kelly Tilghman clearly didn't see what would be wrong with suggesting that a group of white golfers get together to lynch Tiger Woods because he was so much better than them. Maybe to her, lynching is an archaic practice and as unrealistic as if she had said to "take him to the guillotine," but for African Americans, it's still an exceptionally hurtful thing to say, even though that wasn't her intent.

See what happens the next time you say to a Jewish person (instead of "I will kick your ass) "I will burn you in an oven." If you're not aware of the Holocaust, the reference means nothing to you. If you are, you realize just how strong an image you can conjure in a Jewish person's mind, much the same way that lynching pierces the mind of a black person.

PC today seems to have moved on from the more recognized and more extreme cases of intolerance towards seemingly frivolous term modifications, many of which you have already mentioned. I agree with the intent, but I agree it may have gone too far in certain situations.