How PC are you?

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I posted this topic in the MUG a few days ago and Tal suggested I post it here for more exposure.

How Politically Correct are you?

 

I'll just copy-paste my answer from the MUG:

I'm on a Christian dating/community site, where I'm definitely not PC.
I often make tricky jokes, depending on the situation. And at sad/solemn occasions I sometimes have the need to lift up some spirits by saying something unorthodox, but not entirely rude or weird.
To foreigners, I might come across as someone who suffers from "Dutch Directness", but I like to think I'm a bit more considerate.

 

And just why would I give a rat's ass how pc I am?

 

It all depends on what the standard of political correctness is. In China, Iran or large parts of the US I would not be considered very PC but in liberal, tolerant and democratic societies I am extremely PC. Getting more PC as I grow older and no longer see being PC as something negative. Too many people pride themselves on how non-PC they are and use being anti-PC as a shield to say and do horrible things. Political correctness is the boundaries we impose on ourselves to check what is considered unacceptable behaviour and this of course differs from society to society but as I said, my brand of political correctness where tolerance and acceptance is important and where words that demean and dehumanize people are frowned upon is something I consider to be a good thing.

 

@Mon - A sense of humour is a good thing I think.

Enough to post that statement

I agree

 

I believe in saying what you think as clearly as possible, but I don't see the need to deliberately try to be offensive in your communication.

On the flip side, though, there are some people who seem to come up with new and interesting things to be offended at on a daily basis, and what they are really doing, IMHO, is an Orwellian attempt to limit expression and thought. Those people need to be told that while their opinions and feelings are valid and important, they are no more important than the opinions and feelings of others, and that their constant whining about how offended they are is likely only to result in people going out of their way to offend them out of frustration.

 

Where do you meet those people? I have heard about them but never really encountered any. Do you have any concrete example?

 

STFU!

 

I think I'm actually quite PC, except for a lot of situations, like stated in my first post. (Ok, this is getting weird...)

I'm quite PC when it comes to different races, for instance. Here, some words are not really that much frowned upon, I guess, yet I still prefer to talk about a "brown person" rather than a black one or negro.

Not trying to generalize is, imo, part of being PC, and when I'm serious (HAHAHA!) I tend to do that it lot.

 

Well, this post is likely to be censored a bit, but I'm only using this in context. I met a girl last year and I mentioned that someone in our class had "oriental features". The next day, this girl asked me, quite huffily, to not use the word "oriental" around her, and that she understood that because I was older I didn't understand that it was offensive (with the patronizing tone and look of "you're old and therefore too stupid to know any better" that some arrogant youngsters have.)

My response was "WTF"? It's not like "nigger" or "kike" or something like that. Looking around my city, I see at least 10 restaurants named things like "Oriental Gardens" or brand names on food items in the grocery store like "Oriental gems" and such. You don't see "Nigger Nook" or "Kike Korner" restaurants around here, when the heck did "Oriental" join that list of verboten words?

To me, the little . . . darling . . . . was just looking for an excuse to pitch a hissy fit, and I'm tired of such people trying to censor everyday words just because they have woken up one day and decided they don't want to hear that word anymore.

I actually looked on Wikipedia and found an article that said the word is considered offensive in Canada. I've lived here for 37/39 years and I have never heard that. But it's on the Internet so it must be true, right?

I was close to telling her that my uncle had been sodomized by a rutabaga and therefore never wanted her to ever use the word "rutabaga" again or I'd be offended, but I held my peace.

 

I don't get that either. A reference to a race or culture is not automatically a slur. And I'm sorry, but the notion that racial and/or cultural distinctions must be ignored at all costs is just silly. There's nothing inherently wrong with me noting that some guy is Jewish or Scandinavian or a Baptist or that a woman is a woman while I am not. Quite frankly, the people who are so easily excited about those types of things seem to be much more vigilantly aware of the differences than the people who dare to casually remark on them.

 

Agreed! References are not slur. Neither are facts. Still, I'm reversed in pointing out facts (unless it has some value in a conversation, of course) that put people in a negative spot. And generalizing people isn't quite right. But pointing out a difference is the opposite of generalizing. I don't see any harm in stating differences. (And generalizing can be fun, too, btw. )

Edit: No idea why Oriental would be not done. Nothing wrong with that term here (yet). We just use Asian for people who look Chinees, Oriental, Japanese and anyone else from South East Asia who's not Indian or Indonesian (Asia is big. Darn. Middle East, Russia, so many folks from Asia who are not called Asians...)

 

Different thing: There's a term here for people who I call Mentally Disabled. It's "People with Abilities/Opportunities" (Mensen met Mogelijkheden). Screw that! 50 years ago, they were called mongols and I can understand why we changed that. But this is weird. If they are people with abilities, then what am I? People with different abilities? Oooh! There's a difference! Can't say that!

 

I'm really not. I don't try to offend people, but I'm also not going to change who I am and how I talk/think/write to satisfy someone else's sensibilities. By that same token I try not to say/do anything that is culturally unacceptable(as in different cultures..different places get offended by different things and I try to respect that - example would be not eating left-handed in the middle east, even though I actually prefer to do so).

I'm generally not vulgar, and avoid the "taboo" topics in the appropriate places(I rarely think or discuss them anywhere really). I'm considered very blunt by most standards...I don't see the point in dancing around the bush...ugly babies are ugly, stupid decisions are stupid, etc. I should probably respect rank more than I do...it gets me in hot water occasionally...respect is earned not given...I feel I'm in the minority with that viewpoint.

 

I don't have a problem with political correctness. I don't see what the issue is. I'd rather we go out of our way to avoid causing offense, than go back to when racism, sexism and general intolerance was the norm. When I hear people say 'political correctness has gone mad' as the tabloid press over here like to spout, I can never understand what they mean.

 

Many people would use the term Asian to include Indians and Pakistanis as well. In London, I know that Asian refers more to those from the subcontinent than those from China. In some ways it's a bit of a silly term as it effectively describes about 80% of the worlds population, so is a bit of a sweep. Like saying "I love Asian food" is like saying "I love just about all the food in the world" because there is probably more variety of food from somewhere as colossal as China than there is in all the rest of the world combined.

 

And all for what - to protect the tender, vulnerable sensibilities of disabled people? What's more 'offensive' to me is making a blanket assumption that they can't handle anything but sunshine and butterflies (and then patronizing them accordingly) when in reality many of those people are among the toughest SOBs on the planet.

---------- Added 0 hours, 52 minutes and 51 seconds later... ----------

Gah! - I must beg forgiveness of the board. I said "SOB," which implies only sons of mean-spirited women, not daughters. I had no right to exclude daughters and doing so was insensitive, so I should use "offspring." Also it's insensitive to say or imply that any woman is mean-spirited, so I should change that to "good-hearted" and assume that all women are. So I'm going instead with "offspring of good-hearted women," Or OOGHW.

Disabled people are often among the toughest OOGHWs on the planet. (Wait - is it okay to say or imply that a person may be tough, or is that also offensive?)

Alright, disabled people are often among the most vulnerable OOGHWs on the planet. (No, wait! - Now I'm saying exactly what I didn't want to say. But at least hopefully no one's offended.)