A contrarian view

[chipotle]

This appeared on a mailing list I'm on, in which someone had referred to looking for the "God shot" of espresso (i.e., a really good "pull" from an espresso machine) and someone else joked that the ACLU was threatening to sue people to remove the word God from "God shot." As is the way of mailing lists, a small war over the propriety of this sort of joke erupted, although the war was more polite and thoughtful than many I've seen. Someone posted this observation:

I, for one, believe that "political correctness" is one of the few civic and civil achievements America has seen over the last few decades. Maybe that's why so many people mock it. Some may emphasize and recoil at the coercive effect that "correctness" has in inhibiting a few who are generally more powerful or privileged, but that's a small price to pay in return for a much heightened awareness and sensitivity, especially at a time when the Internet allows us nearly anonymous access to thousands of others.

I know I've certainly grown more sick of people using the phrase politically correct as a way to dismiss all concerns of others, not merely histrionics, than I was sick of people saying, "That [joke|text|sign|cloud formation] offends me" in the first place. And you know, if you really mean "don't expect me to take any responsibility for my own words and actions," don't call it "personal responsibility."

Comments

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

To me, "politically correct" should mean what it sounds like it means: speech which is being crafted with an eye toward telling a given audience what they want to hear rather than any uncomfortable truths. Phrases like "differently abled" instead of "disabled" certainly count, but in practice they're difficult for me to get worked up over simply because nobody who uses them will be taken seriously outside a very small circle, and they're so semantically dubious they're difficult for anyone with a grasp of English not to mock. (Chipotle online occasionally remarks, "Now, he's not clueless, he's just differently clued.")

I'm just increasingly annoyed with people using "What are you, politically correct?" as a response to any criticisms levelled at them. It's a way to deflect attention back on the critic: it can't possibly be that I've said anything offensive, it's just them being hypersensitive! It's a way of avoiding uncomfortable self-examination. We don't have to consider that maybe an attitude we have (or just a pet phrase) might be based on false premises, or even unintentionally mean-spirited or hateful. Since we know that wasn't our intent, it must be all the other guy's fault.

If I could, I'd toss the phrase politically correct itself in the linguistic trashbin and force people to take a moment to analyze what they're criticizing so they understand what "the other side" is actually saying, and can then at the least make an informed comment on it. This is perhaps the most pernicious side effect: it's become a hot-button phrase whose point is primarily to curtail discussion on a topic.

[mordrul.livejournal.com]

Okay, I get what you're saying now, and I agree wholeheartedly. Anyone that uses any kind of 'escape clause', whatever it is, could use a beating or three (but probably won't get it). That's one of my own pet peeves, attempting to deflect attention, or criticism, and more importantly, not have to acknowledge it in any real way. In some circles, "You're politically correct" may be one of those methods (there's many, many others). I tend to be opinionated, and wrong (not necessarily in that order), but if someone points that out, I usually try to consider what it is I'm wrong about. That also has to do with the method used in the pointing out, of course. I'm as human as anyone else.

"Differently clued". I like that. Consider it stolen. ^.^