What is wrong with political correctness?

Answer 1

What could be wrong with that? The only group that sees some "problem" here are those who belong or represent some power structure or privileged groups: men, white, rich, Native Americans, Western Europeans, Christians… because they are expected to perform the political correctness more than others did. We are a kind of feeling uneasy to change our comfortable vocabulary and practice that make us feel so powerful and privileged, and to start to recognize others whose rights we were ignoring through the history. Moreover, it looks like we are expecting the feeling of responsibility and equality, out of the blue, from those whose responsibility and equality was denied until now.

We, Americans are so self-confident that we simply cannot imagine how it feels to be offended and discriminated, so we think that we are absolute speakers being always correct – and other people's problem is if they feel offended or damaged. Who gave us that right?

Fortunato, I think that what you said about treating others as equals and with respect IS the political correctness and PC does NOT insist that the listener doesn't have any responsibility, that it's up to the speaker to do everything "exactly right" or he will be challenged. The only question is are we both speakers and listeners able to cope with it.

So if we see any obstacle in performing PC, it is not PC itself, but our unwillingness to change bad historical practices and to give up our carelessness.

Answer 2

"Political Correctness" is like "enforced civility."

Civility -- treating others with respect -- is obviously a good thing, but P.C. (1) tends to define it in such broad terms that anything can be deemed "incorrect" and (2) people who don't agree with the definition are often mistreated / slandered by the P.C. folks.

Sometimes the litmus test for whether something is politically correct seems to be "any comment that could possibly offend someone in the entire world at some point in time."

One problem is that mass media and the state of telecommunications (where anything can get anywhere within a few hours if not immediately) have enabled comments to be lifted from their original context and judged outside of it. People never intended to be the audience are now made the audience, and thus some comments will automatically find SOMEONE to offend.

Another problem is that people are sometimes hypersensitive to comments that most people are not. This happens often with victimized groups of people (which is understandable); sometimes it happens with individuals who just can't handle a possible slight or challenge due to personal insecurities. People who are really into P.C. often cannot laugh at themselves.

Idealistically, both sides are responsible for communication: The speaker considers the best way to get his intentions, message, and attitude across, while the listener is working to figure out what the speaker is trying to say and trying to forge that connection.

P.C. insists that the listener doesn't have any responsibility, that it's up to the speaker to do everything "exactly right" or he will be challenged.

Anyone in a long-term relationship knows that to force one person to walk on eggshells and cater to another is destructive to the relationship. Same thing with P.C. The listener is too often looking for a slight to complain about, not trying to complete the communication and make a connection.

IMO, both the speaker and the listener should be trying to meet together in the middle. Civility simply means treating others as equals and with respect -- as someone with as much dignity as ourselves -- no matter what their viewpoints or background are. This is an attitude to be chosen and cannot be forced, like PC is trying to do.

In trying to avoid any hint of offense, P.C. usually just constricts/tramples freedom, creativity, and the very spirit of life.

(Example: A friend who has adopted a child, like I have, complained about an adoption article that they felt was too casual/tongue-in-cheek for a topic that involved family-less children. They were offended enough to write a letter of complaint. But I read the article and laughed, because it was fairly on-target and even funny. I'm not saying all PC people are control freaks, but we all need a little perspective sometimes instead of being consistently thin-skinned.)

Answer 3

It is a confusion between thought and language, that is that our thoughts are constrained by our language. This leads to the oft refuted position that if you control how people speak you can control what they think. Modern linguistics has to many refutations of this concept to list here, but think; if our thoughts were constrained by language how would we invent new words that are not based on any thing that has gone before in language. I am sure you can think of some slang term that has no conceptual meaning out of context, or based on a preceding word.

Answer 4

Political correctness is an oxymoron. While it is definitely political, it is often incorrect or simply wrong-headed. We have literally become offensive in our quest not to offend. Worse, the political correctness of yesterday is oft the political incorrect of today, and what pleases in one locale, offends in another. I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said, "You can please all of the people of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time."

Answer 5

Political correctness is just an attempt to control the public. If we really have freedom of speach, who is anyone to tell me what to and not to say? I can offend whoever I want. Be it man, woman, black, white, or homosexual. I have every right to speak my mind. As long as I don't resort to violent threats, of course.

Answer 6

psychophancy

Answer 7

everything