"Politically Correct" is a tool of the Hard Right, IMHO. Let's discuss.

[blondeatlast]

I propose that we do away with the term "politically correct" entirely. Let's use the term "civil" instead. One of the reasons I was taught about civil discourse is that I was raised to be a good citizen; something I see sorely lacking in today's social environment.

IMHO, refraining from telling that racist/sexist/anti-Semitic/anti-Muslim/what-have-you joke at work isn't politically correct--it's good citizenship. I think we all have a responsibility to make the workplace relaxed and productive. Intentionally offending another's sensibilities is very poor citizenship--something I tend to attribute to the selfishness of the Hard Right, not intelligent progressives.

Not to mention that "turning the tables" on our opponents (Condoleeza Rice, Ann Coulter (I freely admit to being guilty in her case), et al) legitimizes THEIR arguments. That isn't political correctness/incorrectness, it's just a lazy, lousy way to make our points.

Yes, you can tell that dirty joke; I would never stop you. But I'll be damned if I will refrain from telling you that I'm offended by it for fear of being labeled "politically correct"

Or civil.

I hope others can see the difference in these two words.

[wtmusic]

1. Good post

PC is the only "PC" term -- let's do away with it. :silly:

[MadMaddie]

2. Yes....that's been bothering me too....and I keep coming

to the same conclusion....civility is what is lacking in our environmnet today

not only civility but common sense and respect by Americans for fellow Americans....

Americans are tired of all of the devisiveness that this administration like them have shoved down our throats....The Rushes and Coulters of the world are hate mongers...if we could minimize and effectively make them irrelevent we could start to heal this country.

Just a few thoughts...

[The Magistrate]

3. That Is An Excellent Formulation, Ma'am

Most persons who complain, and boast they are not bowing to "P.C.", are, at bottom, simply asserting their desire to be jerks: indeed, being a jerk is their definition of being free. The thing can, of course, work in the other direction, with people using the idea of proper speech to try and assert control over other people's behavior, which is simply another form of being a jerk. There are two ways to do that: one is to give offense where none is needed, and one to take offense where none is intended.

[blondeatlast]

19. "Asserting their rights" to be/do/say whatever is what I see as

one of the biggest walls (a better term escapes me right now) we face in our opposition.

It's infected politics, religion, and popular culture (sexism has become quite a joke in the movies now).

It's almost as though it's their own little civil rights movement only they see victory as stepping on their opposition.

[0007]

32. Why do some modify their manner and appearance? To prevent

reconition of being a jerk perhaps?

I do wish I had proper speech to assert control over myself, not others.

[cornermouse]

4. As far as I'm concerned there are two kinds of political correctness.

One type of political correctness used to be called good manners. The other (the republican's) version of political correctness is the direct opposite and worse.

[blondeatlast]

9. I'm old enough to remember good manners when they weren't

thought of as "quaint." Sigh...

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Blondie, my dear ......

..... (and already starting our by being 'politically incorrect' with that sobrioquet) ...... let me the first to say I agree.

I am as guilty as anyone and more guilty than most of doing what you suggest we don't do.

But I also find I agree with your terms and your suggestion.

K&R

[blondeatlast]

13. If it would have offended me, I wouldn't have used it as my screen name.

I'm rather proud of it, so I can't really be offended, can I?

thanks--you'va always got my back!

[0007]

31. Wish more folks like you would show their honesty and certainty

instead of disguising their true inner feelings.

I'm guilty as well.

[Notoverit]

6. True. It was created by their think tanks as part of the table turning on

us. Soon, Jacky Manson had a Broadways show with the same title, a bad movie opened "PCU" - and then Bill Maher's show.
The next phase cone a few years ago, when articles started about hos the conservatives are "the cool kids" while the liberals are the sour puss ascetic parents that cannot appreciate a good racist joke.
And, yeah, civility rather than "correctness" (which is their conformism domain anyway) would be a good way to respond.

[baby_mouse]

14. In fact, let us coin a similiary meaningless "exasperation" term:

"MORALLY CORRECT"

"Well, it may not be morally correct of me to prefer NOT to live in a world where children are pretty much randomly burned alive for the pleasure of a small handful of vengeance seeking fools desperately clinging to the last vestiges of their self-image but hey, my parents brought me up to think the people of the world could do better than that if they tried."

So there, right wing. NER.

[Bunny]

7. I'm with you on this!

:applause:

I hope that we can continue to change in the same way that we've turned away from racial and ethnic perjoratives. Asking for sensitivity doesn't have to diminish anyone's "fun".

And for you, blondeatlast, a special pic of our boys from Oakand:

[blondeatlast]

10. We need a great big grin and a giggle smiley!

Thanks!

[uppityperson]

8. Thank you, good words.

I've been trying how to figure out how to post this besides "be nice" which wasn't quite right. Act civil. You do not have to feel that way, but act civil. Manners are for being able to work with someone when you feel like telling them to f* off. Act civil. Thank you.

[baby_mouse]

11. I remember this as a standard left position in the early 90s.

It was quite well understood that this phrase "politically correct" was invented by the right, (with the implicit assumption in communicating the meme to their keyboard commandos that it was originally coined by the left (false)) as a way of saying "well it may not be very politically correct of me to say this BUT ".

Everyone knew this.

Unfortunately, a large number of gullible lefties took it on board as their modus operandi...

[blondeatlast]

12. I posted the same thing in GD and am getting royally beaten up.

Why, why, why do I go there? :shrug:

[baby_mouse]

15. SOMEONE has to. nt

[blondeatlast]

17. I swear to myself every time, never again.

It's like a train wreck. I've GOT to stop going there.

I need a "hide forums" feature.

[baby_mouse]

20. There's a good deal of fun to be had but it's mostly a rather twisted fun.

Generally I post either to make noise or to make nice, big simple "look at me" threads. It's dead easy. It's the LAST place I'd go to to actually have a reasonable conversation.

[ima_sinnic]

16. oh, I SO agree!

I was helping my elderly father read between the lines of a seemingly "rational" e-mail calling for "unity" in "fighting Muslims." The writer was trying to make the case that Muslims were behind all of our country's problems and being "politically correct" in "accommodating" them was just getting in the way of dealing with them.
I pointed out that "pc" was a dead giveaway that this was a right-winger with an agenda, that only right-wingers use that term and weren't aware that it had gone passe in the 90s. I'm giving myself an attagirl for being spot-on in my assessment! however, even I had forgotten/not realized that it was rw'ers who invented the term in the first place.

[dipsydoodle]

18. So nice to see

a pearl of wisdom.

[PFunk]

21. I reached that conclusion a long time ago

while a good idea in theory (as some were going 'overboard' with the being offended thing). The term is IMO now used by racist, bigots, and homophobes (among others) as a way of justifying their actions by knocking those who now wish to show 'gasp' good manners and concern for others.

[blondeatlast]

23. Precisely, and welcome to DU!

I'm getting really tired of being made the bad girl by people who are freely sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.

Time was that that type of person was shunned by others, and rightly so.

[Nicholas]

24. history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politically_correct

Usage goes way, way back, but its only recently that the right took these words and turned them into a club with which to slam anyone who dares put themselves in another's shoes and tries to respect the rights of people to determine for themselves who they are. Sure - people go overboard sometimes. Maybe even often, but this is just right wing smoke and mirrors.

[Nobody]

22. There have been books written about the subject

Words are powerful tools and Suzette Haden Elgin has written a series of books about verbal attacks and what to do about them. Start with "The Gentle Art Of Verbal Self Defense". She goes through several common attack patterns and how to defuse them without giving up your dignity.

By the way, people who call out: "You're too PC" when you point out something that offends you is simply them announcing to the world that they intend to be rude and offensive. Says a lot about them.

[PurgedVoter]

26. I have always respected Suzette Haden Elgin

She is brilliant and persuasive. She is also quite a bit sexist. She is no more sexist than Rush and Insanity, who are broadcast daily, but read Native Tongue or the Ozark Trilogy if you want to see her bent clearly. Definitely read the Ozark Trilogy, the lady can write.

[LearnedHand]

25. Damn straight!

I DESPISE that term and have been waging my own war against it for years. It has acquired the same tone as when a Puke spits out "li-brul." I always come back with something about civility or say that I'd a WHOLE LOT go a bit overboard than to hear the horrible, horrible racist things I heard everywhere, every day when I was young.

[ProudDad]

27. "politically correct"

is a perjorative created by the hard-right to demonize folks working for justice and equal treatment for everyone.

"Civil" is an old, archaic term also used to demonize folks working for justice and equal treatment for everyone without waiting for it to be given from on high. Sometimes one must be "un-civil" and demand that something be done. That's what good old fashioned strikes were all about.

I think what you may mean is the old rule, "do unto others as you would have done unto you." That's one the religious right has totally overlooked.

[lvx35]

28. Agreed, but watch the goofiness.

For instance its not a racial slur to say "Joe is a tall black guy". The APA style guidelines where you say ethnicity/nationality are for refering to minorities in broad senses (e.g. "African Americans have a rich cultural heritiage.") For some reason people have had a tough time with this, and much of the right wing derision comes from it that sort of thing.

[rman]

29. I agree, it's a means to control the debate

by convincing people that certain topics are just not talked about. They did such a good job that even in places such as DU certain topics are off-limits.

[The Backlash Cometh]

30. That might have been a good idea twenty years ago.

Yes, PC just means civility. A way to get along with people of diverse backgrounds without offending. Problem was that Liberals gave conservatives a wedge when they went OVERBOARD and used their politics to rewrite Miss Manners.

On the other hand, if someone is truely offended by jokes at the office and they believe it constitutes harassment of a racial, religious, nationality, sexist nature, they HAVE to complain to the management in order to set the groundwork for litigation under Title 8. So, pick your battles.

[ms liberty]

33. Yes, I agree 100%...I like to put it this way:

Courtesy and good manners are the grease that keeps the wheels of civilization moving smoothly.

Anyone out there read Robert Heinlein? In his dystopian worlds, the kind of rudeness we see now was an offense against the populace; in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, on the moon, citizens were always armed, and incivility was punishable by an immediate on-the-spot trial, with the necessary roles of prosecutor, witnesses, defense attorney, judge and jury being filled by citizens there at the scene of the offense. Being found guilty could result in punishment of various kinds, up to and including immediate execution! Additionally, if someone killed someone who was intentionally rude, the same thing would happen, but the citizen could be found to have acted properly, and be acquitted. I always thought that was an interesting concept, not that I'm advocating it as a solution!

My parents were strong sticklers for good manners and courtesy. I've had my rear-end paddled hard for being rude. As a consequence of their parenting - which I appreciate very much now! - as a forty-something adult, I find it very hard to NOT be polite and well mannered!

IMO, we are devolving at a shocking pace; the self-indulgence of the "me me me" attitude is creating a crude and unpleasant culture. It is very irritating!

[blondeatlast]

34. I'd like to hear from those who may disagree with this. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

35. Actually, the first time I heard the phrase, it was in all seriousness

& it came from a increasingly strident relative who had just got back from a year of college in the mid 80s. I knew it was a turd of a concept* even then, and I was (and still am) at least as liberal as this individual.

* NOT the notion of treating people with respect - the notion of hectoring people and lecturing them, while framing it in such a way that you call it "political correctness".