One of the most consistent sources of anger in my life is people who think there’s something brave or rebellious about their bigotry. Like, oh yeah, look at you, echoing the exact same bullshit oppressive norms that have facilitated the massive inequalities in our society since forever, hell yeah fight the power.
“It really worries me that 84% of this audience agrees with that statement, because the kind of people that say "political correctness gone mad" are usually using that phrase as a kind of cover action to attack minorities or people that they disagree with. I'm of an age that I can see what a difference political correctness has made. When I was four years old, my grandfather drove me around Birmingham, where the Tories had just fought an election campaign saying, "if you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour," and he drove me around saying, "this is where all the niggers and the coons and the jungle bunnies live." And I remember being at school in the early 80s and my teacher, when he read the register, instead of saying the name of the one asian boy in the class, he would say, "is the black spot in," right? And all these things have gradually been eroded by political correctness, which seems to me to be about an institutionalised politeness at its worst. And if there is some fallout from this, which means that someone in an office might get in trouble one day for saying something that someone was a bit unsure about because they couldn't decide whether it was sexist or homophobic or racist, it's a small price to pay for the massive benefits and improvements in the quality of life for millions of people that political correctness has made. It's a complete lie that allows the right, which basically controls media now, and international politics, to make people on the left who are concerned about the way people are represented look like killjoys. And I'm sick, I'm really sick-- 84% of you in this room that have agreed with this phrase, you're like those people who turn around and go, "you know who the most oppressed minorities in Britain are? White, middle-class men." You're a bunch of idiots.”
—Stewart Lee - “Heresy”, BBC Radio 4, 16th May 2007“It really worries me that 84% of this audience agrees with that statement, because the kind of people that say "political correctness gone mad" are usually using that phrase as a kind of cover action to attack minorities or people that they disagree with. I'm of an age that I can see what a difference political correctness has made. When I was four years old, my grandfather drove me around Birmingham, where the Tories had just fought an election campaign saying, "if you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour," and he drove me around saying, "this is where all the niggers and the coons and the jungle bunnies live." And I remember being at school in the early 80s and my teacher, when he read the register, instead of saying the name of the one asian boy in the class, he would say, "is the black spot in," right? And all these things have gradually been eroded by political correctness, which seems to me to be about an institutionalised politeness at its worst. And if there is some fallout from this, which means that someone in an office might get in trouble one day for saying something that someone was a bit unsure about because they couldn't decide whether it was sexist or homophobic or racist, it's a small price to pay for the massive benefits and improvements in the quality of life for millions of people that political correctness has made. It's a complete lie that allows the right, which basically controls media now, and national politics, to make people on the left who are concerned about the way people are represented look like killjoys. And I'm sick, I'm really sick-- 84% of you in this room that have agreed with this phrase, you're like those people who turn around and go, "you know who the most oppressed minorities in Britain are? White, middle-class men." You're a bunch of idiots.”
—Stewart Lee
- Liberals: I'll wear whatever I want!
- Liberals: Don't you dare wear that Native American headdress, it's offensive.
- Liberals: I'll say whatever I want!
- Liberals: Don't you dare say those words, they're offensive.
- Liberals: I'll have whatever beliefs I want!
- Liberals: Don't you dare believe that, it's offensive.
Political Correctness
Cor, it’s been ages since I’ve posted on here. Hello again! I’m here to talk about the monstrosity known as political correctness.
I first really became aware of it in 2006, when two private nurseries in Oxfordshire changed the lyrics of the nursery rhyme “Baa Baa Black Sheep” to the ridiculous “Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep”. What the hell is a rainbow sheep?! Now this is a centuries-old nursery rhyme dating back 1744, why did it become a problem in 2006?
The hard truth is that it didn’t. It was merely people afraid to offend people who weren’t offended.
Similarly, we appear to be scared of offending these unoffended people during occasions such as the Royal Wedding and sporting World Cups. Outrageously, flying the English or Union flag was illegal up until 2006 unless it was on a vertical pole. Hung any other way and it would have been in breach of advertising laws. Really? Yes. Thankfully this law was scrapped. But it seems the fear remains; the issue comes up whenever we fly our national flags. Are we being racist? Will we offend “ethnic minorities”.
Of course we won’t. I was not offended when I went to America to see stars and stripes hanging off every other building. I wasn’t even offended when I saw the Niger flag flown here in England. Why should I be? We should all be able to show our national pride, at any point of the year.
Here’s some other examples of Political Correctness gone mad, as provided by the Telegraph online:
- Bumper cars changing names to Dodgems, with the point being to “dodge ‘em” rather than “bump ‘em”.
- Some Domino’s and KFC restaurants, to the annoyance of non-Muslim customers, have stopped serving non-Halal meat, and in the case of the Pizza chain, have stopped classic toppings such as pepperoni and ham.
- £190,000 of taxpayers money was spent on dormouse bridges and boxes to save mice from being run over by traffic in Wales.
- Much loved (bizarrely by my 17 year old friend) children’s cartoon character Peppa Pig had to be redrawn wearing a seatbelt in one episode.
- It’s now politically incorrect to call your pet a “pet”. The right way to refer to your pet is “animal companion”. What a waste of time.
- Whilst racism is wrong, the line is different depending on the situation. Sometimes it’s just banter, which is perfectly acceptable between friends. If your nickname for your black friend is “Sooty”, and they have no problem with it, then why is that anyone else’s business?
- A recruitment boss in Norfolk was criticised for discriminating against the unreliable by advertising a position for a “reliable person”.
I’ve taken more than I planned out of that article, but the whole concept of political correctness is stupid.
“The phrase "politically correct" can be used in two distinct ways: either with its original literal meaning, or with the mocking sarcasm that's common these days. I'll get to the former in a moment, but I'll begin with the latter. As it's commonly used, "PC" is a deliberately imprecise expression (just try finding or writing a terse, precise definition) because its objective isn't to communicate a substantive idea, but simply to sneer and snivel about the linguistic and cultural burdens of treating all people with the respect and sensitivity with which they wish to be treated. Thus, the Herculean effort required to call me "Asian American" rather than "chink" is seen as a concession to "the PC police", an unsettling infringement on the free-wheeling conversation of, I suppose, "non-chinks". Having to refer to black folks as "African Americans" rather than various historically-prevalent epithets surely strikes some red-blooded blue-balled white-men as a form of cultural oppression. Having to refer to "women" rather than "bitches" lays a violent buzzkill on the bar-room banter of men preoccupied with beating on their chests and off other body parts.”
—Zuky: The Greatest Cliché: The Unexamined Propaganda of “Political Correctness”
Of course not everyone that identifies as Black also identifies as African-American, etc, but I do not think that is what Zuky is implying.
"Politically Correct" Should Be Renamed "Not Being a Douche"
I think it’s a good idea.
Here’s an example from my life: I’ll call you out for using “Oriental” as a way to homogenize all Asian people, and I’ll probably be even more fervent when you do it as a joke. When you roll your eyes at me and say I’m being “politically correct,” you’re essentially saying that it’s my problem and not a problem inherently in the terminology of “Oriental.” You’re saying that the problem is not, in fact, the history of the historical commodification and homogenization of a people from an entire continent, and that the problem is certainly not the Europeans who decided to engage in such activities and reap the benefits from several Asian cultures.
Nope, the problem is obviously me and my tiny little feelings which are apparently less important than yours, and so you can use “politically correct” as a way to further diminish those feelings because it obviously means I am wrong and you are right. Good for you, rebellious savior who defeated the politically correct half-Asian lesbian and her evil evil feelings!
So yeah, people should stop waving “you’re being politically correct!” as if it’s some kind of penalty card you can use, because to me, it just shows that they think someone’s right to condescendingly joke or disparage is more important than someone’s right not to feel disrespected. Excuse me if I’m walking an extra step to make sure people feeling valued and respected.
Something's Miss-ing
I buy a lot of stuff online and when it came to filling in my details on a website the other day I found myself getting quite annoyed with it as, once again, politcal correctness had reared its ugly head.
When it came to ticking the box asking for my title, it gave me three options: Mr. Mrs. or Ms. - So where is Miss? Miss is my tilte, and will remain my title even after I get married. I’ll never be a Mrs. and Ms. is just a horrible noise invented by stubbourn post-feminists.
They say that you have to use Ms. in order to not disclose your marital status; but did it not occur to anyone that there is no law anywhere that states you have to change your name or title?! (in fact, you need a change of name deed to do so) You can stay a Miss, it sounds nicer for a start and contrary to popular belief does not give away your marital status.
But back to the point. I resent being forced to declare myself a Ms. in the checkbox - I may have had more respect for the website had they not had an option for Mrs. - just Mr. and Ms. If someone is happy enough to change their title to Mrs. then surely I have the same right to remain a Miss?
So, which box did I tick? Just call me Mr.
I'm so sick of people complaining about "political correctness."
It isn’t political correctness when you take the time to think that, oh, maybe I should be more inclusive with my language because I recognize that the language most people use erases large portions of our population and that’s wrong. That’s not being politically correct, that’s just being correct - and not being an asshole.
