Re: PC or Not PC? That is the Question

[Jean Pfleiderer <pfleiderer_j -at- WIZARD -dot- COLORADO -dot- EDU>]

In article <9506051103 -dot- aa03256 -at- rogue -dot- rogue -dot- disc-synergy -dot- com> "Dave L. Meek's
 User Account" <dave -at- rogue -dot- disc-synergy -dot- com> writes:
>From: "Dave L. Meek's User Account" <dave -at- rogue -dot- disc-synergy -dot- com>
>Subject: Re: PC or Not PC? That is the Question
>Date: 5 Jun 1995 21:18:34 -0000



>I have heard and read the following terms:  height-challenged,
>morally-challenged, mechanically-challenged.  I'm still not sure
>what these terms mean, because they don't seem to mean anything.
>What is their point of reference?  Is a tall man
>height-challenged when getting inside a sub-compact car?  Is a
>short man height-challenged on the basketball court?  The
>Pentagon uses the term "collateral damage."  Has a different ring
>to it than saying, "civilian casualties."  All of the above are
>intended not to offend, and all of them are examples of poor
>communication.

>IMHO, "Political Correctness" shares many of the same attributes
>as "Pentagonese" and is a two-word oxymoron the same as "Military
>Intelligence."

>Flame me if you wish; I won't be offended.

Why would anyone be offended by your knocking "political correctness"?  "PC"
is a term of derision, a straw man invented by right-wingers who use the
instances of extreme contortion such as you describe above (and make up some
of those instances themselves) in order to undermine the efforts made in
recent years to be sensitive to the differences among people and to accord
people respect.

> I'll assume you're
>exercising your right to free speech.

That's big of you, Dave.  Now, let me ask you this:  is it "poor
communication" to refer to someone as "black" rather than as a "nigger"?  To
refer to a female person over the age of 21 as a "woman" rather than as a
"girl"?  To refer to a homosexual male as "gay" rather than as a "faggot"?
Only, it seems to me, if you are racist, sexist, or homophobic.  In that case,
using respectful language would be "poor communication" of your real feelings.

My point, of course, is that it is these "real feelings" that many liberals
feel need some work, and with that I have to agree.  I'd like to think most
people would agree. I think it does matter what words we use for things, that
our attitudes are formed in part by the language we hear and are taught to
use.  Again, I'd like to think most people would agree--especially on a list
for people who write for a living! Liberals merely began working from the
premises that certain attitudes need changing, and that choice of language
not only reflects those attitudes but helps create them.

Did liberals shoot themselves in the foot by over-doing it?  Probably.  Have
conservatives gleefully made up idiotic "PC" phrases to try to undercut the
liberal attempt to be inclusive?  I think so.  Which came first?  A
chicken-and-egg question.  But underlying the whole "PC/not PC" issue is
something far more important than whether being "mentally challenged" is a
good line in a Jay Leno monologue.

Jean Pfleiderer