December 2005

Entries
Current Entry
Previous Entry
Next Entry
Archives

Links
Personal Sites
and Forums/Boards
Diaryland
The Hunger Site

Communication
Write to me

I've run across several discussions of Things Politically Correct of late. And I think a lot more gets read into that term than was ever intended.

I hate it when people use "politically correct" incorrectly. At its base level, it's merely a measure to prevent hurting someone's feelings. And people who don't get that are seeing it as a weapon being used against them.

Take out the phrase and substitute, "well-mannered." That should help you determine whether or not something is appropriate to say to someone.

Oh, and if you're of a mind to use political correctness as a weapon, stop that right this minute. That's boorish and you know better.

Some people see polital correctness as a censoring device. For me, that's only true in the self-censoring sense. For instance, I tend to use far fewer cursewords in these journal entries than I do in my everyday life since I know those words are offensive to some people. Also, I see it as an exercise in creativity to come up with another word. But if I really want to use that curseword, I will.

On a related note, I'm finding it interesting to be a witness to the arguing over whether or not "Happy Holidays" should be the greeting of choice at this season of the year, instead of picking a specific holiday and using its name.

My own preference these days is to pay attention to whom I'm greeting. And if I don't know the person, I'll go with the generic, "Holidays," because it does not take away from my own beliefs to wish someone else joy.