Thursday, February 18, 2010

I'm a PC

Politically Correct.

What this post is about is how we treat this idea.  It has been turned into a pejorative.  Like LIBERAL, FEMINIST, ATHEIST.  It is a horrible thing to be politically correct.

Hathor Legacy has an interesting piece on this.  When it is pointed out that a story has no women or minorities, or they are shoved into the back or minor roles, people reflexively get upset at it being pointed out.  And they have a point.  Not every story needs to be a Benetton ad.  But when stories dealing more with "others" are so rare, comment should not be ignored.

Diversity is not evil.  Which brings up another term that gets shit on.  Multicultural.  I know people like Pat Condell rage against it as evil.  But that is ridiculous.  In excess it is bad.  But evil.  To know about other cultures is good.  To appreciate differences is good.  To live outside a narrow funnel of history and society is beneficial.  When I was young British people moved to America long ago, wearing big hats and buckles, they had a party with some Indians, and that was how America started.  We all know that ain't the whole story or even all that accurate.  Are Mexicans just sombreros and ponchos?  And, yes, are Muslims just turbans and jihad?  The point is when government bends over to be polite to the point it sacrifices the well being of others or the whole that is bad.  Just like with PC, if you go to an extreme and deny any criticism of those different, that is wrong.

I remember a bit from a Michael Palin doc, Sahara.  He meets a French missionary, a young women, and she talks of her respect for the local culture.  And she casually talks about female circumcision, and actually defends it.  How that is possible as women, I don't know.  Guess it is a matter of go along to get along.

Still, some simple Political Correctness bad?

Who misses the ease of use of the racial term the N-word?  Do you miss the ease of throwing it at people?  Or denying someone a job based on race or sex?  Miss the old days?

Who longs for this..well, some conservatives and a large chunk of the tea baggers, I guess.

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