What does it mean to be politically correct?

bronte · 04-05-2010 10:34PM

At one point this thread was under the "God hates fags" thread. :pac:

Dudess · 04-05-2010 10:39PM

IMO, political correctness has gone the way of feminism - originally great (see desert circus's post) but after morphing into something far less pleasant. I think it has gone from tolerance and respect to, as others have suggested, the practice of ensuring nobody is even remotely offended ever; being OTT "right on" - e.g. appeals for respecting FGM because "it's their culture" (extreme example I know).

It's a phrase used to jeer at mere tolerance and open-mindedness.

greendom · 04-05-2010 10:49PM

But does the politically correct brigade, police or bandwagon really exist ?

It only ever seems to be used pejoratively with expressions like the above or even more commonly, with the classic politcal correctness gone mad
(copyright The Daily Mail)

aDeener · 04-05-2010 10:50PM

sock puppet wrote: »

How so? The reason people don't say them is because they're offensive. Do you always voice your thoughts aloud? Of course not. It's manners not cowardliness.

because they are afraid...

il voice my thoughts that i really want to. read my post, i said if someone really wants to

PK2008 · 04-05-2010 10:55PM

Dudess wrote: »

IMO, political correctness has gone the way of feminism - originally great (see desert circus's post) but after morphing into something far less pleasant. I think it has gone from tolerance and respect to, as others have suggested, the practice of ensuring nobody is even remotely offended ever; being OTT "right on" - e.g. appeals for respecting FGM because "it's their culture" (extreme example I know).

It's a phrase used to jeer at mere tolerance and open-mindedness.

Not everything is about feminism you know...sheesh, women!!

j/k

*legs it*

starbelgrade · 04-05-2010 10:58PM

greendom wrote: »

But does the politically correct brigade, police or bandwagon really exist ?

It only ever seems to be used pejoratively with expressions like the above or even more commonly, with the classic politcal correctness gone mad
(copyright The Daily Mail)

Yes it does exist. One recent example was on the BBC, where Frankie Boyle walked off the set of Mock the Week, having been censured for some of his jokes & then he refused to complete the filming of the series.

The jokes, were relatively mild - one of them was a comment about Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington, saying that she had a face that resembled "someone who's looking at themselves in the back of a spoon".

Look at Fawlty Towers - one of Britain's finest comedies. Under the current regieme of political correctness, it would be deemed racist, sexist, ageist & rife with ritual humiliation & intimidation. It would not be made in this age of mortal fear of "causing offence".

Long gone are the "Paddy Englisman, Paddy Irishman & Paddy Scotsman" jokes... the closest thing to that you'll see is -

'An Englishman, an Irishman, a Pakistani and a Jew go into a bar together." (Pause)

"What a wonderful example of the cosmopolitan society we now live in."

sock puppet · 04-05-2010 11:06PM

starbelgrade wrote: »

Look at Fawlty Towers - one of Britain's finest comedies. Under the current regieme of political correctness, it would be deemed racist, sexist, ageist & rife with ritual humiliation & intimidation. It would not be made in this age of mortal fear of "causing offence".

Yeah you wouldn't ever see anything offensive now

starbelgrade · 04-05-2010 11:22PM

sock puppet wrote: »

Yeah you wouldn't ever see anything offensive now

I'm not saying that satire doesn't exist, or comedy that could cause offense, I was simply pointing out an example of where the BBC have recently brought in the PC police.

And Jackass is neither satire nor offensive. It's just plain stupid.

Duggy747 · 04-05-2010 11:26PM

Common sense is knowing where to draw the line.

Politically correct is being a wimp. A form that tries to settle for everyone's tastes, which is impossible.

sock puppet · 04-05-2010 11:37PM

starbelgrade wrote: »

I'm not saying that satire doesn't exist, or comedy that could cause offense, I was simply pointing out an example of where the BBC have recently brought in the PC police.

And Jackass is neither satire nor offensive. It's just plain stupid.

I don't like Jackass myself but I think it's mildly offensive in a crass kind of way. The BBC definitely seem to have a problem with what their presenters like Boyle and Ross say though. BBC did air Little Britain though so it's not like they have a problem with anything controversial in general.

argonaut · 04-05-2010 11:38PM

The whole concept of "political correctness" is a right-wing strawman that isn't actually subscribed to be anyone.

People tend to bring it up by saying "I'm not politically correct! [insert racist/ otherwise offensive statement here]!" and try to pretend they're fighting against the libruls.

EDIT: Or, in other words, I agree with this:

stovelid wrote: »

PC is also a catch-all phrase used by numbskulls to designate any political view that couldn't easily constitute part of a Sun editorial.

See: pinko, commie.

starbelgrade · 04-05-2010 11:45PM

sock puppet wrote: »

I don't like Jackass myself but I think it's mildly offensive in a crass kind of way. The BBC definitely seem to have a problem with what their presenters like Boyle and Ross say though. BBC did air Little Britain though so it's not like they have a problem with anything controversial in general.

I hear ya! I think the Beeb started clamping down on percieved offensiveness after Ross & yer man, whose name I can't remember, got into hot water for their phone prank.

It wasn't even really offensive - but like Jackass - as you say, crass (& definitely very adolescent in it's humour).

Dudess · 04-05-2010 11:45PM

It's also sometimes used completely incorrectly in an attempt to sound clever.

K-9 · 04-05-2010 11:47PM

starbelgrade wrote: »

Yes it does exist. One recent example was on the BBC, where Frankie Boyle walked off the set of Mock the Week, having been censured for some of his jokes & then he refused to complete the filming of the series.

The jokes, were relatively mild - one of them was a comment about Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington, saying that she had a face that resembled "someone who's looking at themselves in the back of a spoon".

Look at Fawlty Towers - one of Britain's finest comedies. Under the current regieme of political correctness, it would be deemed racist, sexist, ageist & rife with ritual humiliation & intimidation. It would not be made in this age of mortal fear of "causing offence".

Long gone are the "Paddy Englisman, Paddy Irishman & Paddy Scotsman" jokes... the closest thing to that you'll see is -

'An Englishman, an Irishman, a Pakistani and a Jew go into a bar together." (Pause)

"What a wonderful example of the cosmopolitan society we now live in."

Fair point, I don't think the best comedy film ever made, Blazing Saddles could be done either, studios wouldn't take the risk. Probably be sh*te anyway.

PCness seems to cause huge inconsistencies. You have the above case but plenty of comedians get away with other stuff, so I don't think its as prevalent as people make out.

I'd agree with argonaut, it has kind of been hijacked by the extreme right wing loons to a large extent, as some way to make their views seem ok.

K-9 · 04-05-2010 11:50PM

starbelgrade wrote: »

I hear ya! I think the Beeb started clamping down on percieved offensiveness after Ross & yer man, whose name I can't remember, got into hot water for their phone prank.

It wasn't even really offensive - but like Jackass - as you say, crass (& definitely very adolescent in it's humour).

Think this is where PCness gets blamed for a lot. That was just bad taste. The reaction has more to do with the obsession over celebrities than PCness in my opinion. Think there was more stuff at work there too than just PCness.

orourkeda · 04-05-2010 11:53PM

bronte wrote: »

At one point this thread was under the "God hates fags" thread. :pac:

He also hates queens and queers

MikeC101 · 05-05-2010 12:22AM

argonaut wrote: »

The whole concept of "political correctness" is a right-wing strawman that isn't actually subscribed to be anyone.

I'm inclined to agree that not many people really subscribe to the idea, but it does seem to exist on some level (often in odd, self imposed directives from say, government departments and so on, for fear of offending someone).

I can't find the link at the moment, but New Scientist (or similar) had a good article of the presence of political correctness in surveys leading self censorship by the authors.

For example, if a study shows that black students are likely to have lower test scores than white students, that result tends to be suppressed, or even self censored by the authors - because of the fear of appearing racist. It then leads to causes - which were poor teaching, lack of funding, poverty - basically nothing whatsoever to do with race, and everything to do with socioeconomic levels - being ignored, and the problem continues.

But to be honest, like liberal, conservative, feminist etc, it's been used to strawman positions and fit personal defiinitions to the extent that it's almost meaningless.

Edit: In case anyones interested, I think the study referred to was on sickle-cell anemia.

Nick Dolan · 05-05-2010 01:05AM

To me free speech means everyone gets to say what they want, not what just what i think they should be allowed say. Political Correctness erodes free speech, by definition it stops you using your chosen words. In my view its either total free speech or none, and hopefully for every knumbskull who gets up and roars whatever abusive term there will be twenty voices who disagree. And anyway, PC is entirely subjective : Using homosexual slurs causes huge consternation, labelling Priests as paedophiles is now commonplace.

leedsfan88 · 05-05-2010 01:08AM

Slugs wrote: »

I just can't seem to get a grasp of it's definition, and wiki is being as vague as it usually is. Could someone explain please

It means "to not offend minorities" and/or Women in essence from what I've experienced i think people can get a little carried away with the whole PC thing tbh

K-9 · 05-05-2010 01:23AM

Nick Dolan wrote: »

To me free speech means everyone gets to say what they want, not what just what i think they should be allowed say. Political Correctness erodes free speech, by definition it stops you using your chosen words. In my view its either total free speech or none, and hopefully for every knumbskull who gets up and roars whatever abusive term there will be twenty voices who disagree. And anyway, PC is entirely subjective : Using homosexual slurs causes huge consternation, labelling Priests as paedophiles is now commonplace.

Total free speech doesn't work. It creates noise and ad hominem attacks. Nobody cares after a while, reading through the sh*te. Its anarchy on the internet.

A good example is boards.ie vs. politics.ie.

K-9 · 05-05-2010 01:26AM

Nick Dolan wrote: »

Using homosexual slurs causes huge consternation, labelling Priests as paedophiles is now commonplace.

As far as I can see, both are allowed on here, both equally laughed at.

There is a certain type of poster here who seeks offence and blames it on the PC brigade. They make up this PC agenda as some way to prove a point, that they can't make themselves.

Samantha666 · 05-05-2010 01:49AM

To me (and feel free to shoot my ass) it means that due to the pressures of the media and our spineless politicians, I no longer get a door held open for me by a chivalrous gentleman in case he offends me, I pull my own chair out in a restaurant.. in case they offend me...and he expects me to dig the garden all by my lonesome (his excuse) in case it offends me....but dammit I liked that.
Heaven forbid that you should express any opinion on immigration (google Gordon Brown) for that is not politically correct

I don't need to be told that we are equal, it's never been an issue between hubby and I, but I am sick of being told what is right and what is wrong by people who do not matter in my life...and I want the old ways back.

digme · 05-05-2010 01:52AM

Slugs wrote: »

I just can't seem to get a grasp of it's definition, and wiki is being as vague as it usually is. Could someone explain please

evercloserunion · 05-05-2010 01:55AM

If you don't loudly and obnoxiously complain about gays and foreigners then you are part of the PC conspiracy.

Seriously, PC doesn't actually mean anything. It's just a label that looney right wingers apply to anyone who does not agree with their own narrow and often deluded world view.

nehpets10 · 11-05-2010 10:04AM

starbelgrade wrote: »

Long gone are the "Paddy Englisman, Paddy Irishman & Paddy Scotsman" jokes... the closest thing to that you'll see is -

'An Englishman, an Irishman, a Pakistani and a Jew go into a bar together." (Pause)

"What a wonderful example of the cosmopolitan society we now live in."

"and a Jewish person" FTFY

Butch Cassidy · 11-05-2010 12:56PM

PC is a middle class idea. Speak liberal but hire the "coloured" to wash your toilet. At the same time though, there's predujiced people - once called racists but there's no racists anymore as all humans are the one race geneticaly - who bemoan PC because they can't say things like "I'm off down to the Paki shop, do you want anything?" or "What did you get in the Chinkie?"

PCP - a P.C. police victory
PCP - a P.C. pyrrhic victory
When I was young P.C. meant Police Constable
Nowadays I can't seem to tell the difference

Fighting Irish · 11-05-2010 01:29PM

liah wrote: »

To go out of your way to make sure absolutely nobody ever gets offended by anything you say.

like boards.ie

What does it mean to be politically correct?

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