What does it mean to be politically correct? How can I be politically correct? Or should one even be politically correct? Is this something we should be worried about? Well political correctness, also known as PC, means avoiding language and actions that insult, exclude or harm people who are already experiencing disadvantage and discrimination. In other words, it also means having a belief that language and practices which could offend others based on gender, race or disability should be eliminated. There are different views to being PC, for some it’s about treating people with respect because it’s the right thing to do. Others feel that nowadays being politically correct has been used as an excuse to bash other people.
As Lauren Graham said in her Ted Talk, “it’s insane that as the human race we’ve become the epitome of being politically correct such that we jump on not just those who say something offensive but those who accidently miss step”. This happens in our everyday life, for me I see this everywhere on social media especially Tik Tok, a video sharing social networking service that is used to create short dances; comedy and talent videos. People get triggered by everything and anything even though it may not be insulting to them. Everything is taken as some form of aggression and people are very suspicious of others so to that extent people now need to learn how to be sensitive, it’s as if people are walking on eggshells around people who do not fit into the norms of society. But at the same time many people use someone’s political correctness or lack thereof to find comfort in the fact that they are horrible people so to speak. Its not politically correct to use a term that excludes women for example you shouldn’t be saying ‘spokesman’ but ‘spokesperson’ , or when asking someone about their significant other do not refer them as ‘girlfriend/ boyfriend’ or ‘husband/wife’ but as ‘partner’ ,by doing this you will avoid assuming the persons sexual orientation or gender. Someone can get triggered by little microaggressions like that and they can use it to give others a really bad reputation.
At the same time this whole concept of being triggered by these microaggressions it’s kind of new , it’s a very millennial kind of thing , I’m pretty sure that there was no way someone would have been triggered by the things people say in 2020 if there were said a couple of years ago today. Everyone should observe certain things and try to be politically correct but all the while being careful to not lose themselves, sometimes microaggressions are a part of everyday life and to drop those purely because someone gets a little bit hurt is unfair. I think it all be boils down to the whole idea of wanting to be making someone feel bad or feel pain like the members of the marginalized group go through. Say a black person gets triggered when a white person brings up the topic of slavery for example and he brings up the concept of ‘oh you are not being politically correct ‘ , that is just to make him feel bad for everything that he didn’t go through but he as a member of the black community went through and has to deal with every day. Its not necessarily to say that the person is a bad person, it’s just trying to make them understand and feel the same pain.
So, in conclusion, to a degree of course it is being used to bash people unnecessarily but then on some level it is justified. It’s one thing to bash someone for offending you and you alone but if they are offending you and an entire community behind you then that’s caused to drop the whole please be PC card. Political correctness is a tool to promote equality however, at its core, is fundamentally necessary for inequality. That is to say, of course, nowadays people use those minor triggering terms or phrases with subtle nuances of marginalism as a way of life. People use their PC ways to make people feel guilty for not being part of the oppressed group.
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