Political correctness
Political correctness, politically correct, and P.C. are terms that commonly refer, often mockingly, to a social idea that is characterized by efforts to redress, primarily by the use of language, real or alleged discrimination on the basis of race, gender, disability or other criteria. One purpose behind this is to prevent the exclusion or the offending of people based upon differences or handicaps. The idea behind using 'politically correct' terminology is to bring peoples' unconscious biases into awareness, allowing them to make a more informed choice about their language and making them aware of things different people might find offensive. The new terms are often awkward substitutes for the original stark language concerning differences like race, gender, sexual orientation and disability.
An example of substituting politically correct terminology for terminology considered offensive would be exchanging the phrase disabled person for cripple when describing a person with a physical or mental disability. Using terms like "spaz" or "nutter" to refer to the aforementioned groups would be decidedly non-P.C.
Usage
The intended purpose of political correctness is twofold: to remove language offensive to many, and to include all members of society by treating them equally. The first meaning is exemplified by usage of P.C. terms such as "African-American" in the place of "black" or "colored". However, the choice of racial or ethnic nomenclature can depend on the individual, as well as location and time period. For example, in the United States people of both Caucasian and African descent use the term "black", while the term nigger is usually considered racist and offensive when used by non-blacks. Many young African-Americans use the term freely among themselves but view it as derogatory if used by people of other races.
Political correctness may also be exhibited by the refusal to discuss particular traits of an ethnic or religious minority. For instance, it may not be politically correct to point out that a particular immigrant community has crime rates above those of the general population or to hypothesize publicly that cultural traits of that minority may have led to such a situation.
A rule of thumb for determining whether a term may be considered politically incorrect is to question whether one is identifying the individual by an uncontrollable attribute, rather than on his or her unique accomplishments. For example, calling Stevie Wonder a blind black man could be said to imply that his handicap and race are more important than his significant musical influence on Motown and Soul.
History
Both the movement and the term describing political correctness rose to broad usage in the early 1980s. It is alleged that the term "political correctness" started as a label jokingly used to describe one's over-commitment to various Left-wing political causes. Use of the terms "P.C" and "politically correct" declined in the late 1990s, and it is often now seen in comedy or as a political slur with questionable meaning.
Still, outside of the area of comedy the term is still seen frequently describing aspects of policy-making that attempt to utilize the idea of being inoffensive in terminology, as well as attempts at "equilizing" on the basis of differences. It is this latter aspect that some see as actually highlighting the very differences these policies themselves are trying to correct for.
One example of where political correctness has entered into policy-making is in the purchasing of school textbooks. In the United States, public schools are subject to bias and sensitivity guidelines, which affect the purchasing of school textbooks. Also, in an example of how "equilization" is attempted by such policies, these guidelines are used in the construction of tests that attempt to be fair by being customized to specific ethnic, cultural, and other differences. This is a subject of considerable debate at the present time in this industry, with most sides agreeing that the quality of American public school textbooks is much lower than that of other industrialized nations, and that the method of determining content is severely hindered by either the politically correct, politically conservative, or more often, both.
Controversy
The term "political correctness" is itself fraught with controversy. Some believe that the use of specialized, politically correct jargon creates a separate status for the groups referred to, and thus prevents integration and acceptance while perpetuating stereotypes. For example, using word variants such as the term "poetess" could be interpreted as denoting male practitioners to be the norm, and it could be argued this perpetuates what some see as male dominance in society. However, the general idea behind political correctness it that the terms are designed mainly to treat others with respect.
In politics, Self-described political progressives never used the expression widely and have now stopped using it almost entirely as it has become a popular jeer against them. Critics often point out the similarity between P.C.ness and Orwellian ideas such as newspeak and thoughtcrime, as well as fascist propaganda. [1] Such ideas arise from the overzealous nature of some P.C. proponents. However, advocates argue that defending those who they see as victims of repression or discrimination does not itself constitute intolerance. Critics also argue that advocacy of "P.C." amounts to censorship, and that it makes open discussion more difficult. In recent years, political correctness has come to be used seriously by some and jokingly by others, in protest against policies which some see as seeking conformance with a set of beliefs regarding cultural change. The term is also frequently used by conservatives in a broader sense to characterize any of a numerous set of beliefs they disagree with.
A recent situation at the L.A. Times is very illustrative of the conflicts regarding politically correct speech. A news review of an opera included the term "pro-life" in the sense of "life-affirming". However it is Times policy to use the term "anti-abortion" in lieu of the term "pro-life", therefore the term was changed, even though the meaning was entirely different. When this error was realized, the Times changed it back and provided the name of the editor who had initially changed it. The paper then had to retract the name of the editor because it is also Times policy not to name people who make changes to the articles.
Satirical use
The idea of P.C.ness also has a very interesting history of use in satire and comedy. One of the earlier, and most well-known, satirical takes on this movement can be found in the book Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, in which traditional fairy tales are rewritten from a grossly exaggerated, so-called politically correct viewpoint. The roles of good and evil in these 'PC' stories are often the reverse of those in the original versions. For example, Hansel, Gretel and their father are evil, and the witch is good in the politically correct version of Hansel and Gretel.
The practice of satirizing so-called P.C. speech indeed took on a life of its own in the 1990s, though its popularity in today's media has largely declined. Part of what it is to understand the meaning of "P.C." is to be familiar with satirical portrayals of political correctness, and to understand them as such. Such portrayals are often exaggerations of what actual politically correct speech looks like. For example, in a satirical example of so-called P.C. speech, the sentence "The fireman put a ladder up against the tree, climbed it, and rescued the cat", might look like this:
- "The firefighter (who happened to be male, but could just as easily have been female) abridged the rights of the cat to determine for itself where it wanted to walk, climb, or rest, and inflicted his own value judgments in determining that it needed to be "rescued" from its chosen perch. In callous disregard for the well-being of the environment, and this one tree in particular, he thrust the mobility disadvantaged-unfriendly means of ascent known as a "ladder" carelessly up against the tree, marring its bark, and unfeelingly climbed it, unconcerned how his display of physical prowess might injure the self-esteem of those differently-abled. He kidnapped and unjustly restrained the innocent animal with the intention of returning it to the person who claimed to "own" the naturally free animal."
The above text admixes the most radical versions of several movements or theories. In fact, almost any so-called "P.C." speaker would most likely be perfectly satisfied with "The firefighter put a ladder against the tree, climbed it, and rescued the cat."
The satire is not necessarily an anti-P.C. or pro-P.C. statement. Both liberal and conservative readers, for example, often enjoy this particular text.
See also
- Doublespeak
- Propaganda
- Hate speech
- Non-sexist language
- Non-sexist language
- Politically Incorrect
- Newspeak
Further reading
- Diane Ravitch, The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn, Knopf, 2003, hardcover, 255 pages, ISBN 0-375-41482-71
- Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf, The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook, Harper Collins, 1992, paperback 176 pages, ISBN 0-586-21726-6
- Nigel Rees, The Politically Correct Phrasebook: what they say you can and cannot say in the 1990's, Bloomsbury, 1993, 192 pages, ISBN 0-747-51426-7
External links
- Frequently Used Words and Phrases of the PC Lexicon
- Tongue Tied - documents alleged ongoing censorship of politically incorrect speech or expression in the United States.
- Possible origins of the term at www.linguist.org