Has Political Correctness Gone Too Far?

Yesterday, I met a school friend after 25 years…She came over and we chatted for a couple of hours…After she left, I had this feeling of emptiness – it wasn’t just the awkwardness of meeting after so long, it was something else…I kept on thinking about it and after a few hours I realized what the problem was – political correctness (PC)…She was being too politically correct…This friend has been living in the US for the last 15 years or so and it seemed to me that she gave a lot of thought before uttering a word…What was missing in our conversation was spontaneity and freedom…Everything was measured…This bizarre incident made me think of an article I had read some time back about the Founder & CEO of American Apparel Dov Charney…In the article he said that he felt PC had created an unbalanced culture that was unnaturally constraining...This is what he said:

Feminism is extremely restrictive. You can’t call a woman a bitch, you can’t call her this, you can’t call her that. But that’s what life’s really like. Yet she can do whatever she wants. It’s out of balance and that’s why young people
haven’t embraced feminism, because it’s out of balance.

Don’t get me wrong…I think his view of women is downright reprehensible (if you don’t believe me, check out the ads of American Apparel)…He uses women as a marketing tool, like numerous other companies, the only difference being his ads are simply distasteful…I’m digressing…Mr.Charney has a point…Like him, I feel that the 'elite' (who are a minority but claim to possess all the knowledge there is in this world) have established new limits on ordinary people on how to think and what to say in the name of PC...The laws that have been written on what is politically correct and what is not by this elite minority have done nothing but place a box around people's creativity and freedom...I do believe in being polite but I also think this concept of PC has gone a bit too far especially in the US…It has become a form of bullying where the bullies (elite & politicians) attack the psychology and thinking of another for their own satisfaction, even though something is said in complete innocence (and ignorance) of its origins…

Let me give you an example…The ‘n’ word is a big no-no when referring to an African American because it is a loaded word coined by white slave masters…Fine…I couldn’t agree more…What I can’t understand is why it is politically incorrect for non-Blacks to use it and is absolutely fine for Blacks to pepper their sentences liberally with it? I don’t see these PC bullies going after them, do you? What is wrong for one person should be wrong for everyone else and vice versa…

I feel a person’s upbringing and manners are more important than his being told to be politically correct…A well mannered person will automatically try not to offend another without being forced to think about each word he/she utters…We are lucky to live in a democracy which others envy...If we can't speak freely about issues including ‘hot’ issues, what’s the point of a democracy? Remember, PC doesn’t change people – education does…

Did you know...

• that the authors of the new stylebook, “Media Takes: On Aging,’’ would like the word "elderly" eliminated from our vocabulary...This is what they say:

Use this word carefully and sparingly. The term is appropriate only in generic phrases that do not refer to specific individuals, such as concern for the elderly, a home for the elderly, etc. In other words, describing a person as elderly is bad form, although the generalized category “elderly” might not be offensive. (Suggested substitutions include “older adult” or simply “man’’ or “woman” with the age inserted, if relevant.)

• that "nitty gritty" is a politically incorrect word because it has its roots in the slavery era