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There's a semantics issue at play here. Buried about halfway down the article is this: "One obvious question is what people mean by “political correctness.” In
by sverona 7y ago
There's a semantics issue at play here. Buried about halfway down the article is this:
"One obvious question is what people mean by “political correctness.” In the extended interviews and focus groups, participants made clear that they were concerned about their day-to-day ability to express themselves: They worry that a lack of familiarity with a topic, or an unthinking word choice, could lead to serious social sanctions for them. But since the survey question did not define political correctness for respondents, we cannot be sure what, exactly, the 80 percent of Americans who regard it as a problem have in mind."
In other words, the anxiety is not "oh god I'll have to treat people with basic respect." The anxiety is "oh god they'll cancel me if I make an honest mistake," and possibly "the ensuing social dynamics will mean I'll be out of a job."
I'm a trans woman. I get misgendered a lot. Trust me when I say that we can tell, by and large, when it's an honest mistake. The people who are doing it just to be malicious are easy to spot.
I'm about as far left as they come and I think "cancel culture," by which I mean the practice of cutting off everyday, actual social interactions with people who say something wrong, is the real problem here. You see it a lot on Twitter, especially leftist Twitter, because there are a lot of people who use social media explicitly to harass others, and so people who don't want to be harassed adjust their priors accordingly and quickly. And, yes, some people do it for the social clout of showing off how woke they are.
I think the fact that people are expressing this specific anxiety, rather than spewing obvious racism, says they want to do better but fear they aren't being given the chance. This is irrational.
If people correct you, they are giving you a chance. They're not going to turn around and tell their friends that you messed up, except maybe to vent. It won't spread like a rumor. That's all in your head. If people cut off contact with you because of one thing you said, continuing to worry about it or spend time with them probably isn't beneficial to you anyway.
On the other hand, if you want to be in someone's good graces, maybe you should listen to them when they tell you how to address them.
We call it "political correctness" because of politicians. We hold politicians (and writers) to one standard _precisely because they have the time to compose what they want to say._ We do not hold our friends to the same standard.
- tootie 7y agoI'm in my 40s and was raised in a town that was 99% white and leaned republican. Casual racism and violently anti-gay speech was the norm. Living today in a world of political correctness just feels like we're finally all being responsible. I haven't changed my speech or how I address people one iota. I work at a certifiably woke organization and all I see is people celebrating their cultures and treating people like people. Anyone who thinks they have to watch what they say are people who are just used to being assholes to minorities and aren't used to being judged for it.
- desertrider12 7y agoIn most contexts that's how it is, which is great. But it's going way too far on college campuses, where professors can get crucified on social media and then fired for saying the tiniest "problematic" things.
- sverona 7y agoI know there were a couple of incidents of this that were cited in [1]. The only other time something like this happened that I can call to mind is [2]. I haven't heard much of it at all since the last election, though. Maybe there are better, more visible targets now. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coddling_of_the_American_Mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coddling_of_the_American_M... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Salaita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Salaita
- beatgammit 7y agoI think people get uppity when "common courtesy" becomes a policy proposal. I personally have no problem referring to someone by a preferred pronoun or whatever (though I'll ask that you choose one of the two traditional options), but I don't want it to become a policy that I have to comply with. If I'm forced to do something I would otherwise do if asked nicely, I will resist. And that's where the culture part of it comes in. When I see stuff on the media, I think ahead to elections. I have no problem with PC culture on a personal level, but I absolutely don't want that to extend to the governmental or workplace levels. I applaud people for courageously being who they are instead of trying to present a false, but more socially familiar persona. However, that doesn't mean it should be illegal or against office policy to not follow personal requests, even if it takes a lot of courage to make them. That is why I push back on PC culture. I think it all stems from holding freedom of speech to be inalienable. I want to interact with you in a respectful manner, but I don't want to be forced to.
- ZeroGravitas 7y agoThis approach seems absurd when applied to many equality laws that were controversial at the time but are no longer. For example, what if someone forced you legally to allow women to attend your school, or African-Americans to use your water fountain (which they generally do in various ways)? It appears you'd intentionally bar them because before you'd have had basic human decency if they asked you nicely, but now the law got involved you're going to become institutionally racist and sexist just to make a point about freedom? But presumably you didn't and don't do that kind of thing, so why threaten to do it in this case?