political correctness · 1:23am Nov 29th, 2015
(also posted on my Facebook)
Dear religious conservative,
I'd like to talk to you about this phrase: "politically correct".
It feels like an oxymoron, or maybe Orwell's Doublespeak, doesn't it? Perhaps it does deserve to be thought of in negative terms, if only for being an awkward and unnecessary euphemism for what is basically the Golden Rule.
But you've taken it beyond that, haven't you? You've taken a silly rephrasing of the Golden Rule and made it so negative that it turned inside-out and became a slur, a slur against YOURSELVES, oddly enough, and a slur which, to those of us who aren't you, dear religious conservative, seems to mean something along the lines of, "I don't want to be reasonable, and I don't want anybody to be reasonable to me; I want to be excluded from anybody in this world who is not exactly like me".
What's worse is that, for some of you, it's gone even further than that. You've extended it into a sort of victim complex wherein, for example, if you wished me a merry Christmas, and I returned it with a happy holidays, you feel as if I am trying to be correct a social mistake you've made, or, worse, discourage you from enjoying your holiday in your own way. There must be a conspiracy of Grinches trying to end Christmas for . . . reasons. But wait! It's worse than that! I must be a soldier in the war against Christianity as a whole!
Relax. I'm just not you; that's all. All you're afraid of is change, of things you don't understand. That's perfectly normal. But, then, what's my point? What's with the wall of text, and what was that bit about you turning "politically correct" into a self-insult? My point is that the fear stops being a normal human reaction to something you don't understand when you go and do something like this:
Words are important. They change, organically, along with their respective languages, evolving in meaning, picking up new ones, dropping old ones, or fading from use altogether. They can also change according to context, be the context the phrasing, the setting where the conversation is taking place, or the personal history of the persons holding the conversation. This is why, for example, if you learn that I'm gay and then refer to me exclusively as "homosexual", it makes me feel as if you are trying very, very, very hard not to call me a faggot.
So what do I read into this sign, dear religious conservative? Here you go:
"Our entire county is full of raging assholes. We're proud of it and will do everything within our self-righteous power to drive you out if you so much as hint at being different, because we're just better than you. Neener neener!"
Childish, no? Tricky things, words. There's a difference between self-confidence, of not worrying what others think of you, and just being a smug jerk.
I'm reminded of a pizza joint that used to be in the town square of Mountain Home, Arkansas, where I grew up. Nimas, I think it was called. Shortly before I graduated high school, the owner retired, and the guy who bought it did a bit of redecorating in the form of giant placards promoting conservative talking points. Was it his right to do so? Sure--he ran the joint, after all--but perhaps insulting potential customers is not a good way to run a business.
Nimas has since closed. I wonder how much of it had to do with those signs, even in Mountain Home.
Dear religious conservative: I'm not expecting you to come to the light, or to change your mind. I'm just asking you to give a good, hard think about how you're going about things.
Happy holidays.
Lots of love,
Allen
Did you get this?
3575993
You mean your comment just now? Yeah, I got it.
3576030
Heh. Anyways, I meant the thing you put in the blog.
3576043
The picture, no. But it's a real thing.
3576073
Was the post meant for you or did you post it?
3576077
What? It was just something I was thinking about. I wrote and posted it on my Facebook, and decided to share it to. That's it.
3576120
Ah, okay.
I always get the impression that "politically correct," said with a sneer, is meant to imply that the speaker or writer is bravely, courageously speaking the truth against an oppressive regime. It's got a little fillip of red meat and machismo. "Sorry, I guess that's not politically correct." (The "sorry," of course, is totally insincere.)
In one swipe, "politically correct" labels people as both oppressive AND weak: "you're just too sensitive/you can't take a joke/I can say what I like, it's a free country," in response to, "that's a really rude, nasty thing to say, and civilized people don't say it." And to engage in a bit of armchair analysis, what's lurking underneath is The Fear of Mom: Mom who takes your games away and tries to make you eat a healthy diet and says, "now, how would you feel if someone said that to you?" Deep down, they are all whining, "but Moooommmm."
Sometimes this makes me less mad, and sometimes it doesn't.