Political correctness to me seems not only inappropriate,
but more importantly, sometimes misleading and potentially perverse. Focusing on and encouraging the least
provocative (and often the most tepid) use of words and expressions is too much
collective thinking for my world. I see
the words used as valuable reflections of the source they come from and this
helps inform me as to the overall temperament and nuance of the expression.
I want to understand communication as fully as possible and
it is always preferable to hear the original statement rather than a polished and
sanitized version – which inevitably loses something in translation. If a person has biases or phobias I’d much
rather know about them rather than have them cloaked in misleading euphemisms; a
variety of expressions and some discordance is preferable to too much
harmony. If we all think and speak alike
then all but one of us is redundant. I
don’t mean to suggest that there is not a place for common courtesy, empathy,
and human sensitivity, but this is a matter of social etiquette and not of free
speech.
I’m only a bit reluctant to think we WWII babies were cut
from tougher cloth than younger generations, but the basic mindset instilled in
me by my mother in preparation for facing the rigors of kindergarten was “sticks
and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”
I have too many things to focus on rather than worrying about
how who said what: things like improving
my quality of life, contemplating runaway human population, making architecture
that respects all life forms and drawings that captivate the viewer, studying fishing
conditions at local lakes, keeping abreast of USC’s football season, helping
with my extended family’s well-being, puzzling over quantum mechanics and
astrophysics, reminiscing about Bob Dylan, …and on top of this I should find
time to avoid words drawn from my unique life’s experiences that might offend
some thin skinned, narcissistic malcontent?
I don’t think so.
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