apathy maybe
29th July 2004, 08:23
I've been noticing discussions of the use of the terms 'nigger' and 'wigger'. And some people have complained that Che-lives is too 'politically correct'.
This term is obviously misunderstood by a lot of people, even our dear old (this is so why we need a sarcasm tag!) prime minister (if you're in Australia), doesn't seem to understand what it means (actually the old bustard may know what it means).
What it is, is not being offensive. It is there to "prevent people being offended". "[T]he core idea behind political correctness is that the terms are primarily designed to treat others with respect."
Now if we take this we can see that use of the term 'nigger', is not 'politically correct'. The reason being, it causes offence, and is not used as a term of respect (if it ever came to change its meaning, then it may become PC). Similarly 'wigger' is also meant to cause offence, or at least is used to denote that something is 'inferior' to something else.
There are cases where people go too far; when they start getting ridiculess in the name of being 'politically correct. Some of these cases are related to computers. Recently someone (somepeople?) was complaining about the arrangement of hard drives. There are 'masters' and 'slaves'. Now this came about because of the way they are arranged in the computer (and how they are connected up etc). But it was thought that it might cause offence to black people in the USA.
Similarly the 'man' command in Unix (and Linux & Mac OS X) has been criticised. It is short for manual and when used shows information about a command. It was introduced when space was at a premium on hard drives (they may not even have had them!). The obvious problem is that there is no woman command (though it has been suggested that one could be put in, but the joke is likely to cause offence (be 'politically incorrect')).
There are some cases where being 'politically incorrect' is all right (so long as you don't really mean it). Where your comments won't cause offence (or are unlikely) to anyone present (which is why you only hear jokes about woman in all male company; and probably why I don't hear to many jokes about men).
So long as you don't really mean it is the problem. If I told a joke about a dumb woman, I would tell it solely for its laugh factor. I would complain if someone who I knew were sexist told the same joke, however; he probably would mean it (One example of this where the person actually means it is http://www.conservativecartoons.com/cartoo....gif&year=1995) (http://www.conservativecartoons.com/cartoon.php?toon=pushup.gif&year=1995)). Jokes about Irish (and Polish as well apparently) people are often told (hear about the latest Irish invention? Solar powered torch!). These jokes are funny, but you could replace them with any stereotype (hear about the latest [blond|Polish|black|etc] invention? a wooden barbecue). And the function originally was to reinforce those stereotypes.
Being politically correct doesn't require much effort (no at all?). It isn't a bad thing (as some right-wingers would have). All it means is being respectful of other people. It does include having to think up new insults (fag doesn't really cut it, and what is wrong with being a girl anyway?); but this isn't hard. Smeg-head, foolish lout and ignorant are all acceptable (in my books) 'cause they can be changed if true (well maybe being a smeg-head isn't changeable).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness
http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/pc.htm (right-wing alert)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com/ (right-wing alert)
This term is obviously misunderstood by a lot of people, even our dear old (this is so why we need a sarcasm tag!) prime minister (if you're in Australia), doesn't seem to understand what it means (actually the old bustard may know what it means).
What it is, is not being offensive. It is there to "prevent people being offended". "[T]he core idea behind political correctness is that the terms are primarily designed to treat others with respect."
Now if we take this we can see that use of the term 'nigger', is not 'politically correct'. The reason being, it causes offence, and is not used as a term of respect (if it ever came to change its meaning, then it may become PC). Similarly 'wigger' is also meant to cause offence, or at least is used to denote that something is 'inferior' to something else.
There are cases where people go too far; when they start getting ridiculess in the name of being 'politically correct. Some of these cases are related to computers. Recently someone (somepeople?) was complaining about the arrangement of hard drives. There are 'masters' and 'slaves'. Now this came about because of the way they are arranged in the computer (and how they are connected up etc). But it was thought that it might cause offence to black people in the USA.
Similarly the 'man' command in Unix (and Linux & Mac OS X) has been criticised. It is short for manual and when used shows information about a command. It was introduced when space was at a premium on hard drives (they may not even have had them!). The obvious problem is that there is no woman command (though it has been suggested that one could be put in, but the joke is likely to cause offence (be 'politically incorrect')).
There are some cases where being 'politically incorrect' is all right (so long as you don't really mean it). Where your comments won't cause offence (or are unlikely) to anyone present (which is why you only hear jokes about woman in all male company; and probably why I don't hear to many jokes about men).
So long as you don't really mean it is the problem. If I told a joke about a dumb woman, I would tell it solely for its laugh factor. I would complain if someone who I knew were sexist told the same joke, however; he probably would mean it (One example of this where the person actually means it is http://www.conservativecartoons.com/cartoo....gif&year=1995) (http://www.conservativecartoons.com/cartoon.php?toon=pushup.gif&year=1995)). Jokes about Irish (and Polish as well apparently) people are often told (hear about the latest Irish invention? Solar powered torch!). These jokes are funny, but you could replace them with any stereotype (hear about the latest [blond|Polish|black|etc] invention? a wooden barbecue). And the function originally was to reinforce those stereotypes.
Being politically correct doesn't require much effort (no at all?). It isn't a bad thing (as some right-wingers would have). All it means is being respectful of other people. It does include having to think up new insults (fag doesn't really cut it, and what is wrong with being a girl anyway?); but this isn't hard. Smeg-head, foolish lout and ignorant are all acceptable (in my books) 'cause they can be changed if true (well maybe being a smeg-head isn't changeable).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness
http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/pc.htm (right-wing alert)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com/ (right-wing alert)