Am I alone in this ? I personally detest political correctness . There are numerous reasons why . Famed novelist Terry Pratchett summed it up with great skill , alluding to the PC trend when he wrote in his novel Johnny and the Bomb : “ You ’ re not allowed to call them dinosaurs any more ,” said Yo-less . “ It ’ s speciesist . You have to call them pre-petroleum persons .”
Have you ever noticed that someone must coin a new phrase for something the moment the meaning of the original phrase for it becomes widely understood ? Example : manhole covers are now referred to as “ personhole covers .” Wow .
This definitely applies to terms used for professions . Take the terms stewardess and stewards , for example . These phrases were once internationally understood and that ’ s when the word-Nazis felt compelled to swoop down and replace them . When I was a very small child , as opposed to now that I ’ m a very small adult , I would look at these beautiful women and handsome men and want to grow up to be them . Of course that ’ s before I understood how much guff these guys have to put up with from the increasingly rude and drunken ( not to mention sometimes dangerous ) traveling public . But , as a child , I ’ d watch these glamorouslooking , personable people as they moved efficiently and professionally about the plane seeing to the comfort and safety of their passengers . As a child growing up in pre-9 / 11 America , I truly wanted to grow up to be one of them . So , of course , the
A Letter From The Editor
Is political correctness another threat to freedom of speech or is it just another huge communist plot ?
word-Nazis had to swoop down and change their titles to flight attendant . Really ? The excuse ? The old titles were … “ demeaning .” Alrighty then .
I abhor walking on eggshells . I loathe double standards and the unfairness of how some people are allowed to use certain words and phrases and remain acceptable while others would be labeled a xenophobe , a racist or a hater . Most of all , I hate pussyfooting around issues . I feel that people should have the courage to defend the way they think and if they can ’ t , maybe they should consider taking a position that they are able to defend ?
Billionaire philanthropist Robert Agostinelli said , “ The social disease of political correctness has entered daily life , inverting good to bad and attempting to rewrite proud histories as an imposition of white supremacy for which we all should make contrition .” Ok , but he ’ s a conservative . Some famous liberals aren ’ t too keen on the whole political correctness thing either . Here ’ s what some of them have to say on the subject :
Hal Holbrook said , “ I got a feeling about political correctness . I hate it . It causes us to lie silently instead of saying what we think .”
Juan Williams said , “ The critical importance of honest journalism and a free flowing , respectful national conversation needs to be had in our country . But it is being buried as collateral damage in a war whose battles include political correctness and ideological orthodoxy .” You know political correctness has reached epidemic proportions when it impacts the very bastions of free speech , the hair salons ( they used to be called beauty shops ) of Weatherford , America .
The subject came up about a fashion show held five years ago , the one where model Karlie Kloss made her fateful walk down a New York City runway wearing fringed , suede underpants and matching foundation garment ( they used to be referred to as bras ) with suede sandals and a Native American headdress in a Victoria ’ s Secret style show . No doubt she inspired women everywhere to wear a war bonnet with their suede underwear ( already a wise underwear fabric choice , right ?).
Other than being more than a little ridiculous , why was this a problem ? Apparently , it was because Karlie isn ’ t Native American enough to wear this sacred garb . Thus began the brouhaha . People claiming to be Native Americans came crawling out of the woodwork and onto social media complaining about how offended they were because the model wearing this stuff didn ’ t have permission to wear a “ sacred ” war bonnet . Really ? The big question here is that since all this outrage began on social media , there is no way to confirm that the offended parties are actually Native Americans or paid bloggers for Victoria ’ s Secret ’ s secret competitors like Spanx or Fredrick ’ s of Hollywood or Hanes ( remember when , “ Gentlemen Preferred Hanes ?”).
Whoever these malcontents really are , the one certainty is that they are people who have nothing better to do than get their suede panties in a wad over a notoriously silly fashion show designed to catch eyes and create a stir .
OK , I ’ m of British descent . Does that mean that I give a robin ’ s feather and a crumpet if anyone who is not of British descent wears a trench coat or a plaid skirt ? No . Because I have a job , a religion , a few charitable causes and more to worry about than who dresses like people of British heritage , or Native Americans , or pirates . I especially don ’ t care what they wear with their underwear .
Yet , occasionally , someone will innocently mention the whole thing and I catch something politically incorrect flying out of my mouth . This happened as I was getting my hair done at Grass Roots Salon on York
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