Marudas said:
This is the first time I've found myself in such disagreement with Moviebob.
In my narrow view, I see Political Correctness as a sort of cover for (Possibly) insensitive, yet true stereotypes. Now I'm not going to be so blind as to say that there are hundreds of thousands of people who are racist, jerks, or just plain ignorant, but its always irritating to me that we're not allowed to mention that certain people habitually act certain ways because its insensitive. And where this line starts and ends seems to be utterly arbitrary. For example, you mentioned its utterly inappropriate to mention the "Fried Chicken" stereotype, but another, more broad cultural stereotype is that Americans are ignorant to the rest of the world. I see this one fly all the time, and perhaps its more inappropriate to apply these as jokes and insults (such as applying the stereotype to a president). As another point, its perfectly okay to drag out White Males and say what you will about them (Yes, there were a lot of jerks that were white males in the past, why does this apply to this generation?). It seems like PC only applies when you're talking about a minority or a touchy subject (African Americans/Africans or, in the sense of Jeff Dunham to who you referred, Muslim.) Its okay to point out Factual (but hurtful) remarks about Americans and White Males, but not when referring to minority groups.
PC was created as a means to level the playing field of language for maligned groups in society. Guess which group doesn't fall under that umbrella? White males. So yes, a lot of the rules will not be very inclusive to your typical WASP-ish male. Because history has been oh-so kind to them.
There's a fallacy at work that a lot of the anti-PC crowd will invoke: That because minorities have legal protections, that everything can start at a level baseline. And that's just not true. Having women in office doesn't change that they're still disproportionately paid in the same jobs, overwhelming forced to endure abuse with little, to no, consequences towards their assailants. A black President doesn't negate the ingrained prejudice that is still at work in society to keep minorities poor and stupid. A popular character on TV being gay doesn't mean thousands of GLBT people are still targeted for violence. We aren't working on a level field - PC was an attempt to give minority groups a boost by not having to put up with degrading words all the time. "Reverse-racism" doesn't exist, it's a nifty term coined to make the group of power feel better about those uppity minorities flexing what few muscles they have.
As for the American thing, that's a global issue. PC is only a practice in the US (other countries might have similar unofficial policies, but PC is our baby). So the idea that some bloke over in New Zealand adhering to it, is silly.
You also have to be aware of your audience, it's amazing that this concept seems so foreign to people. Guess what? If you're the lone non-black in a crowd of black people, you don't get to drop the n-word the second you walk into the room. Boo hoo, right? There's an old saying that when you meet a stranger the 3 topics you shouldn't immediately jump to are sex, politics, and religion. And, of course, it goes both ways. If I'm a female that doesn't enjoy sexist talk/jokes, I'm not going to go and sit through an Andrew Dice Clay routine.
Responsibility, people. That's what PC asks of you. Be aware of your words, and use them wisely. Regardless of your view of the subject. It's just as un-PC of me to point to a conservative and call him/her an inbred cracker.
