PC Brigade strikes again. It is ruining our lives.

The PC Brigade are back again and they are traumatising our kids and is dividing everyone apart.

I believe that the PC Brigade are the closest things to tyrannical leadership. They are like a mob of people with their own ideals all alike, all marching in line and who follow one leader who is basically the leader of political correctness. They have taken away common sense and sense out of our community and they are invading quicker than Blair.

Anyone who has any stories about victims of pc or who knows of someone else who has suffered: do tell. Also what do you think of the PC Brigade making life macabrely sickening?

 

This sounds like drivel to me John, sorry. I'm not the most politically correct person in the world. I can take a racist or a sexist joke every now and again, as long as the context is right and no one is offended. But this whole tabloid/BNP 'THE PC BRIGADE STRIKE AGAIN' crap is just another way of saying, I'm racist, I'm sexist, I'm homophobic and I want to go out and offend people. I'm not saying political correctness should be enforced with an iron fist. But nor should it be flounted just for the sake of it. At its worst, attacks on political correctness can amount to attacks on vulnerable minorities....

 

To give this thread a chance, lets see what everyone else thinks We can all have opinions and actually welcome PC people's views aswell. It will give both sides to the arguement. I hope we can find a common ground.

 

Heh, well I wasn't planning on closing it after shooting you down

 

Well, i for one agree with Peace. Sounds a bit like drivel

We realise that people are still learning rights and wrongs, its an adjustment and were bound to be swaying one way or the other in the wrong direction as a species every now and then until lessons have been learnt

Hyping it up about the "pc brigade" will surely only cause more confusion, adding to problems, and also make people miss the positives involved in being a bit more careful with our words. I recognise that sometimes it goes way too far. But as i said, thats bound to happen

 

By implementing silly laws like:

Kids cannot compete in sports days as it is "Too competitive"
Skipping ropes ban due to the possibility that the kids will all go out into the playground and hang themselves. In other words kid suicide.(This is rare for a five or six year old to think about suicide)

By implementing silly laws, it is taking away responsibility from people. Political correctness basis is on the fact some people are very afraid that they might offend someone or get into lots of trouble. in their minds, it is something they cannot cope with.

I am sure some people will find the latest PC laws a bit silly . Lately on UCB UK radio, has been a debate about yet another PC brigade law. Twisting common fairy tales to make the characters either gay or lesbian? Draft proposals by the brigade have included banning Humpty dumpty as it may traumatise children because all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty together. Also Baa ba black sheep has now been dubbed possible racist.

I believe that this has far more detrimental affects on our children and society as a whole. it does not allow for common sense and it doesn't give anyone a chance to have responsibility. In my day and age,(1988) we didn't have these silly PC laws and it aint done me no harm. I am not at all traumatised at Humpty's doom and have not had councilling to get over Bambi's mother's death.

 

Of course many of these notions are silly and over the top. But it would be a gross exaggeration to say that they're ruining children's lives. What child is going to care whether a sheep is pink or black? I don't agree necessarily with changing a harmless nursery rhyme, but neither do I think it's particularly important. These are the extemities of political correctness perhaps. But it does not suggest we should jump on a bandwagon, declare all PC as PC gone mad, and start advocating calling people niggers for the sake of it....

 

I heard this email read out on This Morning Itv1. It was about a boy who had done his business(gone to the loo) But he couldn't do up his trousers. The PC law in the school was that no teacher was allowed to do his trousers up in case the parents get mad and the whole thing gets out of hand. Realistically the world is not so dramatic, so quickly.

The boy was left exposed to everyone as he came back into the class and this is just another example of how it can traumatise our children.

I mean you wouldn't want to be exposed to the public would you? how would you feel? I know as an adult you can handle it and get over it, but a child cannot.

 

You're conflating two seperate issues here. That has nothing to do with political correctness. It's to do with child protection and pedophillia laws....

 

Actually, you did; if you looked back you would probably be shocked at just how much changed in the four short years that seperate my childhood from yours. This is not a new thing at all.

When my Mother was a child, she lived on an estate where the kids ran the streets until all hours, real 'latch-key kids', because communities were just that. Cut to the late 70s, and that was already unheard of, owing to the growing number of pervs and nutters. Cut again to the late 80s, and the only kids allowed to roam the streets at all hours were those whose parents didn't give a fig what they were up to. Which brings us to now; most of the kids out late at night these days are little yobs.

You can't really blame political correctness on society; rather, blame the society's rapidly ebbing sense of community, for most of the problems facing us today.

We (i.e. bad parents, ineffective cops, teachers with no discipline) are rearing a ntion of wimps and crybabies, nobody else; we are. And while political correctness hasn't helped, I believe it has only been fuelled by society's own failings.

 

Moreover, I would argue, political correctness is a response to the ills of society. Whilst admittedly it can go too far, anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-homophobia and anti-hate laws were necessary to respond to real issues of prejudice in society. Whilst to address these problems we must go deeper, to their root causes, it is still important for society, on an official level, to recognise that prejudice will not be tolerated within the confines of the law....

 

can we break from the serious discussion for a moment for an amusingly illustrative joke? btw, i'm with peace-phoenix, it's a fine but important balance. we're just a bit wobbly right now.

Politically Correct Little Red Riding Hood

There once was a young person named Little Red Riding Hood who lived on the edge of a large forest full of endangered owls and rare plants that would probably provide a cure for cancer if only someone took the time to study them.

Red Riding Hood lived with a nurture giver whom she sometimes referred to as "mother", although she didn't mean to imply by this term that she would have thought less of the person if a close biological link did not in fact exist.

Nor did she intend to denigrate the equal value of nontraditional households, although she was sorry if this was the impression conveyed.

One day her mother asked her to take a basket of organically grown fruit and mineral water to her grandmother's house.

"But mother, won't this be stealing work from the unionized people who have struggled for years to earn the right to carry all packages between various people in the woods?"

Red Riding Hood's mother assured her that she had called the union boss and gotten a special compassionate mission exemption form.

"But mother, aren't you oppressing me by ordering me to do this?"

Red Riding Hood's mother pointed out that it was impossible for womyn to oppress each other, since all womyn were equally oppressed until all womyn were free.

"But mother, then shouldn't you have my brother carry the basket, since he's an oppressor, and should learn what it's like to be oppressed?"

And Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her brother was attending a special rally for animal rights, and besides, this wasn't stereotypical womyn's work, but an empowering deed that would help engender a feeling of community.

"But won't I be oppressing Grandma, by implying that she's sick and hence unable to independently further her own selfhood?"

But Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her grandmother wasn't actually sick or incapacitated or mentally handicapped in any way, although that was not to imply that any of these conditions were inferior to what some people called "health".

Thus Red Riding Hood felt that she could get behind the idea of delivering the basket to her grandmother, and so she set off.

Many people believed that the forest was a foreboding and dangerous place, but Red Riding Hood knew that this was an irrational fear based on cultural paradigms instilled by a patriarchal society that regarded the natural world as an exploitable resource, and hence believed that natural predators were in fact intolerable competitors.

Other people avoided the woods for fear of thieves and deviants, but Red Riding Hood felt that in a truly classless society all marginalized peoples would be able to "come out" of the woods and be accepted as valid lifestyle role models.

On her way to Grandma's house, Red Riding Hood passed a woodchopper, and wandered off the path, in order to examine some flowers.

She was startled to find herself standing before a Wolf, who asked her what was in her basket.

Red Riding Hood's teacher had warned her never to talk to strangers, but she was confident in taking control of her own budding sexuality, and chose to dialogue with the Wolf.

She replied, "I am taking my Grandmother some healthful snacks in a gesture of solidarity."

The Wolf said, "You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone."

Red Riding Hood said, "I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop an alternative and yet entirely valid worldview. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would prefer to be on my way."

Red Riding Hood returned to the main path, and proceeded towards her Grandmother's house.

But because his status outside society had freed him from slavish adherence to linear, Western-style thought, the Wolf knew of a quicker route to Grandma's house.

He burst into the house and ate Grandma, a course of action affirmative of his nature as a predator.

Then, unhampered by rigid, traditionalist gender role notions, he put on Grandma's nightclothes, crawled under the bedclothes, and awaited developments.

Red Riding Hood entered the cottage and said,

"Grandma, I have brought you some cruelty free snacks to salute you in your role of wise and nurturing matriarch."

The Wolf said softly "Come closer, child, so that I might see you."

Red Riding Hood said, "Goddess! Grandma, what big eyes you have!"

"You forget that I am optically challenged."

"And Grandma, what an enormous, what a fine nose you have."

"Naturally, I could have had it fixed to help my acting career, but I didn't give in to such societal pressures, my child."

"And Grandma, what very big, sharp teeth you have!"

The Wolf could not take any more of these specist slurs, and, in a reaction appropriate for his accustomed milieu, he leaped out of bed, grabbed Little Red Riding Hood, and opened his jaws so wide that she could see her poor Grandmother cowering in his belly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Red Riding Hood bravely shouted. "You must request my permission before proceeding to a new level of intimacy!"

The Wolf was so startled by this statement that he loosened his grasp on her.

At the same time, the woodchopper burst into the cottage, brandishing an ax.

"Hands off!" cried the woodchopper.

"And what do you think you're doing?" cried Little Red Riding Hood. "If I let you help me now, I would be expressing a lack of confidence in my own abilities, which would lead to poor self esteem and lower achievement scores on college entrance exams."

"Last chance, sister! Get your hands off that endangered species! This is an FBI sting!" screamed the woodchopper, and when Little Red Riding Hood nonetheless made a sudden motion, he sliced off her head.

"Thank goodness you got here in time," said the Wolf. "The brat and her grandmother lured me in here. I thought I was a goner."

"No, I think I'm the real victim, here," said the woodchopper. "I've been dealing with my anger ever since I saw her picking those protected flowers earlier. And now I'm going to have such a trauma. Do you have any aspirin?"

"Sure," said the Wolf.

"Thanks."

"I feel your pain," said the Wolf, and he patted the woodchopper on his firm, well padded back, gave a little belch, and said "Do you have any Maalox?"

 

Hahaha, a funny story, nice satire. One point that stood out for me, which is actually a mistake on the part of feminists. Some feminists will refer to women as womyn (as in the story) because they do not like to see their gender identifier as being derived simply from the male gender identifier. However, the words women and men actually have distinct etymological roots and neither one is derived from the other. Woman is derived from the older English wyfman, whereas men is derived from werman (hence werewolves being man-wolves). It's a common mistake for the feminists to make, and well worth pointing out just to put the bitches in their place.


Ahem....

 

I agree with you on the bases of political correctness around the issues of disability, race and gender but I feel that an equailty and a degree of tolerance has been recognised and understood and is being sincerely lived by overall. In using the explanation of me in Kewsick. In that thread I was wanting to show how from a heterosexual bloke disproving something that had an equal opps element, which wasn't posted ugly or had any right-wing political agenda, was jumped on and ripped apart, totally mis-read at times; and I found I have been stuck with a 'label'. I wasn't in any away building up to have us all go gay bashing but I was a little disingenuous. But I feel we are breeding a new crowd of the 'facist liberals!'






Only kids from Deadend street roamed at night in the 80's? Thanks; there was concern around child protection issues back then but I can assure you there wasn't the same hysteria and panic there is now. Kids need to have the ability to get out by themselves, learn an independence and take risks. What I mean is to wander down to the dene, beach, fields or clifftops, or where ever and explore. Not Blyton style but Charver style! I guess today. Or whatever they want to do. Emo style, although from what I understand now it would be the bedroom and that's it, bit like now. I don't think I'm an Emo, or am I?

 

Yeah, I hate womyn...

 

ahhh PC!

see when sensible its all good

but i must agree that it is getting ridiculous in many ways - gingerbreadPERSON - i mean what the f*ck....who the bleedin hell is gonna be arsed whether they buy a gingerbread MAN.

when it gets silly i agree, though on real terms, on bigger subjects I think its important that we address people correctly where offence may otherwise be caused.

obviously these things vary from person to person. Im pretty sure Im the only person that is able to get away with calling my gay friend a puff, because he knows im teasing. But anyone else he would find it offensive.

 

Well I never called you a gay basher now did I? I don't think you're homophobic. In fact you seem to me to be a pretty decent, liberal guy. The point that emerged from the thread was the way that you expressed a perfectly valid opinion did come across as implicitly homophobic. It wouldn't have been too much of an issue, I suppose, if it hadn't offended a particular poster. And that, surely, is the point of political correctness. I'm not for wrapping every one in cotton wool. But it does allow for certain civil decency, where people will be frowned upon if they actively set out (and I don't think you did this) to offend people....

 

I laughed hard and loudly at that, you sanctimonious sod; or was is sarcasm.

 

Well the etymological roots of women is true. The bitches in their place bit was tongue in cheek :jester:

 

haha i liked PC red riding hood