# Look, here's the Straight Dope on Political Correctness **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 21, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792 "2016-01-21T17:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/81 "2016-01-22T02:05:31Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > No, it’s an insult if the majority of the people in that category say it’s an insult. Or, if it was meant as an insult. Words are letters grouped together. Context is what gives them definition. No, your definition is overbroad. This is how we get to the state of affairs where “trigger words” and “microagressions” are actually a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/82 "2016-01-22T02:20:41Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > No, your definition is overbroad. This is how we get to the state of affairs where “trigger words” and “microagressions” are actually a thing. Some examples of micro aggression are probably suspect. But I doubt that someone who spends time complaining about trigger words and microagressions is the best person to ask which are legitimate and which are not. Probably better to ask the group the insults are aimed at. The consensus among that group. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/83 "2016-01-22T02:31:04Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Some examples of micro aggression are probably suspect. Just some examples? Can use give us a few that aren’t suspect? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/84 "2016-01-22T02:33:01Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Just some examples? > > Can use give us a few that aren’t suspect? Can you actually formulate your own arguments? Or are you just going to keep asking questions? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/85 "2016-01-22T02:34:30Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Can you actually formulate your own arguments? > > Or are you just going to keep asking questions? That’s not how it works. You made the statement, now back it up, please. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/86 "2016-01-22T02:42:31Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > That’s not how it works. You made the statement, now back it up, please. 1. in post 81 - you - mentioned trigger words and micro aggressions. 2. Regardless of who mentions a topic first, it is your established habit to “ask questions” but not really comment. 3. Remember when you asked for a cite that “rich” people profited from the war on drugs, and, I gave you 15 citations, and, you never responded. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/87 "2016-01-22T02:44:54Z")
You said that “some” examples of microagression are “probably” suspect. Can you give us an example of any that NOT? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/88 "2016-01-22T02:47:45Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > No, your definition is overbroad. This is how we get to the state of affairs where “trigger words” and “microagressions” are actually a thing. [Microaggression:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microaggression_theory) > [@](#): > > **Microaggression** is a term coined by psychiatrist and Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce in 1970 to describe insults and dismissals he said he had regularly witnessed non-black Americans inflict on African Americans.[1][2][3][4] In 1973, MIT economist Mary Rowe extended the term to include similar aggressions directed at women; eventually, the term came to encompass the casual degradation of any socially marginalized group, such as the poor and the disabled.[5] That’s not a thing? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/89 "2016-01-22T02:53:17Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > You said that “some” examples of microagression are “probably” suspect. Can you give us an example of any that NOT? I’d be glad to, if, you had any intention of actually having a discussion. But, as I have said, if all you are going to do is - ask questions - then no, that is not really a discussion. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/90 "2016-01-22T02:54:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Microaggression:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microaggression_theory) > > That’s not a thing? Seriously? Only in a tiny subset of the population, like liberal professors. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/91 "2016-01-22T02:55:31Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I’d be glad to, if, you had any intention of actually having a discussion. But, as I have said, if all you are going to do is - ask questions - then no, that is not really a discussion. Provide the evidence, and then we can discuss it. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/92 "2016-01-22T03:03:50Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Provide the evidence, and then we can discuss it. Really? Ok, making comments about someones hair or accent does not seem to me to be a microagression. It mainly seems to bother people 35 and under. But I have heard that it does bother a lot of people so out of politeness I do not ask such questions, even though, I generally have a vary curious and inquisitive nature. Now, do you have any actual contribution to this discussion? Or are you just going to ask more questions? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/93 "2016-01-22T03:07:49Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Really? > > Ok, making comments about someones hair or accent does not seem to me to be a microagression. Talking about someone’s hair isn’t within the definition of a “microagression”. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/94 "2016-01-22T03:11:33Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Talking about someone’s hair isn’t within the definition of a “microagression”. to [some people](http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a-daily-basis#.pv0ngx3rw8) it is ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/95 "2016-01-22T03:12:53Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > to [some people](http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a-daily-basis#.pv0ngx3rw8) it is And the idea is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/96 "2016-01-22T03:16:19Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > And the idea is just silly. Is this the extent of your contribution to a debate, that you think an idea is silly? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/97 "2016-01-22T03:19:59Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Is this the extent of your contribution to a debate, that you think an idea is silly? Is that your contribution to a debate, to define what an insult is for the rest of the world? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/98 "2016-01-22T03:22:43Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Is that your contribution to a debate, to define what an insult is for the rest of the world? No. My point was that the people the insult was aimed at had a lot more valid opinion on the topic than people not in that group. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/99 "2016-01-22T03:25:26Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I agree with Trump about this (at least as quoted in the OP). > > The entire question directed at him was pure PC. "_You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals_”. Why is calling women he doesn’t like by those names categorized as misogynistic, while calling men he doesn’t like by those or similar names just treated as insults against those specific men? It amounts to an attempt to effectively treat women as a specially protected class, who can insult others but cannot be insulted themselves, via political correctness. Please indicate the occasions when Trump referred to men as “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,” attacking their appearance or identifying them as animals. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792/100 "2016-01-22T03:38:30Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > No. > > My point was that the people the insult was aimed at had a lot more valid opinion on the topic than people not in that group. Ok. I kind of agree with that. Some people take it too far, though. That’s all I am saying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-heres-the-straight-dope-on-political-correctness/743792.md?page=6)