Look, here's the Straight Dope on Political Correctness

It has existed since the first totalitarian society. It was present in Ancient Egypt.

  1. No pre-modern society, with the possible exception of Sparta and maybe the Inca Empire, was “totalitarian” in anything like the modern sense of the word (and, there is no pre-modern sense of the word).

  2. :dubious: What exactly happened in Ancient Egypt that was in any way comparable to, say, a campus group protesting hate speech?

Or you saying we live in a Totalitarian society?

I am sorry – not yet.

So then you think people will be sent to prison in the future for saying cunt or nigger? In the USA?

A person who blasphemed Pharaoh being driven out into the Wilderness by a crowd with stones.

PS. Anonymity allows people to post Politically Incorrect stuff. At night some workers drew a graffiti of Pharaoh at the restroom. That was utter blasphemy to say about the Pharaoh – he was considered an angel. I have heard such graffiti did survive.

People have lost jobs for much much less. In any case I have never used these words.

Look, that’s how you interpret the insult, just as you interpret using “dick” as an insult differently in post #54. That doesn’t mean that’s how the insult is always or typically used - it could simply be an insult. Is “bitch” verboten as well for both men and women?

So is it misogynistic to call a man a “cunt”? Why or why not?

#2 is fine - no woman deserves misogyny. #1 is suspect because you are assuming intent and/or motive.

Yes, of course they have lost jobs. But that is to the same as going to prison.

What is your definition of a totalitarian government? Surely it must include going to prison for breaking minor infractions…

So it’s not an insult unless you agree that its an insult?

In a Totalitarian state a person can be severely penalized for disagreeing with acceptable views. Not necessarily by prison. May be by the Blacklist.

So it IS an insult if you or Brain Glutton say it is?

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.

Ok

But you do realize for DECADES that blacks and women and other minorities were spoken to in a derogatory or patronizing manner on a daily or weekly basis. This PC reaction that you hate so much is just an attempt to correct that. Racists don’t stop if all you do is ask them politely. It takes consequences to change bad behavior.

I am not talking about race – the minorities did and do face lots of discrimination.

Then what are you talking about???

Look, we’re not talking about whether name calling of a particular kind is or is not an insult - of course calling someone a cunt is an insult. Do you think the use of the word “cunt” when directed at a woman has only a singular purpose, to demean said woman as “nothing more than a sex object.” Sometimes an insult is just an insult. But look, BG obviously can tell what the intent and motivation behind every insult is.

Ok… well, it seems you actually want to discuss this so ok.

I’d say words like nigger and cunt and fucking faggot pretty much only have one connotation, it has malice attached and is insulting both an individual and all members of that group at the same time. I agree, hypothetically, that they may not mean that… but it seems unlikely.

I think this is getting way over-analyzed. The point to me is that we have a political candidate who, when faced with someone he disagrees with, reverts to the third grade tactic of name calling. And when called out on it, hides behind the PC Defense. Which is the equivalent of “well, he started it.”

Most grown rational adults know better than to resort to personal insults when disagreeing with anyone. The Donald does not. This is what makes him such a frightening disaster for a POTUS. He’s not a diplomat and the position calls for diplomacy. When questioned about it, he cries “PC, PC!” knowing full well that will stir up all the other people who are outraged by the fact that when you resort to name calling, you get called out on your bullshit. They kick up so much dirt arguing about whether it’s PC or misogyny that the main issue is obfuscated.

The issue is that the POTUS should be able to conduct himself like an adult and he cannot. He’s not being straight forward or shooting from the hip or putting it out there. When faced with an unfavorable comment he throws a rock, stomps his little foot, and hides behind his little PC banner. Imagine that hot mess addressing the UN.

Because someone who has used a word in one meaning at some point in history now has fixed the meaning of the word for all eternity and change can ever be contemplated. That’s just silly.

The massive extend of the Rotherham Child Rape is a good example of what comes of PC when you let it blot out common sense and decency.