# What's the point of political correctness? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2020, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689 "2020-09-03T08:23:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/21 "2020-09-03T12:02:35Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > Half of it is justifiable “stop using obvious slurs,” and the other half is defining new slurs out of the blue and taking things out of context in order to protect your self-perceived position at the top of the moral high ground. > > Don’t hold me to those percentages. 😉 I tend to think the second half also has an element of demonstrating you are part of the in-group. Much like teenage slang, which is similarly constantly being updated as it penetrates to the mainstream. ETA: Ludovic also has a point. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/22 "2020-09-03T12:46:27Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > Like Hansen’s disease? > > I didn’t say I agreed with it! > > I was making the point that it’s about grammar/English usage, not political correctness, whether we agree with the usage or not. I agree it’s not political correctness. Nor is it grammar/English usage except in the broad sense. It’s about overcorrection, like saying splitting infinitives or ending a sentence with a preposition are grammar faults. It comes from language “experts” who don’t understand language and who probably think the “t” in “often” should be pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/23 "2020-09-03T12:59:30Z")
I think the OP is conveniently lumping in “ethically/morally correct” with the so-called “politically correct”, but it is to be expected in times when ethics and morals are expeditiously tossed aside when the political tides turn. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/24 "2020-09-03T13:19:50Z")
That would be a much bigger and even more contentious question. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/25 "2020-09-03T13:24:12Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > That would be a much bigger and even more contentious question And yet your explanation of what you mean by your query points to what I said in my previous post-you seem to be using an overly broad definition of “political” to encompass a need to offend others without repercussion. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/26 "2020-09-03T13:40:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And yet your explanation of what you mean by your query points to what I said in my previous post-you seem to be using an overly broad definition of “political” to encompass a need to offend others without repercussion. Maybe you can give an example. I’m not really sure what you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/27 "2020-09-03T13:42:26Z")
I think your own elaboration of what the OP is about as good an example as is needed. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/28 "2020-09-03T13:48:22Z")
I don’t think I said anything about a need to offend others without repercussion. Certainly not in this thread. I still don’t know what you’re getting at. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/29 "2020-09-03T13:52:36Z")
The OP is basically saying, “Hey, there’s this term that’s used by the right as a political slur to disparage people on the left for inchoate sins. Those of you who adopt this term to describe yourself, what’s the point of it?” ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/30 "2020-09-03T14:04:19Z")
Like a number of other terms right wingers have coined to sneer at others, its basis is an assertion of the right to humiliate people who can’t retaliate, the right to refuse to have compassion, to empathize, to share power, and also, a smug code word for everyone who feels differently about that so called right. Any effort to rebalance centuries if not millennia of oppression is going to have its silly or ill-thought-out moments. So the fuck what. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/31 "2020-09-03T14:30:05Z")
To simplify what I just wrote in the other thread: The point is that it means people have to care about the feelings of minorities and the disadvantaged, instead of ignoring them. And that is why the (US) right wing fights against it so much, and convinces people that being anti-PC means “it’s okay to be rude sometimes.” They could instead actually learn to care about minorities. But they don’t. So they have to convince other people not to care to get them to go along with them. See also: SJW, virtue signaling. Confer white knighting, feminazi, and so on–other words that they spread to attack us. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/32 "2020-09-03T16:30:16Z")
My personal take is that “political correctness” is not about being polite or avoiding offense against minorities or marginalized groups. That’s just “being polite” or “not being a jerk”. You wouldn’t need to come up with a new name for it. IMHO political correctness has a much more aggressive context. In a sense, it is a form of “weaponized outrage” against groups or individuals who express an opinion or ideology that is not considered progressive or liberal enough. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/33 "2020-09-03T17:11:33Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Like a number of other terms right wingers have coined to sneer at others, its basis is an assertion of the right to humiliate people who can’t retaliate, the right to refuse to have compassion, to empathize, to share power, and also, a smug code word for everyone who feels differently about that so called right. Who coined the term, then? I always assumed it was created by the left and then the right used the sillier excesses (or in some cases invented some) to poke fun at it. But the left still use the term seriously, right? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/34 "2020-09-03T17:18:40Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > But the left still use the term seriously, right? Wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/35 "2020-09-03T17:48:16Z")
According to [this at least interesting if not definitive wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness#:~:text=According%20to%20American%20educator%20Herbert,and%20led%20to%20bad%20politics.), the term originated in the 1940’s as an accusation by socialists against communists; so, a fairly arcane usage there. In the 1970’s it was picked up in academia as an ironic in-house joke/critique, referencing toe-the-party-line communism. It was in the 1990’s that it took on its modern meaning, and became weaponized by the right. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/36 "2020-09-03T17:59:15Z")
Yup. Non-slur uses in the United States are vanishingly rare. In the 1990s I read a book on the history of the term, and IIRC they had one non-disparaging use, from the 1970s, an extremely earnest political tract. All the rest of the uses they documented were disparaging uses. If DemonTree is under the impression that the left uses the term as a self-descriptor, that confusion might explain many of the odd posts she’s made on the topic. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/37 "2020-09-03T18:59:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Like Hansen’s disease? You mean leprosy. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/38 "2020-09-03T19:21:05Z")
Bob-2 , do you have a cite for that? Back To The OP I have to agree with the other left wingers here. ‘Politically Correct’ seems to be a derogatory term used by right wingers to confuse and cover the real issues. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/39 "2020-09-03T19:57:10Z")
I do view the term ‘political correctness’ in a negative light. I would not describe political correctness as trying to avoid offense (a positive) but rather virtue signaling (a negative). I have no problem with people trying to avoid offending others. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/40 "2020-09-03T20:55:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If DemonTree is under the impression that the left uses the term as a self-descriptor, that confusion might explain many of the odd posts she’s made on the topic. Well, yeah. Plenty of people on the left support the idea behind it, and I’ve never heard any other name for the concept. So what else are you going to call it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689.md?page=3)