# What's the point of political correctness?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689>\
**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:** 1\
**Showing post:** 118

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**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 5, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-political-correctness/919689/118 "2020-09-05T06:45:57Z")

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Here, iiandyiiii, is another problem with political correctness. This is not really my problem, but one I have heard conservatives complain about. It’s that progressives seem to have tender care for the feelings of minorities, for example those potentially upset by seeing the word ‘master’ used for a password, but if anyone complains these changes are making their lives more difficult, that they are confused by them, feel anxious and insecure, or just don’t see the benefit, they get told to buck up and stop whining, or threatened with being called racist. Sure, you might not change anything for them, but why the total lack of sympathy?

> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> I have asked. So far the examples seem either on the extremes (i.e. not supported by the vast majority of progressives and social justice advocates) or totally trivial in nature. I’m waiting for something to reasonably cause worry. Maybe it’s just tone, like I suggested.

So can you give us some of the examples? Because the most extreme example mentioned so far is still supported by you.

> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> So occasionally you might feel a bit uncertain and awkward. It’s okay. It’s not going to kill you, or even hurt you. Most progressives and social justice advocates will be kind and decent to those who genuinely want to learn and be more thoughtful. It’s okay to ask. And if you’re afraid to ask, then maybe you’re not up to this kind of discussion.

I don’t ask, iiandyiiii. I don’t want to look ignorant. And I’m not really worried about being corrected. I’m worried about hurting someone accidentally and about being judged by other people. Ah, here it comes:

> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> I’ll note that this is probably very true for most Trump supporters, and many others.

Compared to a Trump supporter. ☹

> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> This is not even remotely a fraction of 1% of the most minor-league discrimination faced everyday by thousands or millions of black folks, or gay folks, or trans folks, or women, etc. If this is really a significant concern for you, then maybe you’re not up for difficult discussions about the experiences of others in the world.

You probably should have left women off that list. 😉 I do believe women suffer discrimination in several ways, but I’m still concerned about this issue. Hell, I think in many ways things have got worse for women over the last 20 years, and progressives have contributed to that. So this isn’t exactly a persuasive argument.

And I don’t know what ‘not up for difficult discussions’ is supposed to mean. Even supposing I actually preferred a world without PC, I still have to deal with living in this one. All I can do is do my best and hope to muddle through, like most people.

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