# Why are some people so resistant to "political correctness"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666 "2016-03-30T19:28:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/121 "2016-04-08T20:58:44Z")
[QUOTE=velomont;19244475[…] Basically an African-American student made a big scene about a white guy’s dreadlocks because of the cultural appropriation.[…] [/QUOTE] Bigotry in fancy-dress. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/122 "2016-04-08T23:39:40Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > …and how about the recent dreadlock issue at San Francisco State University? Basically an African-American student made a big scene about a white guy’s dreadlocks because of the cultural appropriation. > [SEE IT: Black college student tells her white classmate he can’t wear dreadlocks ‘because it’s my culture’ – New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/black-college-student-tells-white-guy-wear-dreads-article-1.2581667) > So, a35362, now that there have been a number of responses, I’m curious as to your thoughts about PC now (no snark intended at all btw). There’s nothing particularly “black” about dreads. Anybody who has hair can have them. Girl clearly wants to get all righteously indignant on some skinny white boy about something. This wasn’t a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/123 "2016-04-09T00:32:18Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The problem is they’re very likely not using any greeting they want, they’re using one designed to keep the forces of political correctness at bay. Do you think companies of their own free will undertake policies that are sure to infuriate and drive off a significant number of their customers just to fulfill some nebulous desire to be ‘inclusive’? No, they do it because they want to appear politically correct and they figure it’ll cost them less in the long run to do so than it will to drive off customers who don’t like it. Besides, people have to do their Christmas shopping somewhere, and if all or most stores adopt these policies people have little choice but to patronize them. It’s no accident that most of these types of retail stores adopt these policies at pretty much the same time. So what? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/124 "2016-04-09T00:35:34Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Like everything PC, the term itself hides its true meaning, which is Leftism. Liberalism, perhaps, but not leftism. PC has nothing to do with wealth inequality, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/125 "2016-04-09T01:01:22Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > i’m an editor, and PC speech is actually important. I’m in communications and PC speech is a monumental fucking pain in the ass to deal with, becase almost _everything_ seems to be offensive to some tiny (but vocal) minority group these days. One of my huge issues with Political Correctness is that it only seems to apply to “approved” entities - which almost never includes heterosexual white males. More importantly, not only are non-approved entities not entitled to the “courtesies” PC affords to the approved, they will find themselves on the wrong end of vehement and often extremely unpleasant vitriol, abuse, or worse (people have lost their jobs after the social justice crowd hounded them and their employer on social media for having the “wrong” opinions, for example) for failing to adhere closely enough to the standards of the approved. Worse, there is now a trend for berating people for not being progressive enough - so you might think racism is abhorrent, homophobia is not OK and women are people too with the same rights as everyone else - but the fact you don’t think the wage gap exists (or is part of some evil patriachal plot), or that “safe spaces” at university for a group that makes up more than 50% of the xampus are unnecessary, makes you a horrible, misogynist monster. As others have said, many - including myself - view PC not as some way to help treat people with courtesy, but as a form of censorship, self-righteousness and weapon to be used against the non-approved. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/126 "2016-04-09T01:11:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > There’s nothing particularly “black” about dreads. Anybody who has hair can have them. Girl clearly wants to get all righteously indignant on some skinny white boy about something. This wasn’t a good choice. Sorry Scumpup but for clarification are you saying that the dreadlock example wasn’t a good choice or that the girl’s actions weren’t a good choice? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/127 "2016-04-09T01:41:32Z")
Either. Both. Girl wanted to be mad about something. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/128 "2016-04-09T02:30:08Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Either. Both. Girl wanted to be mad about something. In isolation, probably not the best example, but in concert with other cultural appropriation examples, it is representative of yet another stupid PC trend. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/129 "2016-04-09T03:14:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Liberalism, perhaps, but not leftism. PC has nothing to do with wealth inequality, etc. So you say. I suspect an ulterior motive, and I believe Dennis Prager does too. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/130 "2016-04-09T03:31:27Z")
> [@](#): > > What this means is that the government will not prevent you from practicing your religion, however they will not recognize any particular religion either. This means that public schools and town halls should not be setting up Christmas decorations, throwing Christmas parties, putting nativity scenes on the town green (at least not as a government sponsored activity) or any other activities that relate to religious holidays. Of course Christians see this as an “attack” on their religion. It’s not. You are perfectly free to practice your religion at home, church or any public area. What you are not “free” to do is have the government endorse your beliefs as the de facto national religion. Exactly. So you can go around shrieking “merry christmas” at anyone you want to even if they find it offensive. However, does this not prohibit the government from making December 25th a holiday? And yet it is. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/131 "2016-04-09T04:11:10Z")
Isn’t saying, “If you complain about political correctness, you’re a bigot,” essentially a Poisoning the Well tactic? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/132 "2016-04-09T04:46:20Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > Exactly. So you can go around shrieking “merry christmas” at anyone you want to even if they find it offensive. However, does this not prohibit the government from making December 25th a holiday? And yet it is. You may be interested to know that there are _no_ national holidays in the United States. Not Independence Day, not New Year’s Day, not Labor Day, not Christmas. The federal government may designate holidays only for federal employees and the District of Columbia. I remember hearing “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holiday(s)” as far back as the late 1950s. Of course, at that time there was no connotation of recognized or unrecognized status of other religions. In Santa Monica, California, there had been nativity-scene displays at Christmastime in a public park along a city street close to the cliffs near the beach. They were apparently removed recently; some odious signs were put up about “Flying Spaghetti” or something. The only purpose of that, of course, is to heckle religion; this sort of thing had no tradition behind it and was just there to irritate people. A gratuitous nuisance and nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/133 "2016-04-09T05:41:17Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > Exactly. So you can go around shrieking “merry christmas” at anyone you want to even if they find it offensive. _Shrieking?_ I’ve lived in this country a pretty long time and not even once have I ever heard anyone shriek a Merry Christmas. But apart from that, can you explain to me why the hell anyone would be ‘offended’ by being wished a “Merry Christmas”? I mean, I realize that many of the country’s lefties want Christianity disappeared to the greatest degree possible and this therefore is much of the motivation for ‘Happy Holidays’ and ‘Holiday trees’ :rolleyes:…but _offended_? Give me a break. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/134 "2016-04-09T14:42:31Z")
Yeah, “Happy Holidays” has been around since long before the “culture wars”. It’s not new and it did not originate with some organized anti-Christmas movement. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Liberalism, perhaps, but not leftism. PC has nothing to do with wealth inequality, etc. The phrase itself, though, originally came from the Political Hard Left. But it was hardly heard outside those small circles until it was appropriated by the Right in its current sense since 1980ish or so. The irony of course is that there has ALWAYS been a societal/political pressure that certain things you “must not say in polite company” and some that even in private will have consequences. Use a Time Machine to the 1950s and try producing a movie about an interracial gay couple, or about a priest who diddles 10-year-olds. Or travel to the 1910s and mention over dinner at the club that you believe labor should organize unions and that if your daughter wanted to marry a Polish Jew what’s the problem. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/135 "2016-04-09T15:44:29Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > _Shrieking?_ I’ve lived in this country a pretty long time and not even once have I ever heard anyone shriek a Merry Christmas. > > But apart from that, can you explain to me why the hell anyone would be ‘offended’ by being wished a “Merry Christmas”? I mean, I realize that many of the country’s lefties want Christianity disappeared to the greatest degree possible and this therefore is much of the motivation for ‘Happy Holidays’ and ‘Holiday trees’ :rolleyes:…but _offended_? Give me a break. I agree, Starving. Ulterior motive, pure and simple. Reminds me of a quote from the heading of Chapter 15 of _Pudd’nhead Wilson._ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/136 "2016-04-09T17:19:46Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Yeah, “Happy Holidays” has been around since long before the “culture wars”. It’s not new and it did not originate with some organized anti-Christmas movement. Someone says this every time the subject comes up. The difference is that nowadays it’s virtually mandated, and the reason is to attempt to get people thinking of a ‘holiday season’ rather than a ‘religious season’. Employees in the 50s and 60s weren’t told by their employers not to say ‘Merry Christmas’ but to use ‘Happy Holidays’ instead, and people weren’t looked at askance by brain-washed youngsters for having committed the faux-pas of wishing them a Merry Christmas like happens now. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I agree, Starving. Ulterior motive, pure and simple. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/137 "2016-04-09T17:49:06Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Someone says this every time the subject comes up. The difference is that nowadays it’s virtually mandated, and the reason is to attempt to get people thinking of a ‘holiday season’ rather than a ‘religious season’. Employees in the 50s and 60s weren’t told by their employers not to say ‘Merry Christmas’ but to use ‘Happy Holidays’ instead, **and people weren’t looked at askance by brain-washed youngsters for having committed the faux-pas of wishing them a Merry Christmas like happens now.** (My Bold.) Has this ever happened to you personally in real life? Have you ever wished someone a Merry Christmas and had them look at you askance\* and say “Sir, I believe the correct term is ‘Happy Holidays’”? - I do understand your concern at being looked at askance. I know someone who was looked at askance once. Counseling has helped them overcome most of the damage, but they’ll never be the same carefree person they once were. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/138 "2016-04-09T18:05:46Z")
Yes, I’ve actually been looked at askance, both by people who obviously felt I was out of it and so old I couldn’t be expected to abide by proper social norms, and by the employees of at least two retail stores whose discomfit came about because they’d been told not to say Merry Christmas to people while on the clock and my saying it to them made things awkward. And yes, they told me this themselves after I’d noticed their averted eyes and suppressed demeanor and asked them about it. Since I never said that anyone curtly corrected me for saying Merry Christmas, I’ll pass on answering that part of your question. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/139 "2016-04-09T18:13:47Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Someone says this every time the subject comes up. The difference is that nowadays it’s virtually mandated, and the reason is to attempt to get people thinking of a ‘holiday season’ rather than a ‘religious season’. Employees in the 50s and 60s weren’t told by their employers not to say ‘Merry Christmas’ but to use ‘Happy Holidays’ instead, and people weren’t looked at askance by brain-washed youngsters for having committed the faux-pas of wishing them a Merry Christmas like happens now. > > Thanks. In one of his “The Lighter Side…” articles, Berg probably said it all. The scene was three basically identical houses in a row. Houses One and Three are overdecorated for the holiday season with Santa, reindeer, cartoon characters, “NOEL,” and so on, on the roof, in the front yard… Almost all the lights in those two houses are on, and Berg has drawn people cavorting drunkenly at a wild party. House Two has no decorations; just a sign reading SEASONS GREETINGS glowing on the front door. The house is dark except in the living room. The family is gathered there, on the couch, apparently viewing a family photo album or something like that. The owners of houses One and Three stand together–you can tell where they come from by their footprints in the snow. They stand and scowl at House Two, and one of them says “I guess they’re not very religious.” 'Nuff sed. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666/140 "2016-04-09T18:29:31Z")
It may, just possibly, depend on where you are and where you shop. I live in the Bay Area, which most people would describe as a bastion of Liberal Sensitivities\*. In shopping here for over 25 years I’ve never had anyone look at me askance for saying “Merry Christmas” and plenty of store employees wish me the same. Of course, people, including me, also say “Happy Holidays” and other things, and it’s all ok. \*Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Got’em myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-some-people-so-resistant-to-political-correctness/750666.md?page=8)