When the term first started seeing popular use, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, political correctness stood for the ideals of fairness and open-mindedness. But today, "PC" is often seen as a curse within the English lexicon, and politicians and talking heads are more than happy to destroy its image and intent in exchange for a quick popularity boost. Political correctness has long been an enemy of conservative politicians in particular, with right-leaning leaders in democratic countries around the world, from Russian president Vladimir Putin to French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen , among many others. And surprising exactly no one, even our current president refuses to bow to those who wish he'd do a little more thinking before opening his mouth.
In theory, the term is meant to be neutral, referring to the avoidance of certain words that can lead to the marginalization and offense of others. However, the "correctness" aspect can also be seen as normative, radiating authority and leading to feelings of being talked down to, or even subordinated. By using this view to construe PC as a top-down, biased agenda on behalf of oversensitive and freedom-hating liberals, politicians turn it into another weapon to be used to defeat opponents and win over the voters.So many "politically correct" fools in our country. We have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2015
Political correctness, especially when it comes to the free expression of speech and ideas, is an incredibly controversial topic on college campuses across the country. I mentioned FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, in a previous post; keep them in mind, because they come into play a lot regarding campus PC culture, even when we're talking about Penn State.
A prime example of the clash between free speech and PC visited this very campus just last year, in the form of famous (or infamous, depending on your politics) conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro. Despite a mob of protesters who went as far as trying to physically break down the doors of the Sparks Building, Shapiro delivered a lecture on diversity and political correctness to a packed auditorium. Taking aim at trigger warnings, safe spaces, micro-aggressions, and more, Shapiro brought home the point that PC is just another name for censorship of free speech, and free speech is central to Penn State's commitment to diversity and respect. At the end of the lecture, Shapiro left the audience with this final thought: “America is the greatest place in the history of the world for two reasons. One is because we get to say what we think without fear of the government cracking down on you, and the second reason is because this freedom means that your actions are correlated with your level of success,” Shapiro said. “The left is out to destroy both of these concepts.”
Credit: Max Petrosky/The Daily Collegian
Whether you agree with Shapiro or not, it's hard to ignore the consequences of political correctness run amok. We're fortunate to have a campus that respects our right to it, for the most part; UPUA did help foot the bill for Shapiro, and many other controversial conservatives before and since, just as they do for for liberal speakers. Even this class stresses the importance of words on people's opinions and attitudes, and leaves it up to us to decide how to use them. Some students agree that our free speech is in danger, and we must do all we can to stop the spread of censorship. Others, however feel the opposite, and it's easy to see why. Penn State is constantly reminding us about how diverse, inclusive, and respectful our campus is; my response to that would be to ask whether any of the slogan-writers have ever seen college kids interact with each other, but that's beside the point.
It's everyone's right to feel safe on this campus, just as it's everyone's right to say what they wish without fear of reprisal. The problem is that what's offensive or hurtful is entirely subjective, and forcing every person at Penn State to conform to one person's feelings is not only logistically impossible, but hurtful to the potential of having a healthy discourse. A favorite saying of Shapiro's is, "facts don't care about your feelings." Drop the political connotations, and that statement is all too true; like it or not, most everyone we ever meet in this world won't give a damn about how we feel about what they say.
Holding us back from a slice of the real world by dressing up speech in flowery euphemisms won't do us a bit of good, as I've said before. However noble the intention, political correctness has become a partisan weapon to be used by pundits or abused by misguided do-gooders, and we're the ones paying the price.
The term "political correctness" is all over the media today. I think that one of the reasons Trump won the election is because of his popular movement to backlash against it. Many people were attracted to that idea because they think politics are not clear cut enough, but rather that it is cushioned with careful speech and, as you said, "euphemisms". "Facts don't care about your feelings."- this is very true. Our country has long stood for freedom of speech; even the speech that no one wants to hear.
ReplyDeletePolitical correctness has been tossed around so much in the past few years and I feel like the meaning has taken a drastic change. It is definitely true that everyone has the right to say what they want to say, even if I have no interest or like what they're saying. I agree that the term has definitely become misused over the years, as well.
ReplyDeletePC is definitely applicable to many other issues today in America. Just yesterday, I attended a deliberation that aimed to encourage us to know more about other races and cultures. Within this issue, as well, PC definitely serves as barrier to what we really want to say and ask someone of another race. There's a lot of silence about the issue of diversity and inclusion all around the country, and something definitely needs to be done about it.
ReplyDeletePolitical correctness does seem to be a big controversy. I found your post very interesting, as a look at how political correctness can hurt our freedom o speech.
ReplyDeleteI am a big proponent of political correctness - I think there is nothing wrong with taking an extra little bit of time to be able to speak intelligently without being marginalizing or discriminatory, even if it's unintentional. I didn't know that PSU hosted that speaker - whose message was that being PC is censoring free speech. In a way it is - it is censoring hurtful and ignorant language. Great post!
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