Political correctness

Former Member

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Former Member

And just to point out (knowing how these debates can go) - please refrain from attacking each other when debating, people can hold different views without it being an insult to you

(this is to everyone, not Sofia)

Former Member

The thing is, this muslim day is suspsoed to help them intergrate into the wider community, however, if you want to come you must abey islamic rules.

Err let's rename this. it's more like a day for the wider community to intergrate into the muslim community.

Former Member

The Alton Towers example is a bad one, if they had fully closed the park it would be fine, but they didnt. So, they forced others to take part, which they didnt stipulate when offering other things like Weddings on the same day.

And anyway, that still has little to do with political correctness, its just Alton Towers being stupid (and possibly breaching contract agreements too).

Former Member

Most people don't even know what political correctness means.

Former Member

Might be useful if people were to define what they think political correctness means

Former Member

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Former Member

It's a question of whether a business has the right to refuse entry to whoever they want. You can either accept the freedom of the company to only allow service to customers they wish (and take any sort of racist or sexist policies that would come along with that), or you can say that public companies cannot refuse service on any grounds other than things like safety.

The problem with the second option comes with private bookings. There's nothing wrong with hiring a facility out to a private party, and allowing them to only allow entry to certain individuals. However, it's different when that private group then opens their booking up to the public, but bases it's entry policy on race, religion or anything else (not suggesting that this happened in the Alton Towers case, but it would be a possible scenario). If you accept that the company cannot discriminate against race and religion, then you have to also accept that any privately run parties that are open to the public, also cannot discriminate against race or religion.

I don't think this was actually the main question, but I thought it went better in here than in the Alton Towers thread.

Former Member

Jim V wrote:

Might be useful if people were to define what they think political correctness means

Its basically about not using terms or systems which are insulting to other groups. (e.g. any of the usual racial slurs)

Former Member

To me, political correctness should be synonymous with respect. Meaning that you respect those around you enough to watch your language (you don't call someone "spastic", for example) and your manner around those who might be offended.

I find it upsetting that "PC" has become a byword for "uptight and prudish" when that's not what it's about at all.

Former Member

I think the "political correctness gone mad" cases, usually occur when some men in suits decide to alter something because they think it will offend minority groups. Incidentally, it doesn't ever seem like they've actually consulted members of these minority groups to see whether it would offend them.

Former Member

Depends what you mean by political correctness and Aladdin is right nobody knows what it means. Is tutting when someone goes 'There was an Irishman, a Scot and an Englishman' an example of political correctness gone mad or them showing dissaproval of racism?

Personally I don't think its political correctness to stop people making jokes about '*****' or 'wogs'. But I think it is political correctness when you can't discuss immigration policy or the bell curve* without being shouted down as racist.

*that's not to say I agree with the Bell Curve, for starters I'm not sure that IQ is a good test of intelligence, rather a test of your understanding of the language and maths, which is based on your family, social and educational background

Teh_Gerbil

Political Correctness is balls. I know people who are foreign and we tell each other racist jokes. That could offened them, and jokes that may well offend me too.

As long as you aren't actually meaning it in a really offensive way, there isn't a problem. If someone used said terms in a joking or silly way, it's fine. However, when you actually use them in an offensive or insulting and derogatory way, it is a different matter.

Former Member

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Former Member

Is it political correctness "gone mad" when school refuse to allow sports days because they encourage competitiveness in children or is that just stupidity? I mean really what is political correctness?

Former Member

sophia wrote:

If indeed they actually occur at all.

I think a lot of them probably do occur. However, I think it's more about companies that are shit-scared of being percieved as racist or sued for discrimination. Now I'm not saying that such a case would get very far in court, but it would result in negative press if an employee or student claimed that they suffered racial abuse in the workplace, even if it was over something as trivial as this (and I'm sure there are plenty of people who would use their race/gender/sexuality as a reason to claim wrongful dismissal or discrimination). Of course these decisions only fuel the "Britain must remain British" brigade, who seem to have this idea that other cultures coming to Britain is destroying what we have.

Former Member

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99% for so-called 'political correctness gone mad' cases reported by the likes of the Mail and the Express did never happen anyway. 'Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep' is a classic example.

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Former Member

subject13 wrote:

Is it political correctness "gone mad" when school refuse to allow sports days because they encourage competitiveness in children or is that just stupidity?

I'm gonna go for stupidity rather than political correctness. Political correctness seems to rely on the existance of 'groups' in society, and not doing or saying things that are derogatory to those groups. Of course if everyone just saw each other as individuals rather than insisting upon seperating them into fictional groups based on skin colour or whatever, then the whole problem would go away. But I don't see that happening any time soon.

Former Member

sophia wrote:

I searched for this story and couldn't find any reputable reporting of it at all, which seems to imply that it's fiction. The readers of the tabloids, however, have been duly stirred up into a frenzy about it.

The Express made a big thing out of, plastering it all over the front page about 2 years ago. It was then quoted ad nauseam by the S*n and the Mail as a classic example of pc gone mad.

Unfortunately the whole story turned out to be fabricated bollocks. Not that the Express was ever in any hurry to set the record straight.

Former Member

sophia wrote:

And like I say, there's hundreds of so-called examples of it, but very little evidence to back them up; it's usually myth or exaggeration on the part of the tabloids.

There was one a while back where a company pulled an advert with the nursery rhyme "Eeny meeny miney mo" on it, because it was pointed out that the second verse in that rhyme is racist in it's original form (even though most people don't know the original version).

Former Member

well i'm afraid i still go down to the packee shop.

littlemissy

sophia wrote:

I searched for this story and couldn't find any reputable reporting of it at all, which seems to imply that it's fiction. The readers of the tabloids, however, have been duly stirred up into a frenzy about it.

I can verify that this has happened though.

I worked in a nursery and they refused to sing "baa baa black sheep" and changed it to "rainbow sheep" because there was a black child in the class.

Former Member

Here's a link to a story about the ad I just mentioned.http://www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?key=3402&grp=2

Former Member

morrocan roll wrote:

well i'm afraid i still go down to the packee shop.

we call the packee shop 'trevor's shop' now

Teh_Gerbil

sophia wrote:

How is someone supposed to know your intent? Suppose you call me a term that I find derogatory and offensive -- and is widely considered to be such -- but then if I get offended it's somehow my fault for being over sensitive and for not knowing that you were just joking?

There is a perfect example.

You don't go about CALLING people offensive terms, do you? That is obviously offesnive and really nothing but.

Former Member

lipsy wrote:

we call the packee shop 'trevor's shop' now

i'll ask mr singh what he thinks about that ...trevor singh ...has a certain ring:D

Former Member

I'm With Stupid wrote:

I'm gonna go for stupidity rather than political correctness. Political correctness seems to rely on the existance of 'groups' in society, and not doing or saying things that are derogatory to those groups. Of course if everyone just saw each other as individuals rather than insisting upon seperating them into fictional groups based on skin colour or whatever, then the whole problem would go away. But I don't see that happening any time soon.

Quite :thumb:

And as those so-called groups don`t exist, the whole idea is another of life`s delusions that has been accepted hook line and sinker.