The Effects Of Political Correctness - Essay Example

Political Correctness is Stupid. If we are to claim that the above-mentioned sentence is true, we would have to define the concepts first. First wehave to define what is meant by stupid. Webster includes the following in its definition of the word "stupid": 1) acting in an unintelligent or careless manner, 2) lacking intelligence or reason, 3) senseless, and 4) lacking interest or point. So if something is senseless, pointless, and lacks intelligence or reason, that thing can be considered "stupid.

" For the purpose of this essay that is the definition that we would stick to.Now what exactly is political correctness? Political correctness is a term used to describe language or behavior that aims to produce the least amount of offense. As the scope of political correctness itself is great, we will narrow the scope to politically correct language. In the United States, political correctness in linguistics is founded on the intention to promote equality for everyone. However this intention has been lost, as I will detail in the following arguments:Our societys over-abidance with political correctness seems to hamper, even reverse the social progress that we have achieved.

Our uptightness causes tensions within communities where there need not be any. To encourage politically correct language is to encourage censorship. Trying to hide the truth under the guise of politeness prevents people from getting personal for fear of offending others’ sensibilities. Therefore it does more harm than good. If one chooses to do something that dos more harm than good, it is considered unreasonable or unintelligent. Therefore politically correct language is unreasonable and unintelligent.

Politically correct language emphasizes discrimination, rather than lessens it. In some cases it could even become a case of self-fulfilling prophecy, where an otherwise harmless expression, when deemed “offensive” by the powers that be becomes offensive simply because they say it’s politically incorrect. For example, the children’s rhyme “eenie meenie miney moe…” is considered politically incorrect because it was at one time and in some areas in the United States associated with racist sentiments (“catch a nigger by his toe…”).

Political correctness supposedly promotes equality for everyone, but in this case, it promotes the discriminative element, rather than just let the phrase lose the “offensive” meaning. If it does not fulfill the goals that it intends to achieve, it does not make sense to follow it. Therefore politically correct language is pointless. People who try so hard to say the right thing in the name of political correctness they end up just looking foolish. For example, not using the term African-American for black people in considered politically incorrect.

However, when you use the term, you are making at two assumptions: 1) that the person is an American, and 2) that the person is African. Now calling a black, British man “African American” not only sounds silly, it can be offensive to that person. Not all black people came from Africa, and not all black people are Americans either. Therefore using politically correct language is senseless. To sum up my claim, politically correct language is senseless, pointless, and lacks intelligence and reason.

Now considering the opposite point of view on the topic, political correctness is not pointless. Language is one of the primary channels of discrimination. Whatever some idealists may think, a white person calling a black person a “nigger” in the United States will almost always produce some very negative reactions in the black person. Whatever idealists may think, many words are loaded with negative connotations that cannot simply be ignored in the hopes of eventually ridding the words of their stench.

Although the approach of putting these words into common use in an attempt to rob them of their offensive power may work in the long run (many generations), it would entail disregarding the feelings of many people now. Discriminatory language is a reality. The offensiveness of certain words and phrases are a reality, often due to their strong connections with past wrongs. Political correctness is necessary in minimizing discriminatory language, and thus in maintaining good relations with others.

The opposite view also asserts that political correctness is not more harmful than useful. Admittedly, political correctness does have its harmful side, but this is far outweighed by its benefits. Again, the word “nigger” is a very good example. It would be folly to suggest that we simply forget about the bad connotations of certain words such as “nigger”. To ignore the offensiveness of words in the hope of lessening the offensive power of these words is the wrong approach, and will result in more harm than good.

Persons who argue against political correctness apparently argue for technical correctness. But why use an offensive word when a non-offensive one works just as nicely?I think that the first side of the issue has a better set of reasons. While both issues present good arguments, the issues it addressed have a greater appeal to logic and reason. The real-life examples are also sound—they are the type that people experience on a day-to-day basis. Politically correct language promotes the “I have a right to be not offended” mindset, which is in direct contradiction to the idea of free speech.