Sensitivity: Political Correctness¶
by Brant Watson
At this point the term “politically correct” or PC for short, has taken on a life of it’s own. It’s used to disparage aspects of communication, often with the subtext of implying negative motivations. Hence people engaging in speech that isn’t politically correct are labeled racist, sexist, xenophobic, or any other variety of negatively perceived labels. Taken from a different perspective it’s used as a catch-all that indicates excessive sensitivities. Within todays political climate it also acts as a stand-in for the composed and scripted nature of the political show.
Trump has used a lack of politically correct speech to convey a feeling of reality that those in the political establishment [Clinton] are completely devoid of. He is often heralded for his ability to “tell it like it is” without being restricted by the irrelevant nuisance of fitting what he says into a nice politically correct box.
While obviously not directly invoking the phrase “politically correct”, Clinton has used the mantra of political correctness to vilify Trump as racist, xenopohobic, anti-muslim, etc… and draws upon the organized and controlled nature of her political message in order to draw herself as a person who can be seen as “presidential”. Even the word “presidential” is currently a loaded word, easily seen as a stealthy stand-in for political correctness.
All of this is really a bunch of superficial rhetoric that nicely hides a very real question about the kind of world we want to live in and it does this by asking a slightly different set of questions.
If being honest will hurt is it better to be honest or kind?
Do the ends justify the means? (Is being fake to be elected good because it’s necessary to get the job in order to accomplish useful things?)
These are obviously cliche questions, ones that have been perpetually divisive because they are overly general and inherently useless. They presuppose that the answer to such questions isn’t highly contextual with answers lying across a spectrum rather than being easily divided onto one side or the other. Despite this, people often have personal preferences towards one side or the other in a very general way, potentially indicative of a persons more general world-view.
To really think about this without the emotional baggage of the term, it’s useful to step back and think about this in the abstract. The way questions or statements are phrased is extremely important because it sets the context for the way one thinks about what is being asked. Consider the following:
Does life begin at conception?
What are the rights of a woman who has conceived?
At what point to the rights of a fetus supersede the rights of the mother?
Do women have the right to control their own body?
All of these are dealing with the same underlying question. No matter your feelings on the issue, it is clear that the framing of the question can make the question sound very different. One could use any of those to try to pull concessions out of a person with opposing views by forcing them to answer or acknowledge THEIR version. This allows one to frame not just the question or statement but the response and by proxy the respondent. Politically correct speech (and it’s antithesis) is simply a manifestation of this idea.
We need to properly vet all Syrian immigrants entering our country to maintain our safety.
Muslims attempting to enter America from Syria need additional vetting to make sure they aren’t Islamic extremists.
Those annoyed by politically correct speech would consider the first phrasing to be political cowardice. From that angle the first phrase is a refusal to accept a particular reality. The utterer won’t acknowledge the religious implications that seem blindingly obvious. He or she must be either fearful, ignorant, or biased.
Flip the tables and you’ve got someone attempting to acknowledge that there is a very real danger without framing the situation in a way that would either compromise another value they hold (don’t discriminate based on race, religion, ethnicity, etc…) or exacerbating existing sensitivities.
And all of that gets back to the heart of the situation. No matter what the subject of any particular discourse, the way things are stated informs the context and thus the way things are perceived. When people with very different perspectives engage, part of the engagement involves maneuvering to guide the other person to a place where they understand what you’re saying. Identifying the perspective different allows us to actually enhance communication if both parties are willing to play ball. Phrases like “let me put it to you this way”, “picture this”, “imagine this scenario”, and others are pointers to this kind of communication. This is an often overlooked but extremely valuable tool. If one party won’t play ball though, it’s usually over an issue that reaches them at a deep emotional level. This keeps them from actually seeing the other perspective (note here that understanding an alternate perception is not at all tantamount to agreeing with it).
Both of these conversations actually LACK true communication. The parties don’t see the other persons perspective because they’re too wrapped up in their own emotions about the subject. Since they never engage properly no real information was exchanged. Instead, people formed opinions about the person before understanding them.
I know this is a long way around, but this is all critical if I want you to be able to understand my perspective (even if you disagree with it). Think back to your childhood. Did you ever witness anyone being harmed, either verbally or physically? Did you step in and do anything about it? I think most people have at least some memory like this. I have just such a memory and the thing that bothers me about it the most is my own actions. I did nothing. The reason was mostly fear, which I’ve internalized as a moment of extreme cowardice. Is the person who was being harmed then fine now? Sure, but that doesn’t actually matter. Here I sit in the seat of self judgment and I say that of all of the people involved, my actions were the most egregious. It’s much easier to do nothing than it is to stand up for someone.
By the same token it’s very easy to say that people just need to “toughen up”, but at the end of the day we’re really considering what kind of world we want to exist in. The reason I’m disappointed with that moment in my own past has more to do with the fact that I’d rather exist in a world where people aren’t being jerks to one another. By doing nothing I compromised my value system and did nothing to bring about the change I desired.
People who are really concerned about peoples sensitivities, that think people just need to “toughen up”, are looking for a different world than the one I want. They want to live in a world where they don’t have to be as thoughtful about what they say and how they say it (I imagine this could be characterized as not wanting to feel like they are walking on eggshells all the time). They don’t want the way they are in their heads to be offensive to anyone. They wish the world was a place where people were more similar. Diversity is the enemy here; the broad differences among people and their values directly gives rise to the wider variety of sensitivities.
The reason people get hurt and offended deals directly with whether or not they are understood as people. The reason I don’t understand why a depiction of the prophet Muhammad is offensive is that I don’t fully understand the people that offends. The reason I don’t understand why some people are so sensitive about cursing or using racial slurs, or any other myriad of sensitives comes down to my own lack of understanding of those people. I use the knowledge I have to try to speak in an inclusive way because I want to express a degree of respect for people I haven’t taken the time to know or comprehend.
This leaves me with an opportunity to give politically correct self the finger and cast aside any semblance of restraint in order to express the general thesis of this article:
People who find themselves genuinely upset about political correctness need to stop whining, toughen up, and quit being a sensitive little bitch about it.