As a society we have a revolving set of standards of decency, only thirty years ago not many would bat an eyelid if we shouted at someone calling them a "******" (racial epithet censored here thus enforcing the concept that such language is not common place tolerated), I am sure there was a time in society between it being common place acceptable and common place unacceptable when people considered it "Political Correctness", so what kind of examples can you give of this infamous political correctness that has indeed "GONE MAD!". I'm not saying I am for curbing free speech, far from it I feel we are heavily restricted in Britain however Political Correctness doesn't really seem to be legally codified or anything. If anything it just seems people are irritated by society moving beyond a time when something we thought was not offensive, in fact was actually very offensive. If you would like to debate this, here is the thread because I'm betting tuppence I'm about to get about 2000 posts explaining why "P.C" is such a horrifying concept.
For me there is no such thing as political correctness. So called "political correctness" is, as you say, the reason ****** is no longer acceptable, nor sending children up chimneys. It's a phrase certain people like to apply to the evolution of kindness, consideration & thoughtfulness to and of others, and being genial. So called "political correctness gone mad" is more commonly referred to as stupidity. It is a phrase used by certain people who wish to associate stupidity with the evolution of kindness, consideration & thoughtfulness to and of others, and being genial. So who are these certain people I mention? They fall into two groups. The sub group is the type of people who hear a phrase and simply repeat it when they think they have encountered the right situation or they are told to. They have learned a phrase from the dom group or other subs and don't really understand it, but use it nonetheless. The dom group is the type of people who'd like to send little ****** children up chimneys.
I can't immediately think of anything that's 'PC gone mad!!' but I'd like to add something else to the discussion: How is it that some people so readily confuse health and safety with political correctness? (That's not a jab at you Red 5, though I'm sure stopping children going up chimneys does have as much to do with H&S as it does social progress in not forcing ten year olds to work!)
ive got a couple. children no longer sing "baa baa black sheep" the correct term is now "baa baa rainbow sheep". I KID YOU NOT. it is no longer acceptable to refer to something as brainstorming/brainstorm. This may offend people who arent very bright or have epilepsy. It is now a "Mind map". Hull council dont have "ladies" "ethnic" or "elderly" working for them but "Hull citizens". blackboards are now called "chalkboards" remember "Noddy" as a kid ?, well you cant call his friend big ears now. you cant say people are FAT. it may offend them !. its not an offence im simply stating a FACT.
Politcal correctness gone mad? Was it not recently a bank in the UK had to recall all it's piggy banks as it may offend Muslims? The UK is not an Islamic country, if it offends them that's their damn problem. (Just an example off the top of my head). That is political correctness gone mad in my honest opinion.
Not sending children up chimneys has bugger all to do with political correctness. I get annoyed by things like Christmas cards being replaced by 'seasons greetings' in case the Christian theme upsets other religions. I'm an an atheist but i fully accept we are a historically christian country. But then how many of these 'politically correct gone mad' stories are actually true and how many are media fabrications? My fiancé works in health and safety and most of the 'health and safety gone mad' stories are complete fabrications created to mask a fear of being sued.
"yes but that's not so much a fact as complete bollocks, isn't it?" lol well maybe a little. but my point is that everything seems to offend people now. if it offends its banned and renamed to some stupid term. if a person is fat then i should be able to say that are fat. not tip toe around and say ooo that person is "big boned".
PC behavior doesn't 'go mad' as such - It just goes over the top. I can't find a recorded case where someone has sued over the use of "brainstorm" and I cannot see how it is even possibly offensive. If it was called "epliepticfitstorm" or "Seizurestorm" then sure. Personally, I alter my PC-o-meter depending on the person I'm talking to. For example - I don't say the c-word to or around women, but between friends, where there's no chance of offense, then.. Well. It's not a concern.
I think the point of this thread was to provide actual evidence of 'PC gone mad'. All that people have posted so far wouldn't lose credibility if they were proceeded by "my mate dave says...". For example, the 'UK bank that had to recall piggy banks' one is clearly mis-representation of a completely different story: Dutch bank chooses to change mascot. The bank in question chose to change their image as part of a legitimate and sensible bit of PR. They weren't forced to by the EU or a crowd of flag-burning muslim men with AK47s. This mis-representation and distortion is exactly what Rum&Coke is talking about in his original post: There is no substantial evidence of 'PC gone mad', it's all lads-down-the-pub and mothers-against-islam crap that makes an amusing story but isn't actually true.
If someone has more chins than me and can demolish a family bucket of KFC and have room for more, They are either a Body Builder, or a *** person. The Guy from Lost (Hugo) he was Fat. The character in Blade (Pearl - The libarian) She was HUGE. Opera (the talk show lady) - used to be large, last time I looked. and wasnt there a phrase people used to say "I feel like opera on Highadious"? Rikki Lake - She was slight round. Danny Lambert (Leicester know "Hero" well sort of) was famous for being Large. Rum&Coke - Another post to added to your 2,000 count. lol and as Slade would say IT'S CHRISTMAS!! not seasons greetings
I work in a tax payer funded job and noted a very good looking training course being offered as detailed below “BME* Band 5-7 development programme, supporting the local delivery of the following master classes from the National Programme: Commissioning Finance for Non-Finance Managers Influencing & Communication Skills Interview Skills - two day course Presentation Skills - two day course Project & Report Writing Skills All courses run from approximately 9am-5pm. However your local co-ordinator will be able to confirm the exact timings once your booking has been received.” Now at this point i was thinking yes these are some good looking and possibly helpful course’s for myself to help in my promotion prospects UNTIL i read the following “* Who are BME Staff? Our definition of someone from the BME Group is as follows: Any person whose ancestral origins are African, Asian, Caribbean, Chinese, Irish, Japanese, Middle Eastern, North African, Romany, the indigenous Peoples of the South Pacific Islands, the American continent, Australia and New Zealand. Staff from mainland Europe and any island etc. Also any persons visiting from overseas.” Now having read through the above carefully and even repeated reading it i came to the conclusion, as well as everyone else in the office, that these course are for anyone and everyone who is NOT white and born in the United Kingdom. This to me is political correctness gone mad as when we contacted our departments equality and diversity coordinator to take this forward the answer we got back was laughable and I will put the basics of the reply 'Since we normally have a much larger percentage of people attend the courses we run who are not from the BME group, we have put this course together as part of a positive action plan to improve the attendance of BME group staff members on the courses we run.' now can someone tell me the difference between a positive action plan which stops certain people of a particular background from attending something and the illegal actions of positive discrimination which stops certain people of a particular background from attending something? As I am stumped and it feels especially from the reply we got that because we are white and born in the United Kingdom that we are unable to make a complaint about discrimination because surely we can not be discriminated against
This is precisely what I'm on about, most things that get banded about like "They call them rainbow sheep now YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP!" except that in most cases they have made them up. No one is forcing you to be "politically correct", situations like that bank wern't threatened by alquada or anything they just wanted to be a little less inclusive and welcome more customers equally. I actually agree with certain elements of positive discrimination, I could write lines and lines but this video and this image sum it up
Poor children were being treated appallingly on account of them being both poor and children, then it became unacceptable to treat them that way for either of those reasons. Eventually they were given certain protective rights. Ergo it was the evolution of kindness, consideration & thoughtfulness to and of others, and being genial that stopped children being sent up chimneys, otherwise poor kids would still be sent down sewers (no chimneys or mines these days) and possibly denied an education today. No, I don't have a time line.
While I don't think political correctness has "gone mad" I do feel that there are double standards which are overlooked. As a predominantly white nation, the UK has been guilt-ed into allowing black, Muslim, and other separatist groups, under the guise of political correctness to conduct themselves in a racist manner.. even for personal gain, as is witnessed in the NBPA. This organisation frequently tries to discredit the MET police, speak and act fraudulently, and construe any subsequent white response as racial oppression. Why hasn't this organisation been shut-down? Why don't the guidelines intended to better race relations apply? Why would a white officer be disciplined, or possibly sacked if they were to conclude and make public that a black/Asian/Muslim sergeant denied him/her the right to a promotion on the grounds that they are white? These double standards should not exist if political correctness intends to be a fair guideline for how everyone should be treated.
Minority police associations exist because the huge amounts of racism that has been prevalent both historically and currently.
I really hate the "political correctness" taken too far and people/government being so terrified about being racistic. It just doesn't really do anyone any good in long run to end old traditions in any given country, because the group of people (for example the muslims) don't agree with them. SO ****ING WHAT? Well guess what, the local people will NOT start liking the muslims any more if they are the reason for old traditions ending/changing. While I try to understand refugees/immigrants, I DO think there's a lot to be improved in the current ways of taking them in, and I have absolutely, positively NO sympathy when traditional stuff is changed because politicians are so scared of being politically incorrect/in any way not nice to the newcomers.
Then we should have an Anti-Racism Police organisation, as there are plenty of white officers who share the opinion that race has no impact on the ability to perform the job. Restricting access is self-defeating and makes one question whether they are looking out for the best interests of a unified police force or it's own interests in acquiring promotions for which they are practically unfit. Ali Dizaei, president of the NBPA accused the system of racism after being deputised under sir Ian, and both Tarique Ghaffur and Shabir Hussein have also been found taking the piss (not the words used in the media) after pulling the race card. There may well be racism in the force, but they are tackling the problem completely the wrong way. Ali Dizaei urging BME's not to apply to the MET reeked of hypocrisy. It was self inflammatory and with flagrant disregard for how things should be. If he toned down his ********, did his job properly, and allowed any officer into his association I would be inclined to believe that such an association is there for the right reasons. As it stands, all I see is a National Piss-takers police association.
