Getting Rid of Flippant Language : Check Yourselves Here

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Arwen

Actually, I think PC and honest are getting confused in this conversation. Thanks to folks like Limbaugh, Politically Correct speech and behaviour has taken quite the beating.

PC, to me, is the idea that it is not okay to call someone by a racial epitath. I'll use a Texas one. It would be very very PI (politically incorrect) of me to call someone a lazy wetback. For those who are not familiar with that ugly term, that refers specifically to those of Mexican heritage and infers that they swam the Rio Grande to come illegally into the US. It is an ugly racist term and I put it in the same category as Gerry and Kyke and Wop and Raghead and Jew and Gypsy and the N word.

Now, if someone is being lazy and they are of Mexican heritage, I could most certainly call them lazy. To add "wetback" to that turns it into a racial slur. That's not okay in my book. Nothing makes that kind of comment okay. There is no amount of honesty or bluntness that can make that okay for me.

Honesty is telling me the dress makes me look fat. Ugly is telling me that the dress makes me look like a fat cow.

I doubt MizzSabra is talking about being ugly in this case.



I think apretty says it perfectly.

And PC is used (and is being used here, I think) to try to negate why some words will never be okay to say.

And I'm not talking about the C word. That's one I personally reserve for women who earn it (and I don't mean it like Dusa or any who have reclaimed it mean it.)

I'm talking about words that hold more negative emotional charge than can ever be cleared from them. Retarded is one of those (no offense to those who are working to claim that so the pain is negated) for me. I dislike that word intensely for a lot of very personal reasons.

So can we agree not to hide behind "I'm not PC" or "I am PC" and really discuss what these word choices mean for us? I love that we have so many strenuous and strong voices here. I love that we do not agree. I love that we can not agree and still have these chewy, meaty (or tofu-y for the veggie crowd) discussions.

Thank you for this post. I agree that the two terms were getting kind of convoluted and confused.

I have a question...or maybe not. Bear with me, as this is where I express my ignorance. To me, and granted....it's not my culture or heritage....but I did not realize that Gypsy might be an offensive term. If it were combined with something (like your lazy etc example), I could see it. But, to me, Gypsies are a beautiful, free people not bound by the same material ties that most of us are, but stronger than most of us in terms of familial ties. I see them as human butterflies moving through life.

I know that I've made reference to you....your hair specifically....as Gypsy hair. Absolutely feel free to engage me outside of this thread if you'd rather, but please note that I never meant it to be offensive, if it was.

This thread is making me THINK during my day to day routine. I went to say something earlier....I can't even remember what it was...but I stopped myself and made an effort to rethink the thought so that it would be more appropriate. That's where it needs to start for me, because what swirls about inside my head always finds its way out eventually. It's definitely one of the most thought-provoking threads I've participated in...for me....in years.

Thank you, 'dusa.