Sandy Supposes....

Political Correctness

PROMPT: Complete this sentence and explain your position: "_________ will be the end of society as we know it."

          Hmm, that blank is provocative. It's wide open to interpretation. The possibilities are endless...

          I'll go out on a limb here, and fill in that blank thus: " political correctness will be the end of society as we know it." Too many people are easily offended or wish to take offense with on-line comments they've noticed and disagreed with, newspaper articles that don't jive with their beliefs, topics taught in schools, words used in public venues. etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum. The word 'discrimination' is bantered about. Minorities, women, 'gays', and religions all tout this word. What has happened to freedom of speech, and agreeing to disagree?

         We are all people with much in common, but we do have our subtle differences, and what's wrong with that? Why can't we celebrate our uniqueness? I'm female. I'm Caucasian. I'm Canadian. I'm the eldest child. Want to make something of this, the things I cannot alter?

          While researching the topic of political correctness, I read about private nursery schools in England that took issue with the classic children's rhyme, "Baa Baa Black Sheep". They offered a supposedly kindler, gentler, all-inclusive version to their impressionable students. 'Black' was replaced by the innocuous words ' rainbow', 'happy', 'sad', 'hopping', and 'pink'. Really, a happy, hopping, pink sheep?? The word 'black' in this context is a viable useage. The phrase 'one for the little boy who lived down the lane' is considered to be sexist. Gasp!!          What has become of plain speak? Euphemisms are substituted for words that just might offend, demean,or discriminate. A stay-at-home mother now needs the fancy title ' domestic engineer' because this somehow recognizes her vital contributions and efforts to child-rearing. The kids are still going to continue to address their maternal figures as 'Mom', 'Mother', 'Ma', or whatever. Her name does not diminish her role.

          A garbage man must be considered as a 'sanitation worker', but what was so terrible about his former title? It denoted what he or she does. ( I must bow to the forces of political correctness. Gender bias is a terrible thing.) Women are no longer merely 'pregnant'. They are 'expecting'. What an open-ended word. A pregnant woman is expecting, anticipating, worrying, planning so many 'things'. There are people who cannot bear to say 'euthanized', so they think it makes more sense to say 'put to sleep'. Doesn't this give sleep a bad rap?

         The British comedy troupe,Monty Python created a hilarious sketch titled 'Dead Parrot' in which they cover many of the euphemisms for the word 'dead'. They found the humour in the compunction to avoid that terribly bleak, final word at all costs. People tend to skirt around the idea of dying. It is a little ambiguous to refer to the parrot as 'passing away'. Did it pass by a window?