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Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

A place to debate issues or to rant about what's on your mind. In addition to discussions about historical fiction, books, the publishing industry, and history, discussions about current political, social, and religious issues and other topics are allowed, so those who are easily offended by certain topics may want to avoid such threads. Members are expected to keep the discussions friendly and polite and to avoid personal attacks on other members. The moderators reserve the right to shut down a thread without warning if they believe it necessary.
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princess garnet
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by princess garnet » Thu August 27th, 2015, 7:27 pm

I believe a few other characters say Voldemort's name in the series so Harry wasn't the only one.

I've heard the n word used in terms of describing someone who's miserly with money.

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu August 27th, 2015, 8:10 pm

'niggardly' (miserly) is quite different from nigger, and has totally different roots. PC has gone completely crazy if we can't even use words that SOUND like taboo words. There goes sit, cant, frock, dam--I'll think of others soon. ;-)

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Madeleine
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by Madeleine » Fri August 28th, 2015, 8:19 am

MLE (Emily Cotton) wrote:
Mythica wrote: Your story about the word dork reminded me of something. My aunt came up with a term for floating around in a pool relaxing - tea bagging. :shock: My mom thought it was so clever she started using the term all the time. I finally had to tell her, "Mom, don't use that term outside our immediate family, okay?" She asked why, of course, and I had to tell her, "It means something else." And she said, "Oh! Something sexual you mean?" Yup. Then she actually asked me specifically what it meant but this was where I drew the line, lol.
Um, I have no idea what tea bagging means, either. I guess I'll look it up in the urban dictionary.
Glad it's not just me! I'm intrigued now, although I have an idea what it might mean. I've led a sheltered life.... ;)
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Vanessa
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by Vanessa » Fri August 28th, 2015, 10:03 am

I don't know what it means, either. It reminds me about when I first found out what 'dogging' meant! :o They were having a conversation about it on the radio a few years ago and it amused me as I often used to wait around around in my car for my daughter - I'd put the light on so I could read to pass the time. I didn't realise it was a signal to say you're available for hanky panky with a total stranger! Lol.
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Madeleine
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by Madeleine » Fri August 28th, 2015, 2:14 pm

Could have been interesting Vanessa! :o :lol:
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Mythica
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by Mythica » Fri August 28th, 2015, 5:39 pm

princess garnet wrote:I believe a few other characters say Voldemort's name in the series so Harry wasn't the only one.
I didn't mean to indicate Harry was the only one - Hermione makes a point of saying it too, although I think she struggled with it at first. In fact I think she's the one who said that quote about fear of the name itself. And of course I don't think Dumbledore hesitated to say it. My point was just that most people in the story won't say the name, and how this only heightens people's fear and therefore gives Voldemort more power over them. I think the same is true of swear words and racial slurs. When we refuse to say them even in a non-offensive context, we only give them more power, and therefore more power to the people who would use them against us.

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blueemerald
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by blueemerald » Fri August 28th, 2015, 8:47 pm

IMO, what begins as an attempt to be genuinely sensitive and avoid a Word, becomes ridiculous when unqualified and absolute. This sort of plenary response disqualifies any respectful and intelligent appreciation of a Word. It reinforces extreme, singular and misguided thinking.
(Having said that, I find myself realizing I could be more open-minded when reading and/or hearing certain Words.)

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EvangelineH
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Re: Are we crossing a line with our Political Correctness?

Post by EvangelineH » Wed September 2nd, 2015, 8:21 am

The phrase "politically correct" in all its incarnations irritates me. To use an example in the OP: yes, GWTW was written by a Southerner and set in a revisionist version of the CW/Reconstruction, but to immediately declare those offended by the n-word as being "PC" is just as superficial as the declarations on the other side of the argument.

I find that this topic always lacks nuance or awareness of who now has a voice and who is now allowed to tell their story. In the case of the Kate Breslin novel, the Holocaust and the story of Esther were both taken completely out of context by a writer and a publisher, and for an audience, who all have the privilege to believe that Jewish memory and heritage can be manipulated for entertainment purposes. That many Jewish Americans can speak up against the novel is a proof of how much society has changed (and a number explicitly stated how scary it was to speak about their Jewishness, having a lived experience of it being erased or dismissed).

So no, it isn't about censorship, PC, etc. Native Americans were not given a voice to speak against racist or negative portrayals in the Western novels and films 1950s. Now they have that voice.

So in truth, it isn't the slurs and racism that is "how it was back then," but who was steamrolled and ignored in order to entertain the majority.
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